Sri Lanka’s trade unions hold nationwide strike, daily life gets disrupted

 

Colombo: The one-day token strike organised by Sri Lanka’s trade unions on Wednesday to protest the government’s massive tax and utility rate hikes has brought daily life in the crisis-hit island nation to a grinding halt and disrupted services in key sectors like airports, ports and banking.

The trade unions belonging to various sectors called the strike after defying an essential services order issued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and urged his government to withdraw its tax hikes.

In January, President Wickremesinghe, who is also the country’s finance minister, hiked corporate taxes to 30 per cent from 24 per cent, after raising VAT (Value Added Tax) to 15 per cent last year.