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Thursday September 21st, 2023

SriLankan Airlines pilots on industrial action over 189 dollar rate, salary cuts

ECONOMYNEXT – Lower dollar exchange rate used to calculate salaries in one of the key concerns raised by SriLankan Airlines pilots who have started a “Fly for Roster” campaign where they will not work on off days demanding quick solutions to their grievances, industry sources said.

The Airline Pilot’s Guild of Sri Lanka (ALPGSL) commenced what they call “Fly the Roster” campaign on February 4 which the ALPGSL cited “as a result of grievances not being resolved as assured by the Airline management in December 2021”.

Fly the Roster effectively means that no pilots will be available standby in the event of a duty pilot falls sick or go on a sudden leave.

The current exchange rate is a key issue in the industrial action.

SriLankan pilots are among few people in the country who are protected via dollar salaries from the money printing of the central bank, which leads to depreciation and high domestic inflation.

The central bank has declared the exchange rate to be 200 to the US dollar while injecting liquidity to keep rates down as the economy recovered, leading to forex shortages and parallel exchange rates.

“The pilots are paid less about 189 rupees per dollar which is less than the central bank fixed rate. Also the management has cut down pilot’s salaries during the lockdowns and it has not reversed this decision,” a source familiar with the pilot’s grievances told EconomyNext.

“So pilots’ salaries are reduced by both salary cut as well as paying a lower than market dollar exchange rate. On top of that, they also have cut down a lot allowances.”

Sri Lanka started printing money in 2020 to keep interest rates down in a bid to create a ‘production economy’, but the move has created severe monetary instability and labour unrest is rising.

A similar situation was seen in the 1980s, as money was printed and the currency depreciated creating strikes and social unrest.

“Some of the pertinent issues included contractual violations on the part of the management,” the ALPGSL said in a statement without elaborating the grievances.

Download : Pilots-Guild-Statment

During the Coronavirus pandemic SriLankan pilots took a cut in salary and benefits, along with most other private companies, which they say has not been reversed as indicated.

Industry sources told EconomyNext that a case had been filed in Labour Tribunal over the salary cut and the SriLankan management promised to do reverse from the start of next financial year starting on April 1.

However the management promised to address their grievances by January 31 when they launched a similar campaign in mid December, but it has failed to stick to its promise, according to sources linked to pilots.

The ALPGSL also has demanded to reverse some of the recent changes including probationary period for pilots as their grievances, the sources said.

An official at SriLankan Airlines, responding to EcononyNext’s query on pilot grievances said the company had nothing to do with dollar conversion rate.

“They (pilots) should deal it with the central bank. We have been paying their dues in dollars. It’s true that there is a salary cut and the management has promised to reverse it from the next financial year,” the official said.

“Despite their Fly by Roster campaign, there is no issue with the flights. Most of these pilots earn a monthly salary of more than 1 million rupees.”

Since October 28, the central bank has ordered to convert all dollar inflows into bank accounts of all Sri Lankans creating unhappiness and taking away their ability to protect themselves from monetary expropriation through depreciation.

There have been calls to reform the central bank’s governing law to block the ability of activist central bankers to print money and generate monetary and economic instability. (Colombo/Feb15/2022)

Comments (4)

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  1. MO77 says:

    Foreign workers does not get real rate for their money sending is a big problem. Sri Lankan airline is loss making business which is burden for the country.

  2. David Milli-banda says:

    You buggers have job & are guaranteed a salary. Just shut up get on with your job.
    Demands…. demands…. demands everywhere.

  3. Sagara Perera says:

    Teach them a lesson of their life. HE president do what LKY of Singapore did. Thousands of pilots are begging for jobs worldwide.

  4. Dhammika wijesinghe says:

    How about the other crew members

View all comments (4)

Comments (4)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. MO77 says:

    Foreign workers does not get real rate for their money sending is a big problem. Sri Lankan airline is loss making business which is burden for the country.

  2. David Milli-banda says:

    You buggers have job & are guaranteed a salary. Just shut up get on with your job.
    Demands…. demands…. demands everywhere.

