Sri Lanka - Government attempts to prevent strike action (2013)

It has been reported that the Government is using various tactics to prevent workers from staging a strike demanding the withdrawal of the increased electricity tariff. For example, several state departments and statutory bodies have received letters from ministry secretaries asking them to cancel employee leave and to ensure that they are present at work on the day the strike is planned. The government has also sent circulars to various schools directing the school principals to ask teachers to sign the attendance register three times over the course of the day to ensure they do not participate in the strike.