August 17, Colombo (LNW): Postal services across the country are expected to face significant disruption as employees prepare to commence an island-wide strike starting at midnight (18).
The industrial action, spearheaded by the Joint Postal Trade Union Front (JPTU), marks a sharp escalation in an ongoing dispute between workers and postal authorities.
As part of the lead-up to the nationwide walkout, staff at the Central Mail Exchange initiated their protest earlier this afternoon, ceasing operations from 4 p.m. onwards.
At the centre of the dispute are a series of long-standing grievances—19 in total—raised by union representatives. Chief amongst them are concerns over inadequate overtime compensation and the controversial implementation of fingerprint scanning systems used for recording staff attendance.
Workers argue that the new measures are intrusive and have been introduced without proper consultation.
In a show of coordinated resistance, postal employees have also withdrawn from all overtime duties since yesterday morning, further slowing down mail processing and delivery across the country.