  3. Sagara Perera says:

    Teach them a lesson of their life. HE president do what LKY of Singapore did. Thousands of pilots are begging for jobs worldwide.

  4. Dhammika wijesinghe says:

    How about the other crew members

Sri Lanka government to develop Arugam Bay tourism sector

ECONOMYNEXT – The Arugam Bay Tourism Development Plan, which focuses on challenges to infrastructure development in the area and obstacles hindering the growth of the tourism sector, was discussed by government officials and key stakeholders yesterday (20).

Participants from heads of relevant organizations, the Police and district officers met at the Presidential Secretariat to discuss how each institution could contribute to finding solutions to these challenges, the president’s media division said in a statement.

The main tourism plan for Arugam Bay, prepared by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) was presented by chief of presidential staff, Sagala Rathnayaka.

904,318 tourists visited Sri Lanka from January to August 2023, an increase from the 719,978 tourists that arrived in the country during the whole of 2022, statistics provided by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority show.
“A tourist will spend an average of 185 -195 dollars a day,” Sri Lanka Tourism Development Chairman, Priyantha Fernando, told EconomyNext.

Sri Lanka’s government aims to attract five million tourists a year, and has mooted the establishment of an Investment Infrastructure Corporation, a decision-making council and regional committees under provincial tourism boards. (Colombo/Sep21/2023)

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Sri Lanka gets 19.23 mn US dollar grant from USA

ECONOMYNEXT – The United States yesterday (20) announced the commitment of more than 19 million US dollars in additional funds to further the development of Sri Lanka.

The 19.23 million US dollar (6.2 billion rupees) is obligated through the Development Objective Grant Agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Sri Lanka government.

“This development assistance will support economic growth and democratic governance activities and demonstrates the ongoing US commitment to its partnership with Sri Lanka and in building lasting people-to-people ties,” a statement by the Embassy of the United States of America read.

“This investment demonstrates the United States’ ongoing commitment to our partnership with Sri Lanka and our steadfast support to the people of this stunning, opportunity-filled country, as USAID Administrator Samantha Power and President Wickremesinghe discussed in New York,” said Gabriel Grau, USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives Mission Director.

“With these funds we’ll continue to work with the government of Sri Lanka to improve economic growth and democratic governance and advocate for vulnerable populations.”

USAID is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

The United States has provided more than 2 billion US dollars (nearly 720 billion rupees) in assistance to Sri Lanka since 1956. (Colombo/Sep21/2023)

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Sri Lanka’s 2022 EPF returns falls to lowest, single digit in near two decades – CB data

ECONOMYNEXT – The 2022 annual average return on Sri Lanka’s largest contributory pension scheme, the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), has fallen to its lowest in nearly two decades, Central Bank data showed.

The annual average return in the last year fell to 9.52 percent from the previous year’s 11.40 percent, a central bank response to a Right to Information (RTI) request showed.

Returns on EPF has raised concerns among contributors after the government decided to include EPF investments in the government treasury bonds under the domestic debt optimization (DDO) process.

Last year’s lower return has been recorded despite market interest rates being more than 30 percent towards the end of the year. In contrast, the fund has given a double digit return in 2020 when the market interest rates hovered in single digits.

Analysts have predicted the returns to be further low with the central bank opting for the government’s DDO option.

A central bank analysis on DDO showed the return on EPF could fall to as low as 6.79 percent if the DDO option was not chosen within the next 12 years as against 8.02 percent if opted for DDO.

Trade unions and some politically motivated fractions opposed the government move to include the EPF investments under the DDO. However, parliament approved the move early this month.

According to the data made available from 2005, the central bank, which is the custodian of the EPF, has given the highest return of 16.03 percent in 2009.

The island nation’s largest pension fund has almost 21-million member accounts including 18.3 million non-contributing accounts due to some members having multiple number of accounts.

The 3.38 trillion-rupee ($10.6 billion) worth fund as of end 2022 is managed by the central bank, including its investment decisions.

As of end 2022, the central bank has invested 3.23 trillion rupees or 95.7 percent of the total EPF in government securities, while 84.1 billion rupees has been invested in listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange, the central bank said quoting the EPF audited financial statement. (Colombo/September 21/2023)

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