SLT engineers continue work to rule for second week
View(s):The Telecommunication Engineers’ Union (TEU) of SriLanka Telecom (SLT) this week continued its trade union action of work to rule for the second week, saying the new management headed by Dileepa Wijesundera, Group CEO, is yet to fulfil their demands. These include settling vehicle allowances and related issues, arrears of transport allowance and related issues, duty time adjustment of engineers joined after 2006, ad hoc management changes without transparency, and proposed promotion scheme for certain grades of the company. In a letter to the SLT Chairman, the union noted that they have repeatedly brought their anomalies to the notice of the management and they have not responded to it so far.
The union is also protesting against the management over the attempt to absorb manpower agency and contract workers numbering 2,500 to the SLT permanent cadre without proper qualifications violating the company’s standard procedures. The letter said that around 147 incompetent persons had been recruited in the first batch, and in the second, a further 250 are to be recruited. In addition, those incompetent unqualified staff from Hambantota and Beliatta who were temporarily employed under the name of ‘manpower’ during the Rajapaksa regime are also to be made permanent.
The union said they are unable to perform their duties duly when they have such incompetent unqualified staff. Members of the TEU, the largest and strongest trade union of the SLT, launched a work to rule campaign with effect on February 15 to win their long standing demands. The trade union action will be continued until acceptable solutions are given for their demands; an executive member of the TEU said adding that other trade unions of SLT will extend their support to win legitimate demands. SLTs technical maintenance has been severely affected by the TEU’s work-to-rule campaign, he said.