President declares Railway Services essential public service

• President issues Extraordinary Gazette as talks to end trade union action fails
• Railway sector strike from 25 Sep. has left commuters stranded and inconvenienced
• Cabinet this week agreed to demand to make Railways a closed service
• Finance Minister says strike driven by political motives, not workers interests 

By Chandani Kirinde

President Maithripala Sirisena declared the Railway Services to be an essential public service last night, after talks to settle the ten-day work stoppage by trade unions in the sector failed.

The essential services declaration by the President was made in an Extraordinary Gazette notification, after railway unions refused to go back to work, despite an undertaking from Cabinet on Tuesday to address their demands.

The essential services order will apply to all public transport services for passengers or goods and services of any description whatsoever necessary or required to be handled by the Department of Railways, including the transport services by rail and railway lines, their maintenance and provision of proper security measures, signaling systems and their operation, and issuance of tickets that are essential for the efficient and uninterrupted operation of the aforesaid services.

All work and supply of labour of any description required for the maintenance of the railway were also declared essential services. The railway employees’ work stoppage, which began on 25 September, has left thousands of train commuters stranded and inconvenienced.

On Tuesday, a Cabinet-appointed subcommittee to look into salary alimonies in the State sector recommended that the Railway Services be made a closed service, in order to put them on reasonable salary scales, and to formulate a new salary structure for them.

This was one of the unions’ demands, but despite the undertaking, they refused to return to work.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who addressed the media yesterday, said that the strike is politically motivated, and was not aimed at winning the rights of the workers.

“We have given them as much as we can. The new salary scales, not only in the Railway Services, but all other State services, will become effective from 1 January next year,” he said.