Decision to report to work is ours, not the Minister’s: CTU

Colombo, June 27 (Daily Mirror) - In reference to the statement made by Acting Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana requesting the teachers to report to work, the Ceylon Teachers' Union (CTU) said that it is up to them to decide, not the Minister.

CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin told the Daily Mirror today that during the tenure of Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana, nothing substantial was provided for teachers.

"We only held a strike for two days. We will not report for duties as he said. Initially, we planned a single-day campaign. The government forced us into today's strike after using water cannons and tear gas against us yesterday. That's why we've decided to continue our sick leave campaign for today," he said.

"We do not need their advice. If the government maintains that position, we will have to make various decisions in the future to meet our demands. On August 10, 2021, a Cabinet sub-committee led by Minister Susil Premajayantha decided that the education sector needs Rs. 46 billion for development, including addressing salary anomalies," he said. 

"We received a salary increment starting January 1, 2022. One third of the salary was given according to the Subodhini Committee report. We are not asking for anything more, just the remaining two thirds of the salary. We will continue this strike until our demands are met. We are the ones who decide whether to continue or stop our trade union actions.

"We have given the government time, and it is their responsibility to provide us with the remaining two thirds of the salary adjustment," he said.