The Board of Directors of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is set to discuss recent requests from CEB unions to distribute annual bonuses among all 23,000 employees in December of this year.

It was recently reported that the CEB Workers' Union (CEBWU) had called on the CEB management to distribute bonuses among employees before 10 December.

When queried by The Daily Morning as to whether a decision had been made on the said request, CEB Chairperson Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya said that no decision had been made. When questioned as to whether the request would be discussed by the CEB's Director Board, he said: "Requests are usually being discussed. So, this will also be discussed."

Claiming that the CEB had made significant profits in the recent past, CEBWU General Secretary Ranjan Jayalal recently said that a part of it should be passed on to the consumers and the rest to the employees. "We didn’t receive bonuses last year (2023), and the year before (2022), but we didn’t keep the people in the dark. With or without bonuses, we worked and we will continue to work. However, there should be some support for us as employees. If we fulfill our responsibility, we should receive fair benefits," he said.

Meanwhile, responding to a related query during the weekly media briefing to inform Cabinet decisions to the public, Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa also said that the CEB would make a decision on the unions’ request for bonuses. Noting that the unions and the CEB's management are two different entities, he said that the management would consider the matter and act accordingly.