admincondemn a crackdown against an earlier protest.
Traffic was blocked at a key business district as more than 1 000 workers shouted slogans and carried placards that read: “Government protects human rights by attacking trade unions,” “Condemn attack on workers” and
“Is the government policy to attack workers?”
The demonstrators also urged the government to arrest police officers who shot workers during a protest on Monday. Police said they had to use teargas and guns to break up unruly protesters. Some 200 workers and policemen were wounded.
Trade unions and other critics say the government’s pension proposal for private-sector employees would benefit workers less than the government claims it would. The government suspended the plan temporarily amid the rising protests, but its opponents want it abandoned.
Saman Rathnapriya, a trade unionist, urged the government to safeguard the rights of the workers and also to pay compensation to the workers wounded in the police assault.
“The government should take the responsibility for this unfortunate incident, and we urge the authorities to take action against those who ordered to attack workers,” he added.
The government decided on Monday to temporarily suspend the proposed pension scheme and appointed a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the crackdown and submit a comprehensive report within five days.
Monday’s clash hit Sri Lanka’s main free-trade zone, where many foreign investors run garment factories that are the island’s leading foreign exchange earner. That could set back the government’s efforts to lure investment to a country just recovering after a 26-year-old civil war ended in 2009. – The Canadian Press.
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