May 11, Colombo (LNW): Education Minister Susil Premajayantha announced that a memorandum addressing the salary anomalies of university non-academic staff will be presented to the Cabinet on Monday. Proposals tackling issues such as monthly allowances and wage disparities faced by this staff category will be tabled during the upcoming Cabinet meeting.
The announcement comes amidst an ongoing strike initiated by university non-academic employees, which began last Thursday and extended for the eighth consecutive day yesterday. The strike, propelled by various demands including rectification of salary disparities and receipt of monthly compensation allowances, saw approximately 13,000 non-academic staff members withdrawing from all services since May 2.
K.L.D.G. Richmond, Co-Secretary of the Inter-University Trade Union Federation, emphasized that strike action will persist, with members withdrawing from essential services if their concerns are not met with permanent solutions by the following Monday.
“The non-academic staff were compelled to take strike action due to the lack of satisfactory responses regarding prevailing salary anomalies,” Richmond stated.
The union further outlined plans to withdraw from essential services such as academic support for university students, research and laboratory services, along with other functions like garden maintenance. Additionally, the University Trade Union adjacent committee indicated that staff would boycott maintenance activities encompassing water, electricity, and cleaning services.
