The Island 25/06/2011
By Nilantha Madurawala
Teachers of the Music and Visual Arts faculties, of the University of Visual and Performing Arts, resigned from their voluntary administrative posts yesterday in support of the trade union action launched by the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) demanding an immediate pay hike.
"So far over 15 teachers have submitted their resignation letters," said President of the Visual Arts Faculty Teachers Union Chandragupta Thenuwara.
FUTA members launched a protest march on Tuesday afternoon in Colombo to pressure the government over the issue.
University teachers launched their agitation with a one-day token strike on March 15 and quit voluntarily posts from May 09, in protest against the government’s failure to increase their salaries.
FUTA discussed the problem with President Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 25, but it ended with no solution in sight.
They also discussed the matter with Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake and he had promised to solve the problem immediately.
