EDITORIAL - POSTAL CRUSADER, JULY 2013

FIGHT AGAINST THE POLICY

FIGHTING FOR THE ALTERNATIVE

Postal employees have always taken it as their motto to render best possible services to the people at large. We are conscious of our duties and responsibilities to the Nation. Inpsite of all limitations, we shall continue to discharge our duties towards the people and the Nation. But on the same breath, we want to make it clear that contended staff are always an asset to the Nation and discontentment if allowed to grow, it is bound to affect the services. We do claim that further improvement in the services can be brought out if joint endeavours are made by both Administration and unions. While we have successfully built up a strong movement through our united efforts, we do claim to maintain cordial relations with the administration at different levels – branch/Divisional/Circle and All India.

But our experience hitherto shows that maintaining cordial relation with administration alone will not solve the basic problems faced by the Postal employees. Most of the issues agitating the minds of the Postal employees are due to the overall policy of the Government. Proposed move to permit entry of private sector into Postal services by granting licences to the transnational courier companies, Denial of legitimate rights of the Gramin Dak Sevaks including Civil Servant status and bonus-parity, Non-payment of revised wages to the casual labourers, unjustified abolition of vacant Posts, Refusal to appoint Seventh Pay Commission and Inclusion of GDS under its purview, merger of 50% DA, inhuman 5% restriction on compassionate appointments, introduction of share-market oriented contributory Pension Scheme, non-removal of bonus ceiling, downsizing, outsourcing, contractualisation, corporatization etc are all directly linked with the polices of the Government. Inspite of our sincere cooperation, if things are not moving in the proper direction, we have to be ready for a serious course of action. We can never allow the situation to continue like this which is bound to cause deterioration in services and also adversely affect the interest of the employees. We should analyse and understand the root cause of the problems and shall find out remedy.

The logic of the neo-liberal reforms is maximization of profit and minimization of cost of labour as well as people. Being a capitalist agenda, it operates in that direction in a spontaneous manner. It maximizes profit by keeping the wages suppressed and also by generating a huge army of unemployed as reserve, to facilitate such suppression of wages. Under neo-liberal order it promotes speculation to multiply profit, thereby  further aggravating unemployment, price rise and poverty. When it falls into crisis, as have happened at the present juncture, it seeks to shift the entire burden of the crisis to the people and workers. That is why our genuine demands are denied. Hence the fight against the galobalisation policies assumes paramount importance. We have to change this policy and we should continue our fight for an alternative policy.

Alternative to the imperialist globalization policy is nothing else but socialism, complete emancipation of society from all exploitation. Change in the system, or transition of the society, does not happen automatically. The working class, including the Postal employees, has to play a pro-active role in intensifying the struggle and prepare itself to lead the struggle for change in the system. It has to sharpen the struggle further, unifying the entire working class against the neo-liberal policies and rally the people around it to achieve the change. When struggle intensifies, at some point of time they may concede some of our demands. But that is not the end. We should continue our struggle further, till these policies are reversed completely and an alternative system comes into existence. For this we should elevate the consciousness of the workers and heighten the quality of the struggle further. Let us have a clear understanding that the fight against the policy is nothing but fighting for an alternative in the long run, an alternative society which bring an end to the exploitation of one human being by another. Therefore our present day activities must continue to target the present exploitative system, expose its anti-people, anti-working class character.