A wave of strikes staged over the past few days have had a major impact on the economy, with officials saying the loss, once estimated, is likely to run into millions. A sick note protest, work-to-rule protest, limited work campaign, and various other protests and strikes halted the services of a number of state institutions including Sri Lanka Railways and the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB). The three-day strike conducted by SLTB employees alone had caused the Government a loss of around Rs. 75 million. The Government had to incur another loss of around Rs. 25 million as of Friday (27) due to the ongoing railway employees’ strike, The Sunday Morning learnt. Meanwhile, the loss incurred due to the limited work and work-to-rule campaign conducted by the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association (SLASA) was said to run into billions of rupees, as the direct loss could not be calculated, said Sri Lanka Government Officers’ Trade Union Association (SLGOTUA) National Organiser B.A.P. Basnayake to The Sunday Morning. Even though the trade union (TU) action taken by several unions including the SLTB and SLASA had seen a temporary drop in the latter part of last week due to the prevailing weather conditions, unions warned that they would resort to strike action in the coming days, unless and otherwise the Government meets their demands by fixing the salary anomalies from next month. Meanwhile, teachers and principals’ unions had also staged a two-day sick note campaign last Thursday and Friday. In addition, the indefinite strike launched by non-academic staff members entered a third week last week, paralysing state universities and higher education institutes. Another 24-hour token strike was held by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) from 8 a.m. on 18 September till 8 a.m. on 19 September, citing several demands including the removal of salary anomalies. The drivers, controllers, guards, and a few trade unions attached to Sri Lanka Railways also joined the wave as they launched a strike action on Wednesday (25), which was also aimed at removing the salary anomalies. A failed attempt In the backdrop of a number of strike actions already taking place, particularly in the state sector where employees are citing salary anomalies, the Ministry of Finance last week noted that the monthly salary of all public servants will be increased by a minimum amount of Rs. 3,000 and a maximum of Rs. 24, 000 per month, effective from January 2020 as per the recommendation of the special commission on reviewing salaries of the public sector appointed by the President. It further stated the salary increment will be granted in addition to the salary increment which was granted up to 107% by 2020, compared to the basic salary that prevailed in 2015. As a result of this new salary increment, salary anomalies that existed in different sectors of the public service will be removed. In addition to this salary increment, the overtime allowance (OTA) for nearly 1.1 million public servants will also be increased. Further, the President has appointed a 15-member Salary Review Commission headed by S. Ranugge to make recommendations to remove the salary anomalies in the public sector. In order to remove the anomalies in Sri Lanka Railways, a new salary scale cited as TL (technical) with an initial monthly salary of Rs. 36,095 has been created for the railway supervisory management service. The salary scale MT 1 has been placed under the initial salary step of Rs. 34,415 for railway engine driver aids. Therefore, there is no need for railway workers to continue the ongoing trade union action demanding a solution to their salary anomalies, according to the Ministry of Finance. As per the earlier salary proposals under PA Circular 3/2006, the minimum basic salary of a primary-level public servant will be increased to Rs. 24,250 by 2020 from Rs. 11,730 in 2015. Under the recommendations of the Ranugge Commission, this will be further increased by Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 27,250 per month. Not ready to give up Even though the Government attempts to solve the issue by promising an increase of salaries of public servants by way of removing the anomalies, the TUs are not willing to give up their campaigns. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Locomotive Engine Operators’ Union (LEOU) Secretary Indika Dodangoda claimed that even though the Ministry of Finance announced that they had increased the salaries of all railway employees, the reality was that through the new scheme, the salaries are further reduced. The unions threatened that the strike action would be further continued until their demands were met. “Currently, we have decided to run 20 essential train services out of 450 services as per the request made by the Department of Railways to facilitate essential commuters, but if someone tries to point it out as a failure, we would stop those services as well,” he stressed. According to statistics, the general income per day for the Department is between Rs. 11-15 million. On the weekends, the Department earns an income of Rs. 8-10 million. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Transport Workers’ Union (CTWU) Secretary Sepala Liyanage said the strike was temporarily suspended as the SLTB Chairman had promised the employees in writing that their demands would be met by 26 October. Prior to the TU action, the CTWU Secretary had written to Transport Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, stressing that the SLTB employees were not given the allowance promised by the Ministry of Finance in its Budget proposal this year, which mentioned that state sector employees would receive an allowance of Rs. 2,500 with effect from 1 July. “We have temporarily suspended the strike, but if the demands are not met by 26 October, we will once again resort to strike action,” he said. During the three-day strike, only around 40 depots were joined out of the total 105. Therefore, the SLTB has incurred a loss of around Rs. 25 million, Liyanage added. According to him, the daily income from all depots stood at around Rs. 70 million. SLTB Deputy General Tudor Chandrasiri confirmed that the board had recorded a decrease of around Rs. 15 million a day during the three-day strike. Elaborating on the issues faced by teachers and principals, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin told The Sunday Morning that the Ministry of Education had not yet paid any attention to the sick note campaign launched by the teachers and principals. “Because of the TU action, all schools had to be closed down and over 247,000 teachers and principals participated in the two-day TU action,” he stressed. He threatened that a strike action would be launched from 7-11 October if the Government did not remove the salary anomalies of teachers and principals. Meanwhile, SLGOTUA National Organiser Basnayake said the limited work and work-to-rule campaigns launched by the state workers had been temporarily suspended due to the prevailing weather condition in the country, but that they would again launch the campaign next month. “We need the Government to take a firm decision and not just promise that they will increase the salaries next year. If they really want to solve the issue, start it from next month. There should be fairness when increasing the salaries and it’s not fair to increase salaries of half of the workers while the other half keeps suffering,” he added. According to Ministry of Finance statistics, in 2015, Rs. 562 billion was paid as public sector salaries and it has increased up to Rs. 750 billion to date. The payment of pension, which cost Rs. 157 billion in 2015, has now increased up to Rs. 225 billion. The new salary increment will cost an additional amount of Rs. 120 billion per year. In the meantime, 75,000 new employees have been recruited to the public service sector over the last four years. However, the new salary increment was planned to be paid in two equal instalments in January 2020 and January 2021. Burden on State When contacted, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration J.J. Rathnasiri, he told The Sunday Morning that Cabinet approval had already been granted for the salary increments recommended by the Ranugge Commission and therefore, the necessary steps were currently being taken by the Ministry to implement the Cabinet decision by 2020. When asked about the issues raised by the unions which claimed that the Ranugge Commission decisions were not giving equal salary increments for all state officers, the Secretary stressed that the Government spends Rs. 800 billion per year. “The demands should be practical. Generally, half of the Government’s income goes to pay the salaries of government workers,” he stressed. – Maheesha Mudugamuwa photo lalith perera