INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A total of 15 employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) have been interdicted for disrupting the services during their protest against
the proposed restructuring of the state-owned electricity supplier.CEB trade union members engaged in a series of protests for three days
clerical staff members in charge of the cash counters had obstructed the customers, who had come to pay their bills, by closing the windows
of the counters.Ahead of the trade union action, the CEB management, by way of a circular, had cancelled the leave of all employees with
However, in case of an urgent matter, the employees were allowed to take a leave, with the approval of an executive officer attached to the
respective division or branch.Meanwhile, Extraordinary Gazette No.2363.02 published on December 18, 2023, on the instructions of President
Ranil Wickremesinghe, had declared all services connected to the electricity supply as essential public services.After the three-day trade
union action was launched, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera instructed the CEB management to suspend and take appropriate
disciplinary action against the employees disrupting the services, or acting in violation of the guidelines.
