They have warned that they will be compelled to ratchet up their trade union action unless the government agrees to grant their demands. Dr. Amarasuriya actively took part in FUTA protests to pressure previous governments to allocate as much as 6% of GDP for education, and increase university teachers’ salaries. Non-academic workers in state universities are also resentful, and they are likely to resort to trade union action, seeking redress to their grievances. Whenever President Dissanayake attends District Development Committee meetings, he promises more funds for new projects and urges state officials to utilise them. So, the protesting dons can argue that there is no way the government can claim it is not in a position to allocate more funds for universities.