Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union averts split in ranks

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union ( CEBEU) has avoided a potential crisis among its membership by revoking the temporary suspension imposed on CEB Deputy General Manager ( DGM) Sujeewa Abeywickrama. Mr Abeywickrama’s CEBEU membership had earlier been suspended after he took part in a joint press conference with leaders of rival CEB trade unions on July 12.

Mr Abeywickrama’s suspension was ‘ conditionally’ revoked on Friday ( 17) at the CEBEU’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) where various members expressed their views on the matter, a union source, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, stated. Accordingly, he had been warned that any further infractions would result in an automatic suspension. The source claimed some members were trying to use the issue to create a split within the union, and said this was averted after a consensus was reached to revoke the suspension.

Mr Abeywickrama though, remains interdicted from his post at the CEB while it investigates various allegations made against him. Now that Mr Abeywickrama is again a CEBEU member, the union is obliged to represent him during the inquiry, the source acknowledged.

The decision by the union’s Executive Committee to suspend the engineer, who had been a CEBEU member for 35 years, had prompted protests by a group of CEBEU members, who subsequently wrote to union President Saumya Kumarawadu, urging the withdrawal of the temporary suspension of membership and permitting him to participate in the union’s AGM on August 17.

The letter, signed by more than 20 engineers, including a DGM, pointed out that while the CEBEU’s constitution grants the EXCO the right to suspend a member, it also notes that such a member shall be granted an opportunity to defend himself at a Special General Meeting ( SGM) convened to affirm or set aside that decision.

The letter accused that the CEBEU had acted in a manner with an ulterior motive of a few EXCO members to achieve their personal a g e n d a s, since Mr Abeywickrama, who is the most senior DGM, is in line for the position of the CEB’s next Additional General Manager (AGM) in January, next year.

The union source however, rejected the allegation, saying it had been made by those who wanted to split the CEBEU. “Members are governed by regulations and if they violate them, action will be taken against them. Though the suspension was revoked, the union has sent a powerful message, especially younger engineers, that it takes such matters seriously.”

Meanwhile, the CEBEU’s AGM on Friday saw Saumya Kumarawadu again elected as the union’s President for a further term.