Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardena has slammed the token strike launched by the expressway employees this morning (Nov.22) as a deliberate attempt at incurring a loss to the government.

“This is not a trade union action, but a subversive move,” the lawmaker said addressing the parliamentary session earlier today.

The All-Island Expressway Workers’ Union resorted to a token strike at 7 a.m. today by calling in sick.

The trade union action is based on 3 key issues: the alleged attempts by the Finance Ministry and Road Development Authority (RDA) to privatize the country’s expressway network, delayed payments for unused sick leave for the year 2022 and the delayed approval for the System for Optimized Recruitment (SOR) which deferred the grade-to-grade promotions of all employees.

Gunawardena claimed that employees on strike have taken the ticketing machines with them, in a bid to disrupt the expressway operations.

Resorting to such moves against the backdrop of an economic crisis is a ‘serious crime’, he said, while commending the efforts of the security forces to keep expressway operation uninterrupted amidst the trade union action.

Soon after the expressway employees launched their token strike, tri-forces and police personnel were dispatched to ensure the security and issue tickets.