Crucial meeting today to end FUTA strike

October 5, 2012, 10:50 pm , The Island


by Dasun Edirisinghe

The government will, after a lapse of two weeks, resume discussions with striking university teachers this evening at the Ministry of Economic Development.

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa will represent the government in the discussions with representatives from the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA).

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri told The Island that they had been invited by the government to participate in the discussion.

"We expect to resolve the problems at today’s meeting," he said adding that they had been willing to resolve it through negotiations from the initial stage but had to launch the strike as government ignored their problems.

The senior academic said that they had not been paid for three months and expected to receive their salaries after a settlement.

According to unconfirmed reports, after today’s discussion, the next meeting would be with Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera on Monday evening.

Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said they expected FUTA to end the strike after today’s meeting.University dons launched the strike on July 04. Their main demands were allocation of six per cent of the GDP for education, to be consulted when taking decisions on higher education and a pay hike.