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Sri Lanka petroleum workers call off island wide strike

Xinhua, April 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

Sri Lanka's petroleum workers late on Monday called off an island wide strike after holding successful talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Petroleum Minister Chandima Weerakkody.

During the talks, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had assured he would look into the grievances of the workers.

The strike which affected Sri Lanka's transport sector, was launched on Sunday midnight by a trade union from the petroleum sector over the government's move to sign a pact with India regarding the oil tanks in the eastern port of Trincomalee.

The union wants the government to stop what it sees as entering into a partnership with the Indian Oil Company to develop disused World War II era storage tanks in Trincomalee.

Long queues lined up outside petrol pumps on Monday over worries of a petroleum shortage as Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Trade Union Collective workers threatened to cripple the entire transportation sector in the country as a result of the strike.

Weerakkody said on Monday that he would be holding discussions with the Trade Union activists and dismissed concerns that the strike would cause a fuel shortage. Endit