• Union claims that in-house workers can be used instead of contracting outsiders, pushes for ironing-out recruitment policy shortcomings 

The employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) denounced the CEB’s allegations about the prospective workforce reduction up to 18,000, claiming that the CEB should stop other unnecessary expenditures to make profits instead of reducing the number of employees. 

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (13), CEB Workers’ Union (CEBWU) General Secretary Ranjan Jayalal claimed that the CEB is spending millions of rupees on its contractors even when there is the ability to fulfill the particular services using CEB employees. He also said that the shortcomings in the CEB recruitment policy, which is changed from one Minister to another, have caused the excessive number of employees in the CEB. Speaking further, he said that even though much recruitment has been done under the political interference of the subject Minister at the respective time, almost all the CEB employees are qualified with the requirements and that therefore, no worker should be suspended as the Government wishes. 

“We know that every Minister has filled the CEB cadre with their political henchmen. But, unlike other State owned entities, the CEB workers are qualified despite the way they entered it. Therefore, every employee has value. No one should be kicked out of the organisation at once. We know that the Indian companies that are willing to invest in the CEB don’t want such a large number of employees to be there. Therefore, we have doubts about whether the Government is trying to convince them by reducing the number of employees,” he said. 

Jayalal also noted that the CEB management should be concerned about unnecessary expenditure, such as spending too much money on contractors, when there is enough manpower to continue the services provided by the contractors. He claimed that the contract system has become a tool of corruption, favouring the relatives of the Minister in charge. He further noted that the CEBWU will not support any kind of workforce reduction at the moment.

CEB General Manager, engineer Narendra de Silva said recently before a Parliamentary committee that the CEB is planning to reduce its workforce to 18,000. Speaking before the Select Committee of the Parliament to Investigate Causes for Financial Bankruptcy Declared by the Government, he said that problems in the energy sector were a key reason for the economic crisis in the country. de Silva said that salaries amount to only 5% of the cost. The CEB has a cadre requirement of about 24,000, but, it now only has about 22,000 employees. 

“There is a plan to reduce the cadre to 18,000. However, if you want to reduce tariffs, we need to generate electricity using lower cost energy sources. The best options now are wind and solar power.”