Doctors, Development Officers escalate trade union action

Monday, 9 November 2026 05:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Two groups of public sector employees are escalating trade union action over unresolved demands, with doctors planning a protest in Colombo tomorrow (10) and Development Officers islandwide reporting sick leave today.

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) said it would protest outside the Colombo National Hospital on 10 November, demanding solutions to salary and allowance issues and the shortage of medical professionals. It said repeated requests for discussions with the Health Ministry and other authorities had drawn no satisfactory response.

The Association cited the cancellation of tax-concession vehicle import permits after the 2022 economic crisis and increased taxation on doctors’ earnings and work-related allowances as added financial pressure. It said one-third of doctors’ overtime and holiday allowances had been suspended under the 2025 public sector salary revision, despite a reported Government undertaking to restore the payments once the economy improved.

The GMOA said fewer than 25,000 doctors were in active service under the Health Ministry and that approved staff cadre numbers across the health sector had not been revised on an evidence-based footing since 2015, despite an expansion of services, institutions, and units. The failure had raised workloads and threatened service quality, it said.

Proposals were submitted to the Government last August seeking solutions through the 2027 Budget, but no response had been received, the Association said, adding that it had staged protests near several major hospitals over the past week.

Tomorrow’s demonstration will demand salary and allowance fixes, a cadre revision to address shortages, and an end to measures the GMOA says are aimed at suppressing legitimate trade union demands.

Meanwhile, Joint Development Officers’ Association General Secretary Dhammika Munasinghe, addressing a media briefing in Colombo yesterday, said the demands had been raised with authorities repeatedly without action, and confirmed today’s sick leave campaign would proceed.