Tamil teachers urge govt. to lift LTTE ban immediately

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 May 2002, 17:34 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union Saturday decided to call its members for a one day token strike on May 24 demanding the government to lift the ban on the Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka immediately, to take prompt steps directing the State armed forces to strictly observe the permanent ceasefire by vacating schools and places of worship and to expedite the peace efforts without further delay.

Mr.T.Mahasivam, General Secretary of the CTTU said the three demands regarding the peace efforts and strengthening the cease-fire agreement signed between the government and the Liberation Tigers have been included in the memorandum submitted to the Minister of Education and Human Development following requests by the union branches in the northeast province.

Earlier the CTTU working committee decided to organise a one-day token strike putting 28 demands, mainly related to the payment of arrears to teachers and to appoint three thousand Tamil medium teachers to schools in the northeast as agreed earlier by the then People's Alliance government.

Mr.Mahasivam said the current political situation has forced them to include the three new demands.

On May 24 members of the CTTU will not attend schools by sending sick notes. If the government failed to fulfill the demands, our union will launch an island wide strike thereafter, Mr.Mahasivam said.