The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union has sent a letter to the Minister of Energy explaining its position on resolving the current issues in the country’s electricity system and bringing an end to the trade union action launched by the Joint Trade Union Alliance.
According to the letter, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled that the privileges currently enjoyed by employees should not be reduced in any manner in the process of restructuring the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
The union further states that despite this ruling, the CEB is currently preparing to assign employees to successor companies, which it claims is a serious violation of employee rights.
The letter also notes that after continuous demands and negotiations to safeguard employee rights failed to produce results, a collective of 25 trade unions was compelled to initiate trade union action from 3.00 p.m. last Monday (9).
Accordingly, a discussion was held yesterday (10) with the board members of the successor companies regarding the clauses of the proposed collective agreement submitted by the 25 trade unions.
The discussions concluded in a somewhat positive manner. It is stated that the chairmen of the four successor companies have agreed to discuss the issues on which agreement could not be reached with the Minister of Energy and to provide final decisions afterward.
