Bank employees protest against increased tax

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 September 1998, 17:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka bank employees union has protested against the government's move to extract a portion of their salary for defense purposes.

The union criticized the move by saying that the war was unnecessary, and condemned what it says the government's unfair move to deduct part of workers' pay, without their consent.

This development comes, as the government introduced moves to collect funds from the people to offset the huge defense needs, and it has demanded the Bank employees to contribute a week's salary.

Bank of Ceylon has requested its workers for a day's salary, in its circular while the People's Bank has asked for a week's earnings.

Workers from both banks have reacted angrily to this, and the Sri Lanka Bank employees union, which is comprised of some 17 thousand workers from both banks, has come out with open defiance.

In its circular sent to all its members, the union said that the bank employees are already paying various taxes, including the defense tax, therefore it is not necessary to pay extra, and urged the members not to do so.

It further said that it has written to the government and to the LTTE via its London office to stop the war, and has urged the parliamentarians to pay greater attention to find ways of bringing the war to an end.