University non-academic staff protest over salary issues

A protest organized by the Inter-University Trade Union Joint Committee took place today (25) at the Galaha Junction, demanding fair and immediate solutions to grievances faced by university non-academic staff.

Similar demonstrations occurred during the lunch hour in front of all state universities across the country.

T.A.D. Suranjeeva, General Chairman of the Peradeniya University Trade Union Alliance, stated that the current government unfairly slashed special allowances and reduced the value of hourly overtime payments despite claims of being people-centric.

He expressed disappointment that while the current President advocated for university employee issues while in the opposition, sufficient attention to these matters remains lacking after taking office.

Protesters highlighted several key demands requiring urgent government attention, including the restoration of the hourly overtime rate as mentioned in the Presidential budget speech and the reinstatement of unfairly cut special allowances.

They also called for promptly filling university vacancies, correcting salary anomalies, and increasing the monthly compensatory allowance.

The unions emphasised that they will be forced to take stricter industrial action in the future if the government fails to provide immediate and fair solutions.