Railway strike called off

The Sri Lanka Railway Locomotive Operating Engineers’ Union has decided to call off their strike action.

The trade union has reached this decision after a successful discussion with the Minister of Transport Bandula Gunawardena, Ada Derana reporter said.

The Locomotive Operating Engineers’ Union of Sri Lanka Railways launched a strike from midnight on Thursday (06), over delays in second-class promotions of locomotive drivers and several other issues.

However, in response to the allegations leveled by the trade union in question, the administrative officials of the Department of Railways said that the department has provided all possible solutions to address their issues.

Joining a press conference held this morning (10), Additional General Manager (Administration) of the Department of Railways Mrs. Kusalani de Silva stated that the Department of Railways had issued 57 promotion letters to the railway locomotive engineers by Thursday (June 06), which is more than 50% of the relevant employees.

She also expressed that 70 promotion letters have been issued as of yet, and that the remaining 13 promotions are delayed as the relevant employees are yet to complete their requirements such as department’s internal bar tests, second-language proficiency and other disciplinary proceedings.

Furthermore, she pointed out that due to this situation, the Railways Department has decided to hold a special department bar test within a period of one month, so that those who have not completed the relevant exams can complete the test.