CEB Strike Drama: High Voltage, Low Support?

The current running through the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) trade union drama is beginning to fizzle. Many insiders whisper that workers threatening strike action may soon have to unplug their protest, as the government looks more determined than ever to keep the lights on.

At the post-Cabinet briefing, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa didn’t mince words: “The government will not allow sabotage. If it happens, the law will come down hard.” Strong talk, and the kind that makes union leaders sweat.

Behind the scenes, the chatter is that public sympathy is running dangerously low for the strikers. For ordinary households, already battered by cost-of-living shocks, the thought of power cuts is like rubbing salt into wounds. As one tea-shop wag put it: “No one is going to cheer for a blackout.”

The government, for its part, insists it isn’t privatising the CEB, only “restructuring” it into four state entities. Workers can either accept the new order, or—according to Jayatissa—take compensation and walk away. Translation: adapt or unplug.

Gossip in the corridors suggests this is one standoff the unions might not win. Unlike past battles where blackouts turned the public against the government, this time the outrage seems aimed at the workers themselves. In a country where electricity is the last fragile lifeline, whoever threatens to pull the plug risks getting electrocuted by public opinion.

For now, the high-voltage suspense remains: will the unions press the switch, or quietly retreat before the fuse blows?