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Development officers to begin strike today

14 Mar 2022

By Buddhika Samaraweera Nearly 168,000 development officers across the country have decided to launch a one-day strike and a series of agitations today (14) demanding the Government resolve several issues related to the Development Officers’ Service.  Speaking to The Morning, All Ceylon Development Officers’ Union (ACDOU) National Organiser Pradeep Basnayake stated that the strike is being carried out over several demands such as the establishment of development officers at the required salary levels and the payment of relevant interim allowances, the drafting of a Development Service Officer Service Minute, the establishment of the Economic Development Officer Service, and the formulation of a formal promotion and transfer mechanism for development officers. He also called for the ensuring of the development officers’ right to travel and communication expenses and the suspension of informal assignments outside the duty list. “President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and all other authorities have been informed of these demands on a number of occasions, but since there was no response, it was decided to launch this one-day strike as a start. If our demands are not considered even after that, we will have to resort to more serious trade union actions,” he said. Basnayake said that about 10 Development Officers’ Trade Unions, including the ACDOU, the Joint Development Officers’ Centre, the All Ceylon Economic Development Officers’ Association, the All Ceylon Government Development Officers’ Association, and the Foreign Employment Ministry Development Officers’ Association are supporting the said one-day strike. “In addition to the strike, we have decided to organise a series of separate protests in each area. One of the series of protests will be held in front of the Ministry of Public Services, Provincial Councils, and Local Government during which a letter will be handed over to the Public Services, Provincial Councils, and Local Government Ministry Secretary,” he added. Recently, the Sri Lanka Government Officers’ Trade Union Association (SLGOTUA) called on the Government to update the service minutes of several groups of public servants including grama niladharis and economic development officers, claiming that the non-updating of such has caused a number of issues. 


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