(COLOMBO) – The army and police were called on Wednesday to operate Sri Lanka’s expressways after employees launched a wild-cat 24-hour token strike to press home three demands, officials said.
The strike was called by the All-Island Expressway Workers’ Union.
Spokesman for the Union, Yohan Hasitha Munasinghe said more than 11,000 employees attached to the RDA joined the token strike by calling in sick on Wednesday.
The token strike, which was launched from 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning will be called off at 7 p.m. on the same day, Munasinghe said.
However he stopped short of naming the demands.
According to officials with the Road Development Authority (RDA), the tri-forces and police personnel were dispatched to the expressways in a bid to ensure that operations continue uninterrupted.
“Road users were not inconvenienced owing to the trade union action but on the other hand we are looking into the grievances of the workers as well, the officials said.
There are five expressways in the island-nation that has a population of 2.3 million linking major cities from Colombo to the Deep South and the central province.
The number of users on the expressways however could not be reached while light vehicles such as tuk tuks, motorcycles and so on are banned.
