Sri Lanka's Universities crippled by strike

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 August 2003, 13:34 GMT]
The activities of all Universities in Sri Lanka came to a standstill Tuesday when the non academic staff launched their strike putting forward twenty-one demands, including salary increase, review of salary anomalies and the payment of a monthly cost of living allowance, sources said.

The All-University Non-Academic Staff Unions' Federation (AUNASUF) of Sri Lanka and six non-teaching staff unions have launched the strike Tuesday, sources said.

The President of the AUNASUF, Mr. Lionel Malwathage, said the strike would continue till their demands were met. " We held discussions with the Minister three times and with the University Grants Commission five times. All attempts by us to win our demands proved futile. Hence we have launched this indefinite strike," said Mr. Malwathage. He said that there has been no pay increase to the non-academic staff since 1995.

Meanwhile, the Ministry for Tertiary Education in Sri Lanka said Tuesday that it had acceded to several demands put forward by the non-academic staff of the universities, sources said.