• CEB TUs say planned three-day protest will go ahead despite cancellation of leave 
• TU leader Ranjan Jayalal says staff is not intimidated by Govt.’s acts of suppression and intimidation 
• Accuse Govt. of attempting to dismantle CEB to 12 units before sale to foreign companies 
• TU leaders say draft bill reeks of Indian influence 
• Announce Island-wide strike one day before draft Electricity Bill is presented to Parliament
• TUs representing UNP led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe also join protest

Trade Unions and staff of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) yesterday defied the circular issued by the Acting General Manager of the CEB on Tuesday cancelling the leave of all employees to engage in a planned protest against the newly proposed Electricity Act. 

The protest was held in front of the CEB Head Office in Fort at noon with the participation of a large number of employees. 

Speaking to the media, CEB United Trade Union Alliance Convener Ranjan Jayalal said the three-day protest campaign planned to voice several demands will go ahead despite the circular issued in line with the President’s earlier declaration of electricity as an essential service. He said the protests will only intensify in the coming days. 

Jayalal said the Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara has not initiated discussions with CEB employees and has instead tried to quash their voices through the circular. “We are not intimidated by these circulars. We wouldn’t take to the streets if we were,” he said. “The primary cause for the protest is the Government’s arbitrary effort to dissolve the CEB by revoking the Ceylon Electricity Board Act (No. 17 of 1969) through the introduction of a new Electricity Act to the parliament. It was gazetted on 2 January,” he noted. 

Jayalal alleged that the Government is attempting to dismantle the CEB into 12 distinct units through the Act with the intention of eventual sale to foreign companies. 

“The draft Act has an Indian influence. The Government is attempting to sell off the power sector to the Indian Adani and TATA companies,” he claimed. “This will be the year Ranil Wickremesinghe along with the Rajapaksas are sent home,” he added. According to Jayalal, transferring the country’s power sector to foreign companies poses a significant national security threat.

Jayalal insisted that Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekra abandon the proposed Act, warning that CEB staffers would take measures to compel him to do so if necessary. “We will bring him to his knees along with those in the Wickremesinghe- Rajapaksa Government,” he declared. 

The trade union leader also announced that a unanimous decision has been reached to launch an island-wide strike on the day preceding the presentation of the draft bill to Parliament.

He dared Wijesekara to deploy the police, military, and private companies interested in acquiring the CEB on the designated day and assume responsibility for power generation.

Leaders representing all trade unions of the CEB addressed the gathering, with staff members chanting slogans against the Government. Notably CEB Trade Unions aligned with the United National Party’s National Trade Union Federation also took part in the protest citing injustices meted out to CEB staff and the public through the new Act. Protests will also be held at CEB offices around the country today and tomorrow. 

Kanchana orders crackdown on possible power disruptions by CEB workers