FUTA strike ends

• Academics say unhappy over Govt. proposal but ended TU action for students’ sake
• Ministers unclear about salary hikes for GDP allocation for education
  
   

By Uditha Jayasinghe

The three-month old strike by academics finally came to an end yesterday with the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) reluctantly agreeing to the latest Government proposal.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa addresses the media at the Ministry premises yesterday to announce the outcome of talks between the FUTA and the Government to resolve the university teachers’ strike. Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake and other education officials were also present – Pix by Chaminda Hittatiya

Despite the announcement of a joint press conference by Higher Education Minister S.B Dissanayake with FUTA on Wednesday, the latter were absent when the media arrived at the venue. Instead Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who played a key role in the discussions, together with Dissanayake, informed reporters that they were confident the strike would be called off.

However, both Rajapaksa and Dissanayake were hazy about the details of the agreement with FUTA. The union on the other hand was presenting the Government proposal to its Executive Committee at the time and had declined to hold a joint press conference.

When contacted later, FUTA Media Spokesman Dr. Mahim Mendis remarked that the strike would be officially called off today, but insisted that they were still “dissatisfied” with the Government proposals. “We decided to call it off because we feel for the plight of the students,” he said.

Rajapaksa told media that the Government had promised to “focus prominently and give education priority,” but declined to state whether FUTA’s key demand of allocating 6% of GDP was met. He also refused to comment on the exact salary increases given to university members and how much extra that would cost the Treasury.

“These are all questions that would be better directed at the Finance Ministry Secretary, who handled that part of the discussions. We have agreed to appoint a Presidential Committee to discuss the demands of FUTA and a separate committee will be appointed to implement them. Broadly we have agreed to find solutions to FUTA’s concerns within the next three to five years,” he said.

Dissanayake reiterated that of the eight demands, the Government had agreed to recognise academics as a separate professional service and reduce political interference in universities. He too did not give any details on salary increases or GDP allocations.

After a second meeting with Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera on Monday, FUTA agreed to call off the strike but decided to wait until what was agreed upon at the meetings was provided in writing.