May 14, Colombo: The All-Lanka Health Service Union, affiliated with Sri Lanka's Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP), has threatened an all-island strike against the introduction of thumb impression machines to record attendance of workers in hospitals.

As a first step in the protest, workers at the major hospitals will walk out from 8.30 AM to 12.00 noon tomorrow and Wednesday, the union announced.

All-Lanka Health Service Union protests the decision of the Ministry of Health to introduce thumb impression machines on the basis that such recording of attendance is valid only for 16 worker grades of the health service.