Sri Lanka outlaws strikes as unions cripple hospitals

A man leaves a hospital as health workers hold a work strike in Colombo on February 11, 2022.

Sri Lanka's president banned strikes in the health and electricity sectors on Saturday as trade union action that has crippled state-run hospitals entered its sixth day.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invoked a 1979 law prohibiting stoppages in the two sectors, declaring all related work "essential public services", his office said.

The tough regulations allow courts to hand down five-year jail terms and confiscate the assets of those refusing work.

The move followed health unions ignoring a court order Thursday instructing them to suspend their strike pending a hearing of a petition against their action.