- CEB ready to effect action Minister requested
- TU charge against heavy-handed decisions against workers FoE
Following the Ministry of Power and Energy instructing the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to take disciplinary action against CEB employees involved in the three-day trade union action, the unions yesterday (7) said they would take legal action against the CEB management if any of the workers are suspended.
According to a letter sent by Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera, the CEB’s Chairman has been directed to take necessary measures pursuant to the relevant legal provisions and to suspend the duties of the employees involved. In his letter, the Minister also instructed the CEB Chairman to inform the Ministry of employees who did not report for duty without prior notice and instead took part in the protests launched last week.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (7), CEB Workers’ Union (CEBWU) General Secretary Ranjan Jayalal said that the CEB management cannot take any action against the workers who joined the protest movement since no strike was taken place but only a protest against several decisions taken by the Ministry.
He said that, in a democratic country, workers cannot be suspended for launching a peaceful protest which did not hamper the services provided by the respective institution.
The trade union leader said that the Minister had taken several heavy-handed decisions against CEB workers such as restricting commenting on social media platforms, and that therefore, the workers had a right to protest for their demands to be heard. He charged that legal actions will be taken against the Minister and the management if any suspension is done, but stated that the unions would not launch any protests during the time mentioned in the stay order given by the court.
When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday, CEB Spokesperson and Deputy General Manager (Business and Operational Strategy) Engineer Noel Priyantha said that the management has the capability to take action against any worker who violates the decision taken by the management. Therefore, he also noted that necessary steps will be taken as per the directives given by the Minister.
Last week, CEB employees were engaged in a three-day trade union action from 3-5 January against the restructuring of the state-owned electricity supplier and the new Electricity Reforms Bill. Ahead of the trade union action, the CEB management, by way of a circular, cancelled the leave of all employees with effect from 2 January until further notice. However, in case of an urgent matter, employees were allowed to take leave with the approval of an executive officer attached to the respective division or branch.
Meanwhile, Extraordinary Gazette No. 2363/02 published on 18 December 2023 on the instructions of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, had declared all services connected to the electricity supply as essential public services.