Phone: 23092771
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES
1st Floor, North Avenue Post Office Building, New Delhi – 110001
PF/01[e]/2/2007 Dated 19th November 2007
To
All Circle Secretaries
NFPE Unions.
Dear Comrade,
I would like to share with you the developments that are taking place on various issues since our 7th Federal Council Session in Kolkata. I have convened the first Federal Executive of NFPE also on 1 st of December 2007 in the headquarters to take organisational decisions to tackle the issues we are facing today. However as the leader of the membership of your union at your circle I would like to share these issues with the hope that you would be able to play a crucial role in educating our membership and overcoming our hurdles to build a stronger organization to deliver to our mass of workers.
Let me Congratulate:
At the outset let me congratulate your great efforts to carry out the call of one-day strike on 30 th October 2007. The response of Postal and RMS workers all over the country was stupendous. The participation is better than earlier strikes and no doubt the platform of unity established by us as well as the demands like pension privatization – pay commission and GDS Committee related issues – gripping the imagination of our employees were mainly responsible for the spontaneous involvement of workers. The strike has put pressure on many in several quarters. It has put pressure on the Government; on the Pay Commission itself; on many other CG Employees Organisations who stayed away from the strike of Confederation; and on the Postal Department. They cannot ignore the magnificent response and continue as though nothing has happened! We are very much enthused by the mammoth response of workers and would be focusing our issues in that background. The total credit goes to you and our other rank and file comrades for the grand success of the strike. Let me once again congratulate you on this feat.
An empty handed beginning:
I would like to inform you that the new team of Office Bearers elected in the 7 th Federal Council at Kolkata with Comrade D.K. Rahate as the President and me as the Secretary General have assumed charge of the Federation. But we are beginning to shoulder our new responsibility with empty hands. The mighty federation is in a state of financial crisis. The legal battles the federation was forced into had taken its toll. There are many smaller organizations with not even one third of our total membership but with a sound finance functioning in the headquarters. We are the only organization with lakhs of membership in a state of financial crisis struggling to meet the day-to-day running expenses of the federation.
We have the ongoing legal expenditure also to be tackled in order to win the recognition to the NFPE as otherwise it will be once again a serious set back at the time of recommendations to be submitted by another pay commission. The Secretary General and other Office Bearers whenever needed are to be brought on Foreign Service to headquarters to efficiently manage the affairs; the office staff of federation is to be paid their monthly allowances; the monthly organ of our federation 'Postal Crusader' is to be regularly released. The call for collection of NFPE Fund from all our members @ 10/- per member is yet to be received by the federation from many branches and divisions of your circle. The completion of that task would definitely take the federation out of its present crisis. Moreover I would like to request you to take steps to remind our divisional and branch secretaries of their constitutional responsibility of sending due quota to the federation and all other higher bodies. Only a regular in-flow of funds can ensure smooth functioning of the federation at the present crucial time.
Finance Minister is negative:
The entirety of central government employees is eagerly awaiting the announcement by the Government for the announcement of enhancement of bonus ceiling from 2500/- to 3500/-. It is only natural that every time the government had amended the bonus act, the cabinet subsequently had decided to extend the benefit to CG Employees also with the same date of effect. The Staff Side Secretary of National Council JCM wrote the DOPT Secretary and Finance Secretary. But the Finance Minister is reluctant to take any positive stop in this matter. The anxiety of the workers is growing. The Confederation gave a call and the Postal JCA of NFPE and FNPO also endorsed it to organise protest demonstrations and dharna all over the country and send telegrams to the Union Finance Minister. But still the matter is not settled.. The Confederation is now writing to the Prime Minister of India and also seeking help from senior Members of Parliament to intervene with the Prime Minister for taking a positive decision immediately. The Railway leaders attempts to get the benefit for railway workers are yet to succeed. The Confederation has to call upon for spontaneous industrial action if the bonus ceiling is announced for railways and not for the rest of the CG Employees; The Confederation would have to jump into a major industrial action if the Railway leaders go into any action in this matter. However the issue cannot be allowed to weaken and the Confederation has decided to discuss in depth in its National Executive meeting scheduled to meet on 9 th December in Bangalore. I only would like to request you to ensure that all branches and divisions in your circle carry out the present phase of programme of protest demonstration and dharna and sending telegram to Finance Minister without fail to step up pressure on the Government.
Let us review the progress of our issues:
The intention of calling the Federal Executive of NFPE is also to analyze the progress made in the charter of demands on the basis of the settlement reached in April 2007. We find progress was achieved on some issues like filling up the promotions of LSG, HSG-II, HSG-I; revision of syllabus for LGO Examination; action on filling up of residual vacancies in all circles etc. But on many major issues like constitution of judicial commission for GDS after dissolving the officer headed committee; absorption of RRR candidates; scrapping the dangerous Franchisee System; getting exemption from the Screening Committee to protect us from the continued abolition of posts; regularization of casual and part-time contingent workers etc the stand of the Government and the Department is negative. The Department of Posts is dragging its feet from many of its strike commitments. The Federal Executive therefore will have to deeply go into all such issues and to take appropriate decisions for joint struggles. I hope you would also appraise the federation about the field level realities and sentiments of workers to help the Federal Executive of NFPE take correct decisions on all such matters.
Let us use technology:
Comrades! The communications technology is revolutionized by the modern scientific development. Let us not fall behind in making use of the new technology. The traditional methods of functioning alone are not sufficient in the present day fast world. We have to mould ourselves to the changing technologies to improve our organisational functioning. Let me express my happiness that for the fist time we are organising a countrywide protest demonstrations by exhibiting the call in the NFPE web site. I only request you to educate our entire rank and file to visit our web site and get the developments then and there. The email communications are also to be utilized for better communication-link. The email addresses and the web site addresses are reproduced below for your ready reference.
NFPE E-mail ID : www.nfpehq@gmail.com
Web Site of NFPE : www.nfpe.blogspot.com
Let us dedicate once again:
The Calcutta Postal Club, which was founded by the father of the P&T trade Union movement Babu Tarapada Mukherjee, has completed its 100 years of formation. It is time that we celebrate this great and historic event in a most befitting manner and re-dedicate ourselves to work for the betterment of all our workers in general and to the weak and the downtrodden in particular. I finally request you to organise the Centenary celebration of Calcutta Postal Club to commemorate the event and the legacy of our trade union movement in a befitting manner as decided by the 7 th Federal Council of NFPE.
With Fraternal Greetings,
Yours Comradely,
Sd/-
[K.Ragavendran]
Secretary General
Copy: [1] All Office Bearers of NFPE
[2] All General Secretaries of NFPE Unions.
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K.Ragavendran
Secretary General NFPE
