Railway crossing gate operators expressed dissatisfaction with their wages, stressing that their salaries have remained stagnant and meagre for over a decade.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday (30), Sri Lanka Unprotected Railway Gate Operators’ Membership Collective organisation noted that these workers receive only Rs. 7,500 per month, which amounts to Rs. 250 per day.

The North East Railway Crossing Workers’ Association’s Organiser Anil Kumara added: “We are considered voluntary workers. We have been linked to the Police and we get paid through the Police. If this continues, we will have to abandon this (profession). Even that is a difficult thing to do as we have to designate someone before we leave.”

During the discussion, the Association’s Chairperson Rohan Rajkumar said that although the labour law required that a person who has served in the public service for 180 days should be made permanent in the respective institution, those provisions have been removed, and that their demands have gone unheard. According to him, the railways crossing gate operators’ demand is that they be given the daily wage stipulated by the existing labour laws.