The CMU Friday called ``adequate’’ subsidies for essential food and other commodities and services like transport and health in the forthcoming budget saying these were essential for the wellbeing of the masses whose living standards had gravely deteriorated as a result of galloping inflation particularly during the last two years.

This demand, unanimously adopted by the union’s General Council, was conveyed to the president by CMU’s Bala Tampoe who said that the government’s military policy had added financial burdens on the working people.

The following is the text of Tampoe’s letter:

``I refer to my brief conversation with you on 21st October last, at the meeting that you held with representatives of various trade union organizations, including the Union I represent, The Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers’ Union (CMU), in regard to the 2009 Budget.

``I attended the meeting pursuant to decisions of the General Council of the Union in regard to the Budget. I had intended to address you thereat; but, as I informed you, I thought it advisable to communicate with you later, in writing, instead, as there were many other trade union representatives who were waiting to address you, before I was able to arrive at the meeting.

``I have now to inform you that the CMU General Council had unanimously decided, with 101 members present, to request that your Government should make appropriate provision in the Budget for the grant of adequate State subsidies, in respect of food and other commodities, as well as for public services, like transport and health services, that are essential to the maintenance of the living standards and well-being of the masses of our people, which have gravely deteriorated due to the unprecedented and continuing rise in the rate of inflation, particularly in the last two years.

``The General Council is of the view that the military policy that has been pursued by your Government, since you decided that it was necessary to destroy the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in the North and East, in order to eliminate what your Government describes as "terrorism" in this country altogether, was reflected in the 2008 Budget appropriation of Rs.166 billion for Defence Expenditure. This has contributed substantially to ever-increasing financial burdens being imposed on the masses of the working people of our country, in urban and rural areas, as well as on the plantations.

``In the Appropriation Bill presented to Parliament earlier this month, your Government has now proposed to appropriate Rs.177 billion for Defence Expenditure, for the year 2009 (an increase of Rs. 11 billion over last year), even though you had confidently predicted, at the beginning of this year, on the advice of your military commanders, that the armed forces of the L.T.T.E. would be destroyed in the North as well as East, by the end of this year.

``In that connection, we would remind you that our General Council declared, in a public statement issued on 19th February 2008, a copy of which we submitted to you, through Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President, on 22nd February 2008, that our Union had no confidence in the War policy of your Government, or that it would result in Peace and a better life for our people. On the contrary, we declared that we had reason to consider that this year would turn out to be even worse for the working people than it was last year.

``In the circumstances, our Union considers that it is imperative for your Government to alleviate the sufferings of the working people and their dependents, by substantially reducing their living costs through the grant of the State subsidies that our Union has requested.