FLASH NEWS

ARTICLE 11 (i)-MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION SHALL BE Rs.60/- P.M. NFPE-RS.-4/-, CHQ RS. 12/-, CIRCLE RS.16/-, DIVISION/BRANCH RS.28/- PER MEMBER FROM JANUARY-2019

Thursday, June 30, 2011

WE GO ON WEBSITE AGAIN

Dear Comrades!
Due to technical problems our earlier website has gone beyond usage. The CHQ has created its new blogspot website again at the important time of indefinite strike. We call upon our CHQ Office bearers, Circle Secretaries and Divisional / Branch Secretaries as well as all our followers to visit our website and get the latest development then and there. The ID of our CHQ Website is as follows"
Comrades are requested to interact with the CHQ with your opinions and suggestions as well as genuine criticisms after reading the blogs in our website. Authentic and genuine opinions and criticisms wil be publshed in our website for all to read and comment further.
Ishwar Singh Dabas
General Secretary

GO ALL OUT PREPARATIONS FOR INDEFINITE STRIKE

Dear Comrades!

The high level talks on 27th June also failed because of the adamant attitude of the Secretary Postal Board, who is bent upon implementing all negative recommendations of McKinsey that are aimed at destruction of Indian Postal Services.

We are ready to compromise on anything but not on our livelihood and the existence of our Postal and RMS Services.

The total unity of Postal Workers under the banner of Postal JCA shall have to go on indefinite strike to defend the Postal and RMS Services from further deterioration and destruction.

Whatevet may be the attacks let loose by the Postal Administration and the Government, let us stand united and come forward to sacrifice to protect our services.

The McKinsey has to go!
The plan to abolish RMS should stop!
The idea of reducing the Speed Hubs should go!
The order to abolish 10,000 Post Offices shall be cancelled!
The retrograde idea to create Delivery Hubs by abolishing hundres of Delivery Post Offices shall be given up!
The intention to outsource our functions shall be retraced!
We want to live and we want our Postal Services live longer -

Let us show our might for for winning Justice.

- Ishwar Singh Dabas General Secretary

CONFEDERATION SOLIDARITY TO OUR POSTAL STRIKE

DEAR COMRADES! Please fine hereunder the copy of circular from Confederation expressing total solidarity with the Postal Strike as well as the Notice for organising the all india convention against PFRDA Bill in Parliament for privatising the pension of  CG Employees.  - Ishwar Singh Dabas, GS P4

CONFEDERATION CIRCULAR NO.12 DATED 28TH JUNE, 2011
Dear Comrade,
Kindly see our website. We have placed a copy of our letter seeking solidarity and support of our sister organizations and affiliates to the postal workers who will commence the indefinite strike action from 5th July onwards. We request all our affiliates and State Committees to organize Lunch –recess demonstration at the respective work spots on 5th July, 2011. The State Committees must ensure that a massive demonstration is organized at the CPMG offices of the State Capital eliciting participation of all CGEs on 8-7-2011 and send the following telegram/savingram to the Secretary-Post, Government of India, Dak Bhawan, New Delhi-110 001 as also to the Communication Minister. Shri Kapil Sibal, Hon'ble Minister for communications, 107, First Floor, Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi-110 001.
"We express our solidarity with the striking Postal employees. Urge upon you
To hold negotiations with the organizations and settle their demands."
The affiliates may kindly issue necessary instructions to all their Branches to carry out the above programme. Copy of the said communication may please be endorsed to the Confederation CHQ
The National Secretariat of the Confederation will meet on 30th July, 2011 at Chennai and the first meeting of the National Women's convention will also be held on the same day. Copies of notices are placed hereunder.
PFRDA Bill
The Government could successfully introduce the PFRDA Bill in the last session of the Parliament with the help of the BJP and others in the opposition. The Bill might come up for discussion and enactment in the monsoon session. In the wake of the attempt in this direction by the UPA-I Government, we had taken the decision to organize a day's strike jointly with AISGEF, the School and University Teachers Federations and the AIDEF. We have been in touch with all these organization for venturing into another serious campaign against the present Bill to culminate in an industrial action. Accordingly we have decided to hold a joint convention on PFRDA Bill at New Delhi on 22nd July, 2011. The venue of the convention will be :
M.P.C.U Shah Auditorium,
Shree Delhi Gujarati Samaj,
No.2, Raj Niwas Marg,
Civil lines, Ring Road,
New Delhi-110 054
(next to Civil lines Metro Station- Yellow Line)
The convention will commence at 11-30 AM and shall be concluded at 3-30 PM. The convention have the participation of the representatives from AISGEF, Confederation, AIDEF, School and University teachers Federations, and DREU. Other details will be conveyed in our next circular.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

