Nearly 25 trade unions attached to the former Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) launched a 24-hour strike from 3 p.m. yesterday (9), withdrawing from all services in protest against what they described as the Government’s failure to respond positively to workers’ demands and to honour the existing collective agreement, even as the State power utility was formally dissolved at midnight on 8 March.

The industrial action coincided with the coming into force of six newly established electricity sector companies under a sweeping restructuring process that legally abolished the CEB as a corporate entity.

General Secretary of the CEB’s Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Samgamaya, Prabath Priyantha, said the strike was prompted by several unresolved issues, including concerns over employee rights and the manner in which the restructuring was implemented.

“We were left with no option,” he said, alleging that repeated requests for dialogue with the authorities had not resulted in satisfactory assurances. He claimed that workers’ concerns regarding job security, service conditions and the protection of benefits had not been adequately addressed.

The strike began just hours before the CEB ceased to exist under law. With effect from midnight on 8 March, the CEB Act, No. 17 of 1969 was repealed, bringing an end to the Board’s decades-long existence as the country’s vertically integrated power utility.

Under the new structure, responsibilities for electricity generation, transmission, distribution and system operations have been transferred to six successor companies, in terms of an extraordinary gazette notification issued recently by the Energy Minister.

All operational activities previously handled by the CEB will now be managed by these newly incorporated entities.