Feb 12, Colombo: trade unions affiliated to Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) have commenced a campaign against the government's failure to address the rising cost of living.

The NTUC's campaign has commenced with an island wide poster campaign while the public and private sector trade unions have also commenced campaigns demanding the government to increase the minimum salary of the workers.

The National Trade Union Center (NTUC) says working masses from all sectors are badly hit by the sky rocketing cost of living.

An NTUC official said that close to an eight million population of the country's working masses who are living on a fixed income are the worst affected by the increasing prices.

"The people should therefore stand against the government that has failed to address the cost of living issue. There's no use of a government that cannot find a solution to provide relief to the people," the official said.