CONFEDERATION EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY WITH POSTAL INDEFINTE STRIKE

CONFEDERATION OF CENTRAL GOVT. EMPLOYEES & WORKERS.
A-2/95,Manishinath Bhawan,Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-110 027
Tel: 011-2510 5324: Mobile: 98110 48303
Dated:23rd June 2011
Dear Comrade,
We write this to solicit your support and solidarity for the postal workers of the country who are preparing to go on indefinite strike action from 5th July 2011 onwards. The National Federation of Postal employees (NFPE), All India Postal Extra Departmental Employees Union (AIPEDEU), the two affiliates of the confederation has under the banner of the Joint Council of Action with the Federation of National Postal Organizations (affiliated to INTUC) and the National Union of Gramin Dak Sewak(affiliated to INTUC) have served the Strike notice on 14th June 2011 on the Postal Board. The Strike action will commence on 5th July, 2011.
The Issues
1. Some time back, the Department of Post, appointed the World (in)famous Transnational Corporation, Mckinzey Consultancy to make recommendations to it as to the manner and methodology to be adopted to restructure the century old postal system of the country. While the avowed objective was to modernize the system and make it a profit making venture, the real intent was to reorganize the department in such a manner so as to equip itself viable for privatization/corporatization. Earlier the Postal Department had made several attempts to privatize its functions and in the process large scale outsourcing was also resorted to. With the prime objective of eroding the efficacy of the Postal department, various steps were undertaken like, closure of sorting units, cutting down the staff strength despite widening business ventures, pegging down the overtime rates by linking it to pre-1986 pay scales etc. Thrice the Government made attempts to introduce legislation in the parliament to grant license to courier service providers. The stubborn resistance of the M.Ps especially of the left parties and a few others in the parliament and the struggles organized by the employees at the work spot thwarted it successfully till date. However, systematically and meticulously the Department had been creating conditions whereby the customers moved away to patronize the private courier services, run illegally without any licence whatsoever. Surprisingly even Government Departments, which are to communicate with large number of people often became customers of such illegally run private courier service providers The Mckinzey consultancy who is yet to make its final report, has however, suggested certain measures in the name of Mail Network optimization project which the postal department has now decided to implement without causing any discussions whatsoever with any of the stake holders, especially the unions. Their suggestions include:
(a) Closure/merger of about 9797 post offices in the urban area
(b) Reduce the number of Speed Post Centre from 315 to 89.
(c) Reduce the RMS sorting centres from 412 to 84
(d) To redeploy the postman staff in the newly created "Delivery hubs"
2. The major chunks of the postal workers are Gramin Dak Sewaks or Extra-departmental Agents. The EDA was the system developed by the British Government to spread the postal communication system to far flung rural areas of the country . They were simply agents or franchisees and were appointed so for pittance of a remuneration. Their cause was taken up by the unions of regular employees, the NFPE and its constituents and the FNPO, in the post-independent era and through sustained struggles fetched them very many concessions, benefits and privileges and brought them nearly on par with the regular employees. When the 5th CPC was set up in 1993, the Postal department was forced to appoint a Judicial Commission (The Talwar Commission) to go into the wage-structure and other service conditions of the Extra Departmental Agents, presently called the Gramin Dak Sewaks. The committee made far reaching recommendations, a good number of which the Government had to accept and implement, (except civil servant status and pension) thereby improving the lot of these employees considerably. However, the committee set up in the wake of the 6th CPC, the Natarajamurthy committee headed by a retired Postal bureaucrat, ensured that the EDAs were reduced to casual part time workers reversing in the process, decisions taken on the basis of Talwar Commission suggestions. Most of the committee's recommendations were in sync with the neo-liberal economic policies. The rules governing their service conditions have now been unilaterally amended whereby they may not be even termed as "employees" hereafter. The very caption of the regulatory rules which was GDS-Conduct and Employment rules have now been changed to GDS- Conduct and engagement rules, reducing them to the status of a Contract Worker.
In the negotiations which took place on 6th and 7th June, 2011 the Postal authorities have stuck to their stand of implementing the decision to create Speed Post and First Class mail hubs, despite their inability to contradict the fact presented by the staff side that the creation of such hubs has resulted in abnormal delay in the delivery of articles benefiting the private operators. It has, therefore, become unambiguously clear that without organizing sustained struggles and eliciting the support of the entire section of the working people and garnering public opinion, the reversal of the decision would not come about. The undeniable fact that Government and the Postal department armed with the recommendation of the Mckency consultancy are determined to demolish the existing postal system in the country to pave way for the unhindered entry of private operators has to be defeated.
We therefore once again request you to extend your co-operation, support and solidarity to make the proposed indefinite strike successful to compel the Government to rescind their decision to act upon McKenzie recommendations in the Postal Department.
With greetings,
Yours fraternally
K K N Kutty.
Secretary General