Grama Niladhari officers will stop performing Saturday duties with effect from Saturday (15), the Sri Lanka Grama Niladhari Union has announced, saying the government failed to address their demands after earlier trade union action.
General Secretary Neville Wijeratne said officers will refrain from working on Saturdays until further notice, and that the union is calling on other associations to do the same.
“As an association, we have decided to call on other associations as well to withdraw from Saturday office duties starting today,” Wijeratne said. “Accordingly, we are withdrawing from duties on Saturdays, which we previously performed by sacrificing our holidays without receiving any additional allowance. We will also refrain from carrying out field duties on Saturdays.”
Until further notice, Grama Niladhari officers will be present at their domain offices only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he added.
Four demands
Officers reported sick and stayed away from work on August 10 and 11 over a set of demands that remain unresolved. According to Ada Derana, these are an increase in travel allowances; making a degree the minimum educational qualification for recruitment; granting the allowances recommended by the “Gammanpila Committee” and approved by the Cabinet; and paying a day’s salary for services rendered on government holidays, including Saturdays.
Wijeratne said the decision to withdraw from Saturday work was taken because the government neither responded to the two-day strike nor offered a constructive solution.
The August 10–11 sick-leave campaign was announced by the Grama Niladhari Trade Union Alliance, whose chairman Nandana Ranasinghe said then that the Rs. 600 travel allowance had not been increased in eight years. Ada Derana’s report on the latest step attributes it to the Sri Lanka Grama Niladhari Union and quotes Wijeratne.
What it affects
Grama Niladharis are the lowest tier of Sri Lanka’s state administration. Their divisions issue the certificates and character references residents need for land transactions, pension claims, school admissions and police and court matters, so a withdrawal from Saturday work removes a day on which many people complete that paperwork.
No government response was reported.
