The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has issued a stern warning to the government that if any cuts are made to the salaries of health workers, they will resort to severe trade union action without any prior notice after the 25th.
Despite a number of serious problems in the health sector as well as in the country as a whole, the GMOA has not taken any decisive trade union action in the last two and a half years. The GMOA did not join the one – day token strike on April 28 to demand the resignation of the president and government, at least in protest of issues including the price of goods in the country.
Anuruddha Padeniya, the President of the Association, was instrumental in the election of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as President and was one of the main contributors to the Government’s Organic Fertilizer Program.
This time the issue has arisen in connection with a notification issued by the Secretary to the Treasury in the face of the current financial crisis in the country. It states that the sum of the overtime allowances received by public officers in various ways should be calculated from this month so as not to exceed the salary.
