BoC branches in lightning strike on Friday

Although the bank trade unions took a decision to suspend their planned strike action following a discussion with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday evening, the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) branches countrywide were closed on Friday as the employees went ahead with the planned one day strike.

The day-long strike was planned against the government’s attempt to remove the General Managers of two state-owned banks, the BOC and the People’s Bank (PB) without following the proper procedure.

This was disclosed to the Business Times by the General Secretary of the Ceylon Bank Employees’ Union (CEBU), Ranjan Senanayake.

The meeting between the President and representatives of the CEBU concluded in the late hours on Thursday and the decision to postpone the strike had not been conveyed to branch unions due to the delay in arriving at a consensus on the matter, he said.

President Rajapaksa has given an assurance that within two weeks he will take a final decision on the appointments of two GM’s following a careful consideration of representations made by bank trade unions, Mr. Senanayake said.

He noted that the President has agreed to review the appointments of two acting GMs Sudath Gunasekara and Bonniface Silva to the BoC and PB and the removal of the previous GMs K. B. Senarath Bandara and G.B.P. Rasitha Gunawardana.

Mr. Senanayake said that the President assured them that this issue will be settled based on merit, experience and qualifications without considering any political affiliations of the contenders to the two posts.

The new appointment will be made in accordance with proper procedures, he said, adding that this was the first time that two senior bank officials are being removed by the government violating bank traditions and legal norms.