Railway under-guards call off strike

Railway under-guards have called off their strike after a successful discussion with respective authorities.

The discussion, which took place this morning (Oct. 05), was attended by representatives of the Ceylon Railway Guards’ Union and other railway trade unions, Transport State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Sri Lanka Railways officials.

Now that the trade union action has come to an end, the railway department is working to bring the disrupted train operations back to normalcy this evening.

According to reports, the under-guards, who went on sick leave over an assault incident, have commenced reporting for duty.

Earlier this morning, the railway department announced that leave of all railway under-guards was cancelled with immediate effect and ordered them to report to work before 12 noon.

Railway services were disrupted after a surprise strike action was initiated by under-guards on Wednesday (Oct. 04) citing an assault of a co-worker by a security officer at the Maligawatta railway yard.

Despite security forces personnel being dispatched to major railway stations last evening to maintain peace and security, tense situations were reported as commuters were infuriated by the sudden trade union action which left them stranded as a number of trains were cancelled while others were far behind schedule.