The Cabinet, on Tuesday, directed its attention towards introducing a new law aimed at arresting the strike wave that has gripped the country. Even at the time of writing, certain state sector trade unions are poised to extend their two-day strike with further work stoppages if the Government fails to accede to their demand for a Rs 20,000 pay hike. Perhaps this may have prompted the Government to think of drastic measures to counter these moves. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has been entrusted with the task of looking at the possibility of drafting appropriate laws towards this end. It was the view of the Cabinet that disruption of services central to basic human needs ought to be brought to an end, according to Cabinet spokesman Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who presided over the Cabinet meeting, noted that the Attorney General had informed him of the possibility of bringing new laws to prevent the continuation of disruption of services. It was also revealed at the Cabinet meeting that the Government had to generate an additional Rs 400 billion if the salaries of public servants were to be raised by Rs 20,000. This entails the increase in VAT from the present 18 percent to 21 percent. With the printing of money now out of the question, such a sum could be raised only by taxing the people. The President, however, has ruled out such a course.
The introduction of a law to outlaw strikes that impact basic human needs is a much felt need today than at any other time in the past, given the frequency of work stoppages and almost on the eve of a Presidential election. It is clear that the strikers intend directing the wrath of the people towards the Government at the behest of certain political entities who plan to capitalize on the people’s anger with election gains in mind. This has to be brought to an end and decisively so. The proposed law is hoped to make trade unions think twice before plunging into work stoppages and causing disruption all around. The law should also apply to political parties which incite such strike action. So far, the Essential Services (ES) decree, which had always been brandished by the authorities to deter strikes, has failed to yield the desired result. This is because the ES has not been put into effect as it should be, with the culprits continuing to remain in their jobs until the next turn to strike. Political parties to which these trade unions are affiliated should share the blame for this state of affairs.
The Cabinet, no doubt, too has come to realize this. Hence, the need for the decision to resort to legal action. This way, the striking trade unions will be bound by law to desist from disruptive action and would have to answer to a court of law in case of violation of the law, which could carry a prison term which, no doubt, the ministers felt would act as sufficient deterrence. Political parties or their leaders would not be able to interfere to bail out the culprits if there is a law to ban strikes.
President Wickremesinghe had already warned the teachers that he would be compelled to take drastic measures if they continued with their school boycotts. As he quite rightly pointed out, what is at stake is the future of the youth if they are continually denied an education by the actions of the teachers. As he also pointed out, teachers were today on the roads while the students were in their classrooms. It was only the Sinhala schools in the South that are being affected in this manner while all private, International, and schools in the North and East function as usual. Are the JVP or the Peratugamis, who wear their patriotism on their sleeves and who are obviously behind this disruptive campaign, intending to deprive the children from Sinhala families in the South their right to education? Whom are the Rathu Sahodarayas trying to hoodwink? Public Security Minister Tiran Alles should extend the current Yukthiya operation to also ascertain who really was behind the current wave of strikes, which are similar to the acts the criminals and drug dealers are causing to inflict immense distress and suffering on the general public on whose behalf the Yukthiya operation is being carried out.
Minister Rajapakshe, in drafting the new law to outlaw strikes, should leave no loopholes or ambiguities to allow the perpetrators a chance to get away. The current wave of strikes should be brought to a complete halt, which, needless to say, is also causing immense damage to the economy which is showing signs of recovery after the heavy beating it received from the pandemic and the foreign exchange crisis. Nothing should be allowed to disrupt tourism, which has now reverted to the pre-pandemic days with arrivals last year reaching the one million mark. We say this because the continuing train strikes had also affected tourists, keen on sightseeing, in a big way, and already questions are being asked if those foreigners who had been penalised would ever return to the country again. Strikes are also a sure fire way of driving off foreign investors and preventing prospective investors from doing business in this country. The new law should be drafted taking into account all these angles.
