Thursday, June 21, 2012


UNI. non-academics in vital talks with govt. today



by Dasun Edirisinghe,the  island

A crucial meeting between university non-academic staff and government officials has been scheduled for this morning at the Labour Commissioner’s office, as the strike launched by the non-academics enters its 16th day today.

President of Inter University Trade Union Federation R. M. Chandrapala told The Island that the fate of the ongoing strike would be decided at today’s meeting.

"We expect to arrive at a final decision at the meeting which scheduled to be attended by the Labour Commissioner and officials from the University Grants Commission," he said.

Meanwhile, non-academic staff from all universities, including the Jaffna University, held a protest march from the Colombo University to the UGC yesterday.

Chandrapala said that they were demanding an immediate solution to longstanding salary anomalies.

"We don’t want to inconvenience students who face the examinations these days, but we have no other option but to strike as we have been cheated by successive governments since 1997" he said.

SB assures FUTA he will fix meeting with President



By Dasun Edirisinghe, the island

The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) yesterday received an assurance from Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake that a meeting would be arranged with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss their grievances, FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Devasiri told The Island.

Dr. Devasiri said that Minister Dissanayake offered to seek a meeting with the President after yesterday’s talks, which also involved Higher Education Secretary, Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne, failed to resolve contentious issues. According to him the talks focused on their demand to allocate six per cent of the GDP for education and the salary issue.

Asked whether the FUTA would suspend its decision to strike on July 4, the FUTA chief said that they would go ahead with it, though the minister promised to arrange a meeting.

President Mahinda Rajapaska himself had broken the earlier promise to grant them redress through the budget 2012, Dr. Devasiri said adding that as responsible professionals in the country they would meet him again.

If there is no positive response from President Rajapaksa, too, before July 04 they would launch a continuous strike, he said.