brand logo

300,000 public servants threaten union action over fuel 

22 Jun 2022

  • Warn of continued action from July if fuel not issued to Govt, servants via designated locations
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Unless the designation of a separate location in each Divisional Secretariat (DS) or any other means is not arranged for the issuance of fuel to public servants within the course of next week, at least 300,000 public servants would engage in a continuous trade union action from the first week of July, the Sri Lanka Government Officers’ Trade Union Association (SLGOTUA) warned.  Speaking to The Morning yesterday (21), SLGOTUA National Organiser Pradeep Basnayake said: “Although some public servants can work from home, certain categories of public servants such as the Grama Niladharis, Samurdhi Development Officers, and Agricultural Research Officers perform their duties in the field and therefore, they need transportation facilities to get to the field. Most of them use private vehicles for this purpose, but are currently facing severe difficulties as they are unable to get fuel.”  He said that despite the severe difficulties faced by public servants due to the fuel crisis, the Government is yet to take steps to address it at the relevant Ministry or Departmental levels. He also said that public servants have to wait in queues for days to get fuel and added that there have been several instances of public opposition when public servants are given priority at certain filling stations.  “Public servants are required to perform their duties between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and are not able to perform field duties at night. So how can someone get to work when they have to wait in queues for a day or two? Also, public transport services are not operational at present. The relevant authorities have been informed about this in all possible ways, but no solution has been given yet.  “As a solution, we are proposing to designate a separate location for the distribution of fuel to public servants in each DS Division. Through that, this situation will be able to be brought under control until a permanent solution is found,” added Basnayake.  Speaking further, he said that they hoped that the authorities would work out a solution within this week and that if that does not take place, the only solution would be to initiate a continuous trade union action. Claiming that the SLGOTUA has nearly 300,000 members, Basnayake added that the SLGOTUA would also obtain the support of trade unions which are not members of it, for the possible trade union action, which would be initiated from the first week of July. The people are facing severe difficulties due to the current shortage of fuel caused by the prevailing economic crisis, particularly the shortage of foreign reserves in the country. Due to the limited supply of fuel at filling stations, people have to wait in long queues for days to get fuel. In this context, there have been several instances in recent days where there has been public opposition to giving priority to the issuance of fuel to public servants, despite the Government requesting filling stations to give priority to public servants when issuing fuel.  Meanwhile, the Government has declared a two-week work from home period for public servants of certain categories starting from Monday (20), taking into account the fuel shortage and the lack of transportation facilities.


More News..