(COLOMBO) – A passenger was killed after opting for a risky ride on a train after an announced strike by a section of rail workers left thousands of home workers and others stranded reducing the railway services to a near zero operation in Sri Lanka.
The victim was heading for Polgahawela in rural Sri Lanka, when he slipped out of the roof of the moving train and died instantly, police said.
The train was moving from Colombo Fort to Polgahawela when the incident took place.
Strikers at the Sri Lanka Railway services on Wednesday defied a Government warning to return for duty by midday local time on Wednesday or risk facing the sack.
The railway services have ceased to operate since midnight on July 12 following a strike launched by the Station Masters Union and signal operators.
The General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways had warned that all Station Masters and Railway Controllers who fail to report to duty by 12.00 noon on Wednesday will be considered as having vacated their positions.
Accordingly, all the striking Railway Station Masters and Railway Controllers were instructed to report for duty at their respective railway stations or at least to the nearest railway station.
The Sri Lanka Railways Station Masters’ Union had decided to launch a strike action from midnight on July 09 based on several demands including promotions.
As a result, several trains including the office trains and night mail trains to and from Colombo Fort and Badulla, to and from Trincomalee, to and from Batticaloa and night mail train to Rambukkana were cancelled, the department said.
Strikes and trade union actions in the island-nation are regular happenings whenever there is an election due and this has been the case for some 70-plus years.
Both Presidential and Parliamentary elections must be held before the end of the year according to the county’s Constitution.
The governments, both present and in the past have described these trade union actions as politically motivated and nothing to do with the moderate working class or the general public in particular.
