• TUs, engineers deny forgoing 2022 bonuses 
• Blame SLPP trade unionist for ‘false propaganda’  

Refuting recent reports to the effect that employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) have decided to forgo bonuses for the year 2022, the CEB Joint Trade Union Alliance (CEBJTUA) and the CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) stated that almost all CEB employees, belonging to more than 50 trade unions, are expecting the relevant bonuses, with the CEBJTUA warning of trade union action in the event the bonuses are not paid within the due course.

Representatives of the CEBJTUA and the CEBEU also said that a person representing a trade union related to the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is attempting to create displeasure among the public over CEB employees through such false propaganda.

Speaking to The Morning, CEBJTUA Convenor Ranjan Jayalal said: “The reports that CEB employees have expressed their consent to forgo bonuses are completely false. There is a trade union in the CEB with less than 20 members. That trade union is not even registered. The leader of that trade union is a co-ordinating secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy. It was he who held a press conference and said that the CEB employees had decided not to take bonuses. That statement is completely wrong, and the CEB employees representing about 59 trade unions have said that they want the bonus.”

Criticising the statements made by representatives of the Government that measures such as not giving bonuses to employees should be taken because the CEB is a loss making institution, he claimed that it was ministers and other high-ranking authorities who have made the CEB a loss-making institution since its inception. He said that it is unfair to cut the salaries and allowances of the employees who perform their duties properly to make the CEB a profit-making institution, noting that it has become a loss-making institution due to the shortsighted decisions of the authorities.

“We are hoping to receive the annual bonus on time. Usually, the bonus should be received before Christmas. Now, the cost of living has gone up. It affects the CEB employees like everyone else. So, if the Government is not increasing our salaries, the Government should provide the allowances to which we are entitled. The bonus should be given on time. If not, we will initiate trade union action in the future. Only a leader of a trade union associated with the SLPP has said no to this bonus. The rest of the members of that trade union itself are also expecting it,” added Jayalal.

Meanwhile, when contacted by The Morning, CEBEU General Secretary Isuru Kasthurirathne said that a leader of a trade union affiliated to the SLPP, who is also a co-ordinating secretary to the Power and Energy Ministry, has first told the media that CEB employees have decided to forgo the bonuses. 

Claiming that there is an attempt to create public displeasure over CEB employees by making such statements, he said that the CEBEU is not ready to become victims of such plans to achieve political gains. When queried as to whether there are any plans to initiate trade union action over the matter, he said that there are no such plans, and added that the trade union in question is clearly fulfilling a political contract.

“It is not the CEB that is responsible for the economic crisis. Therefore, no employee wants their allowances and other benefits to be curtailed. When they carry out these campaigns, they know that the CEB employees will ask for bonuses. Then, they plan to create an impression among the public that the CEB employees are asking for bonuses when the country is facing an economic crisis. However, that is not the case. CEB employees should receive the salaries and allowances that they are entitled to. If there is difficulty in paying the bonus in the current situation, the Board of Directors takes a decision such as postponing the payment, but no employee will not say no to what they are entitled to, especially since they are in a difficult economic situation now,” he added.

Speaking to the media recently, a representative of the Sri Lanka Podujana Progressive Union of the CEB had said that they had agreed to forgo the annual bonuses for the year 2022, taking into account the prevailing economic climate in the country and the CEB. On the same day, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka had stated that the Board of Directors and the trade unions of the CEB had agreed to forgo bonuses.