JVP trade unions to ignore Rajapakse invitation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2008, 15:49 GMT]
The National Trade Union Centre (NTUC) which has the backing of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the third largest political party in the current parliament decided not to attend the conference of trade unions summoned by President Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday to discuss the impact of the price increase of fuel. NTUC claims that 634 JVP backed trade unions in the country are its members, political sources in Colombo said.



JVP parliamentarian and its trade union co-ordinator K.D.Lalkantha said NTUC decided to not to attend the conference as it was called to get the support of trade union leaders to increase the price of fuel. "We protest against the government's decision to increase the price of diesel," he added.

The JVP will launch an agitation campaign in the country against the government for not giving a salary increase for the public sector in the wake of latest fuel hike, Lal Kantha said.