State Minister of Transport & Civil Aviation Ashok Abeysinghe says the gazette notification declaring the railways an Essential Service will be issued today (03).
He says that the documents pertaining to this have been directed to the Secretary to the President and the President himself agreed to ink the said documents.
The railway service resorted to indefinite strike action from midnight on September 25th inconveniencing a massive number of commuters. The State Minister stressed that continuing the strike is unfair even after the authorities responded positively to their demands.
He emphasized that the railway workers who fail to report work during the course of the day will be considered as employees who have abandoned their respective posts.
The Locomotive Operating Engineers’ Union said that the trains will be operated today with the support of the locomotive operators.
The chairman of the Union, Mr Ashoka Munasinghe said the main objective is to operate the office trains initially.
