Rail passengers crushed in tussle between politicians and unions
Hundreds of of enraged rail commuters surrounded the office of the station master in charge of train operations at the Fort Railway Station on Wednesday, while crowds bayed from the elevated walkways and stairways at the rail hub demanding transport to go home.
Women were helpless amid the chaos.
Massive crowds jeering rail officials and screaming for services to be restored were the result of an unannounced strike by locomotive drivers and guards seeking redress on driver assistant recruitment, which they say breaches recruitment and safety guidelines. They say that an adviser to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as well as the Transport and Civil Aviation Ministry Secretary G S Withanage have refused to revise the recruitment procedures. The unions have said these ‘’stubborn’’ officials must be held responsible for the transport chaos.
But many furious passengers insisted they will teach an unforgettable lesson to locomotive driver unions and threatened to punish them while TV cameras kept rolling. Railway staffers who issued tickets were challenged to explain and were humiliated by irate passengers. They were asked to shed their uniforms and go home.
Transport Minister Mr Nimal Siripala de Silva refused to give in and threatened unions with legal action.
The Sunday Times witnessed tired, frustrated, helpless office workers rushing to board dangerously overloaded public buses in the Pettah, while women and children stood for hours to get home.
Passengers going to far away homes and who had booked trains waited for hours at the Fort Railway Station. Those going to Badulla, Kandy, Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Chilaw, Avissawella, Galle, Matara, Puttalam, and Anuradhapura were among hundreds of thousands stranded.
Some said they were forced to look for alternative accommodation in Colombo. For others, the few benches in railway stations became temporary rests.
Commuters were furious at theLocomotive Operating Engineers and Drivers' Union, which sprang a surprise on commuters.
T H Ameen, who was strandedat the Fort Railway Station, said that he and his wife learned of the strike after they reached the station.
“I came with my wife and daughter to Colombo to buy some goods, but now we are unable to return to Kandy. The last train to Kandy was jam packed and we could not go home,’’ he said.
A.A S. S. Perera, said that he saw the chaos for two days as the strike continued on Thursday as well. He said people were risking their lives to cling on to trains and buses.
K W S Madushan, a regular commuter, said that the railway unionists had a responsibility to tell commuters.
“We have done nothing wrong to the unions, yet they always put us in trouble to win their demands,’’ he said.
Another commuter, S A Hashan, said that while he understood the need for the strike, unionists should give notice.
The general secretary of the Locomotive Engineers Union, D H Indika, defended the strike on Wednesday. “We thought the Government will compromise and settle the issues related to the recruitment process of engine driver assistants and their salaries,” he said.
He said their demands were ignored at the discussions held with an official at the Prime Minister’s office.
He said the union expected a settlement on Wednesday.
“People were angry,’’ he said, adding that some barged into the cabins of the locomotive operators. “Considering the safety of the drivers and the trains we had to refrain from driving office trains that were scheduled after 5:15pm,’’ he said.
Mr Indika said that the initial plan was a four- day strike from midnight on Wednesday.
“However, the strike was called off after the meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat was a success. They gave a written assurance to halt recruitments of engine drivers’ assistants,’’ he said. A committee was appointed. The Transport Ministry Secretary G.S Withanage will head the panel, while officials of public administration, Department of Management Service, National Pay Commission, General Manager of Railways, Locomotive Operating Engineers and Drivers' Union, Railway Guards Union and the Union of Assistant Locomotive Drivers are participating.
On Thursday, the second day of the strike, authorities put into service just 22 trains as against 450 trains which operate on a normal day.
Nine trains operated on the main line, six on the coastal line to the south, three on the Chilaw line, two on the Kelani Valley route and two trains to the north.
The railway said public buses were arranged for passengers holding season tickets. A few buses were put into service f rom Colombo to Avissawel l a , Polgahawela and Chilaw.
The chief operations superintendent, Sri Lanka Transport Board. P H R T Chandrasiri, said five air- conditioned expressway buses were provided to railway on request.
Meanwhile the Coastal Railway Passengers Association (CRPA) issuing a statement said that although they strongly believed that unions had the right to take union action to solve long standing issues it should not be at the cost of the tax-paying public.
"The unions suddenly called a strike from Wednesday midnight and refrained from operating the trains from 5 p. m. causing inconvenience to the commuters. Government offiers should not inconvenience the public to earn their demands. The commuters are the ones who provide funds for their salaries trough taxes," the statement said.
The CRPA said that engine drivers and railway guards lost their dignity through