The Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS), the UNP affiliate trade union, has said the working people have fallen from the prying pan into the fire due to the 2012 budget.
In a statement, its media secretary Sunil de Silva said the budget, introduced at the instigation of the World Bank, had failed to give relief in any form to the four million workers in the country.
He said the JSS completely rejected president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s claim that he had given a Rs. 2,000 salary increase through the budget.
It pointed out that the increase amounted to only 1,175 and that it is only an allowance, as said by senior minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.
Also, the president’s previous promise for a Rs. 2,000 pay hike had come to nothing, the JSS added.
Furthermore, the devaluation of the rupee will result in the increase of prices of all consumer items to further burden the already suffering masses, it said.
