Uni non-academics to strike from tomorrow

February 27, 2012, 10:27 pm , The Island.

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Non-academic staff, including administrative officers of all universities in the country will launch an all out strike from tomorrow (29) in protest against the government’s failure to rectify the anomalies in their salaries.

President of the Inter University Trade Union Federation and Co – President of the Inter University Trade Union Joint Committee R. M. Chandrapala told The Island that their executive committee had decided to go ahead with an indefinite strike as the government had turned a blind eye to their two-day token strike of Feb. 23 and 24.

"We successfully organised our token strike last week," he said, adding they had already informed the Higher Education Ministry, University Grants Commission and university administrations of their their strike scheduled to commence tomorrow.

Chandrapala said that all successive governments from 2006 had cheated them and finally they were cheated by the present Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake.

The trade unionist said however, that they were ready to have a discussion with the relevant authorities at anytime should a reasonable solution be offered.

"We don’t want to put innocent undergraduates in trouble by paralysing universities," Chandrapala said.

When contacted by The Island for comment, Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that the ministry would discuss the issue with non-academics today (28) with a view to finding an amicable solution.