- 4-hr token strike from 6.30 a.m. at select Hosps., crucial meeting today at Prez. Secretariat
The Health Trade Unions Alliance (HTUA) has postponed the continuous strike, which was scheduled to commence today (2), for 24 hours, following the Health Ministry's decision to convene a meeting between the Government and the trade unions today at the Presidential Secretariat.
The continuous strike was initially scheduled to commence today following a protest staged all over the island yesterday (1 April). Meanwhile, speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday, the HTUA Co-Convenor Chanaka Dharmawickrama said that the protest will continue today as well, even though the strike was postponed. He also noted that the protest will take place at selected hospitals throughout the island, while the major protest will be held in front of the Colombo National Hospital. Speaking further, Dharmawickrama stated that paramedical services staff will be withdrawing from all services today, only for four hours, in parallel to the demonstrations. He said that the protests are to be held at the Colombo National Hospital, and the Karapitiya, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Kegalle, Peradeniya, Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, and Mannar Hospitals for the second consecutive day, where the four-hour token strike will also be held from 6.30 a.m. today. He also said that the meeting at the Presidential Secretariat was to be held yesterday, but that the Secretary to the Ministry Dr. Palitha Mahipala had later informed that the meeting was rescheduled to today. According to him, the continuous strike will commence if the prospective discussion fails to reach a final decision regarding the demands of the trade unions.
Unions representing a wide range of health sector professionals, including those in professions supplementary to medicine and the paramedical services such as radiology and laboratory technicians, pharmacists and drug compounders, midwives, dental surgeons, public health inspectors, and entomology officers, but excluding doctors and nurses, have engaged in strikes on multiple occasions, demanding an allowance hike for them. On 8 January, the Cabinet of Ministers approved President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to double the disturbance, availability, and transport (DAT) allowance paid to Government doctors, raising it from Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 70,000. This compelled the other health workers to resort to protest actions.
Meanwhile, the Government recently issued a gazette declaring all the services, work, or labour necessary for the maintenance of hospitals, nursing homes, and dispensaries as essential services.