Protests based on work-related demands are not a new phenomenon to Sri Lanka, and the public sector protests seeking salary hikes have become a common sight in the context of the economic crisis.

The Government has employed salary hikes, promises and discussions, and also force, to deal with these protests. However, when it comes to the public sector, it appears that more protests are likely to take place in the future because the Government’s approach looks more at the issue of low salaries than salary anomalies that resulted in low salaries.

Salary/allowance disparities

The Government’s approach to responding to the recent spate of protests demanding salary and allowance hikes is a case by case one and does not seem to be a medium to long-term approach. When one party holds protests, the Government holds talks with them, evaluates their demands, and provides some of their demands. This may seem like the most direct and effective response. What other response could be simpler than asking what they want and giving it?

But, that is more of a temporary approach, and it is crucial to understand that fulfilling protesters’ demands is merely the tip of the iceberg. The country saw that during the past few months. When one protest ends with the Government agreeing to fulfil the protestors’ demands, another party begins protests, pointing out that the Government has fulfilled the demands of the first party. This trend has been going on for some time, especially after the economic crisis broke out, and many public sector workers seem to be using it to their advantage.

There is another negative aspect to merely increasing the protesting employees’ salaries and allowances. That is, how it exacerbates the overall economy and inflation. When the Government increases the salaries or allowances of a certain public sector employee group, it means that the Government has to generate an equal amount of income from other sources. It should also be noted that since some of these sectors are not profit-making or even income-earning sectors – the health sector being an example – the Government does not have too many options. 

Generally, governments print or borrow money for this purpose. However, in a context where Sri Lanka’s ability to take loans has significantly declined, printing money is the next available option. Printing money with the intention of saving the public sector has severe impacts on the economy. On the one hand, a significant share of the public sector does not earn or make profits, and on the other hand, it has a direct impact on inflation which is already an issue. In that sense, getting a mere pay hike is not really a victory, because the people will have to pay more for goods and services in the long run.

Addressing salary and allowance related issues of public sector workers is more complex than it appears, and merely increasing salaries or allowances is not going to resolve the issues that compelled people to protest in the first place.

One protest after another 

While there is nothing wrong with asking for what one deserves, the abovementioned trend is unlikely to end in the foreseeable future, because the impacts of the economic crisis are far from over. As long as the impacts of the economic crisis makes it difficult for the people to make ends meet, salary-related disparities remain unaddressed or postponed, and selected protesting sectors are given salary and allowance hikes, public sector employees will continue to feel the need to fight for better wages and perks.

Several protests have already shown it. 

For example, when university teachers protested demanding their salaries and allowances such as that research allowances be increased, the Government granted what they sought. Non-academic university staff followed suit, claiming that if the Government has the resources to solve the academic staff’s issues, non-academic staff’s issues too cannot be ignored.

When it comes to the health sector, when the doctors’ Disturbance, Availability and Transport (DAT) allowance was increased to Rs. 70,000, supplementary health sector workers pointed that out to support their union action.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Grama Niladhari (GN) officers. When they gave the Government an ultimatum to resolve their issues several weeks ago, they claimed that they were being treated differently. They explained that when it comes to officers such as Provincial Secretaries, District Secretaries, and Ministry Secretaries, who launched protests the same way that GN officers did, their demands were given into swiftly, but that GN officers’ demands have been ignored.

This shows that merely increasing the salaries or allowances of protesting public sector workers not only ignores the root cause of these salary anomalies but also creates more salary anomalies.

Addressing the root causes

In this context, it is evident that protests, or what protests can do to the country’s day to day affairs, are not the issue. Protests are merely a symptom of more major issues such as the economic crisis that has intensified the cost of living, and salary anomalies that have remained unaddressed for years. In addition, successive public and political authorities’ failure or unwillingness to establish internal systems to effectively facilitate the resolution of work-related issues has compelled employees to take to the streets.

These are the issues that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, these are also the issues that do not seem to receive attention. Although steps are being taken to address various elements of the economic crisis, such as debt and legal and policy inadequacies, and also crisis led inflation, which has become stable to some extent, the people still feel burdened by the economic crisis and these efforts will take more time to benefit them. In fact, more people have become officially poor and indebted in the context of the economic crisis, and salary related concerns are therefore inevitable.

What has the Government done to resolve salary related anomalies? While various committees have been appointed over the years to look into salary-related anomalies in the public sector, when we look at the ongoing protests, how successful those committees have been is a question. 

Last month (June), yet another expert committee was appointed by the President to look into and propose measures to resolve salary related anomalies in the public sector. In the case of GN officers’ salary and allowance related issues, it was also reported that a draft of the Service Constitution has been submitted for the approval of the Public Service Commission in order to establish the Sri Lanka GN Service, with which salary anomalies would also be addressed. 

However, GN officers have expressed serious doubts about the actual implementation of these efforts, adding that the Cabinet of Ministers’ decision to give them salary hikes was taken a long time ago, and that they resorted to union action because those increased amounts were not given.

At the end of the day, regardless of salary and allowance-related programmes, the Government should first understand that increasing the salaries or allowances of those who claim that they are not being paid as other employees of the same grade is not going to rectify salary anomalies. These hasty salary and allowance hikes are and should be temporary measures. A re-revaluation and restructuring of the public sector salary structure is necessary and urgent. 

What is more crucial is the genuine implementation of the recommended measures. As long as that does not take place, there will always be unhappy public sector workers, a citizenry that pays for arbitrary salary and allowance hikes, and protests.