Postal strike called off

The postal strike which had dragged on for three days had been temporarily called off last night following a written assurance given by the sub-committee set up to resolve issues faced by the postal employees headed by ministry secretaries, Post Master General Rohana Abeyratne announced.

During a discussion held with the United Postal Trade Union’s Front yesterday the committee members had agreed to find solutions to their problems within a two-week period after submitting a proposal to the Cabinet.

United Postal Trade Union’s Front Co-Convener H. K. Kariyawasam said due to the written assurance given to them their membership had decided to halt the trade union action temporarily. He warned however that they would not hesitate to go for further trade union action if the authorities neglect to honour the assurance given to them.

The Islandwide strike that went on for three days had resulted in many delays and severely inconvenienced employees both in the State and private sector.With over 600 sacks of airmail piling up at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and another 500 left at the Central Mail Exchange (CME) due to the strike, court operations, the work of leasing companies and other private and State institutions also suffered due to a shortage of stamps.

Post boxes around the country were seen stuffed were seen overflowing with mail posing a risk of the security of the mail inside them. The public too were severely inconvenience due to delays in receiving mail for three days at a stretch. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)