Railway strike continues

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Locomotive Operating Engineers’ strike caused a loss of Rs 20 million on Tuesday (12) in addition to claiming the life of an engineering student and causing serious injuries to another passenger, the Railway Department said yesterday.

Thirteen office trains did not operate on Wednesday morning as well.

The government declared the railway service an essential service, but the strikers did not return to work.

Indika Dodangoda, Convener of the Union Federation to Uplift Sri Lanka Railways, said that the decision to declare railways an essential service was questionable.

“How did the government declare this an essential service? The legal basis of this is questionable. The government must solve this issue through dialogue. We started this strike mainly because of issues surrounding promotions and recruitment that have not been resolved for five years,” he said.

Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardena said that the Locomotive Operating Engineers had launched the strike despite serious efforts to resolve their grievances.

“We asked them not to strike. Only 84 drivers are behind this. We can’t allow this,” he said.