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CEB unions say 'no' to collective pact
By Shelani Perera
The CEB trade unions have decided not to sign the collective agreement prepared by the Board to finalise the restructuring of the CEB expected to commence by December.

The unions claim that they are against the agreement as the Board has failed to include the proposals put forward by them. The CEB which is to be restructured whereby Lanka Electricity Company (LECO) and the CEB are to be merged and six companies set up to carry out the functions of providing electricity. The Board which has set up a Reforms Office has commenced work setting the ground work for the merger.

President of the CEB Technical Union. U.L.K. Senaratne told The Sunday Times that the agreement was one-sided. 'We were told that it was only a draft proposal but we are against it as it will be made legal. There are no laws pertaining to the rights of trade unions, which is a serious lapse on the part of the management.

We will in no way agree to sign such an agreement. We have informed the relevant officials of this decision. Even the Minister agreed that a collective agreement has to be signed first before restructuring commences' he said. The unions are also protesting over the delay in paying arrears to employees which had been promised in February.

'There are many promotions which have been held back, transfers have also been affected. We have to first resolve these problems before signing any document. We informed the Power Sector Reform Committee of these problems. We will in no way agree to sign the agreement, if our needs and proposals are not included in the agreement' he said.

Earlier trade unions had protested over the Board decision to commence the restructuring process on October 1 stating that practical issues need to be resolved before the merger took place. The unions had warned the Board that by not properly carrying out the merger many problems would crop up.

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