Sri Lankan Unions Strike Against IMF Bailout Plan.

Thousands of public sector workers in Sri Lanka went on strike to protest against high costs of living, including increased taxes imposed as a precondition for an IMF bailout, amid the country’s worst financial crisis in decades. The strike involved more than 40 trade unions, and schools cancelled term tests while outpatient departments at hospitals closed. Dockers at the main sea port in Colombo stayed away while air traffic controllers joined the combined industrial action to carry out a “go slow” for two hours affecting at least 14 international flights. The strike came despite a ban imposed by the president last month, and warnings that violators could lose their jobs.