Trade unions to write to President demanding pay hike

The National Trade Union Center (NTUC) of Sri Lanka affiliated to the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is to send a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa signed by trade union leaders demanding salary hikes for the working masses in the 2012 budget.

The NTUC arrived at this decision following a meeting of trade union heads held today to decide on the action to be taken to win the demand for a Rs. 10,000 salary hike for the public sector and a 40 percent increase for the private sector.

Head of the NTUC, K.D. Lalkantha said the gathering of signatures for the letter would commence today.

“Trade union leaders will sign the letter and we will send it as an official demand from the President,” he told ColomboPage.

He said that a massive protest would be held jointly with other unions on the October 24th in Fort.

Lalkantha said the protest would highlight the government’s failures in granting relief to the people in the successive budgets and the issues that need to be addressed in the 2012 budget.