Station Masters preparing to launch strike action

COLOMBO (News 1st); Chairman of the Station Masters Association Sumedha Somaratne says all station masters in the island are preparing to launch a strike action.

Somaratne, speaking to News 1st stated that there are ample amounts of train compartments in the Department and questioned as to why the Government is focused on creating a negative image by the usage of unusable train compartments. 

" Are they deploying dilapidated train compartments to create a negative image about the Government? Why are they putting the life should the general public at risk like this? Are they doing this to discourage the general public from traveling on trains? Are they doing this to privatize the department? " he questioned.

Pointing out that the train signals along Matara- Beliatta, and Anurudhapura-Talaimannar are malfunctioning, he stated that it has not been repaired for the past several years.

Speaking further, he also said that if these faults are not rectified, all station masters will launch a strike action on the night of the 26th Sunday.

"We want to protect the lives of the people who travel on trains and we want these issues to be rectified," he added.