NATIONAL FEDERATION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES
FEDERATION OF NATIONAL POSTAL ORGANISATIONS
ALL INDIA POSTAL EXTRA DEPARTMENTAL EMPLOYEES UNION
NATIONAL UNION OF GDS
JCA/2010 Dated 3rd February 2010
To
All Circle / Divisional / Branch Secretaries
NFPE & FNPO Affiliated Unions / Associations & GDS Unions.
Dear Comrades / Colleagues,
PROTEST THE UNJUSTIFIED UNILATERALISM OF DOP
The Department of Posts has taken the route once again to total unilateralism and complete ignoring of staff side views on any basic issues that affect the interests of staff and service. It either prefers to non-consult the staff side totally before taking any decision to implement things that have a serious adverse impact on our interests and even against the existing Rules and Procedures formulated by DOPT and under FR&SR. It forgets and undermines its own accepted agreements and before the ink in the agreements dry takes recourse to violation of same agreements to which it is a party. This forces the staff side to time and again come to the streets to launch protest action to make ourselves heard. Unless this unhealthy practice is totally given up and an atmosphere of mutual consultations and honouring of its own committed positions in agreements is brought about by the DoP, the Postal JCA is of the firm opinion that a lot of energy and concentration of workers and employees of postal services would be wasted on unnecessary trade union action.
Latest Violation of agreement:
The Postal JCA has expressed its intent in the month of November 2009 to go on an indefinite strike on the face of serious attacks launched on the RMS & MMS. Hectic negotiations were conducted by Member [O] and Secretary [P] with the staff side on the issues and a written minutes was drawn up by the Department committing to maintenance of Status Quo as on 1.12.2009 on RMS & MMS. It was also decided that a further meeting would take place to discuss all other issues in the Charter of Demands. The struggle line was given up in an atmosphere of good will. The assured meeting with Member [O] on all other issues is yet to take place but suddenly the Department conducted its own official Work Shop for some officers at Bangalore and based on their own internal discussion is going ahead with serious implementation of changes thus distorting the status quo in RMS & MMS. Work Shops are only for consultation among officers and not for implementing whatever the Secretary or some other top officers speak in those so called workshops!
One such issue discussed in that workshop was to man the Mail Offices with HSG-I status by ASPOs instead of General Line HSG-I officials. This point has no basis to stand on and all existing Statutory Rules on HSG-I posts of General Line do not provide for such arbitrary and unilateral altering of the established positions. Even without trying to discuss with the staff side; even without attempting to amend the existing statutory rules of Government the DoP is trying to distort the rules on manning the HSG-I posts of General Line by ASPOs!
Bangalore workshop:
Bangalore workshop of official side has discussed various action points to be implemented on Mails operations and Delivery. Sweeping changes on several issues including about delivery hubs etc were subject matter of discussion there. These measures which are being experimented in one or two places recently over which the experiences of positive and negative nature are yet to be consolidated and discussed. Staff Side is nowhere in picture in all such contemplated changes. All the past experiences of the Department over implementation such schemes without involving staff side had ended in fiasco. Several such schemes were forced to be called off after haphazardly implemented here and there! Even the example of fast tract examination scheme implemented unilaterally ignoring the staff side views ended in subsequent roll back causing further more problems to the staff. But ironically those experiences are ignored and the road to unilateralism and arbitrariness is the chosen path for the present DoP. NFPE and FNPO Federations have in a joint letter expressed our differences on several aspects of Bangalore Workshop of Department. Yet the Department instead of coming to the table for discussion in a genuine effort to collectively plan for improvement of services on practical grounds is interested in arbitrariness only. This may land the department in a more critical situation than where we find ourselves in today. The interests of employees are highly compromised in the so called minutes of the Bangalore Workshop. We have no alternative but to raise our voice heard at all levels of higher administration and Government.
Postmasters' Cadre:
Yet another example of DoP's unilateralism is the way the Department preferred to bring about the Postmasters' Cadre ignoring the staff side views. The staff side is demanding cadre restructuring of all cadres in the department as like Railways and Income tax where such measures have been taken up seriously after 6th CPC. Instead of processing the cadre restructuring in a comprehensive manner, the DoP has opted to unilaterally bring about some cadre restructuring called 'Postmasters' Cadre' without any consultation with us. Sweeping changes to deny the senior officials to become LSG Postmasters on seniority cum fitness manner has been contemplated in the said changes! We opposed the improper apportionment of LSG and HSG-II vacancies for fast track promotions through examination but now the hundred percent future LSG Postmasters vacancies would be filled up only through such fast track examinations!! Retrograde decisions are taken without minding the implications and without consulting the staff side.
Serious attacks on GDS:
The DoP's attitude towards the GDS Employees is a glaring example of its hatred towards these three lakhs of Gramin Dak Sevaks. Merciless attacks are being let loose on the GDS System and employees. Retrograde recommendations of GDS Committee which received total condemnation from the entire staff side are being implemented unilaterally in the name of work study unit decisions etc. Arbitrary tightening of cash handling norms of BPMs will play havoc with their wages. Over and above the DoP has just immediately after implementing the GDS Committee recommendations for GDS SPMs is going for downgrading the GDS SPMs into GDS BPMs that will take away their right to higher TRCA slab and land them in down level slabs based on the tightened cash handling norms applied there too. The down gradation of GDS SOs into BOs would result in down gradation of status of several HPOs and ultimately the status of Divisions! That appears to be the intention of the Department!! In spite of Court judgments and earlier understanding reached with the staff side on the matter of PLB Ceiling, the DoP is adamantly implementing reduced ceiling of 2500/- for GDS. Even the existing practice of correct prorata fixation of wages to GDS staff denied this time by implementing the faulty calculations of Nataraja Murti Committee on prorata! Over and above the Department is not understood the importance of opening the forum of negotiations for GDS issues in the GDS Departmental Committee that has been locked up for years before! The entireties of GDS are under distress.
Casual labourers and GDS Substitutes:
The DoP order endorsing fixation of revised wages for the Temporary Status Casual Labourers restricted it only to TS CLS and underlined that a separate order for other Casual labourers would be issued. But till date no such order has come about! The payments of daily wages to casual labourers are fixed on statutory rulings on the subject which does not require sanction every time from the DOPT or MOF. Unfortunately the Department is not ready to take a decision on this issue and wasting their time on unnecessary file movements between different nodal ministries. Even the accruing DA instalments have not been added to the computation of their daily wages! Similar is the situation with regard to contingent workers and GDS Substitutes. All these sections are rotting at the old level of wages even after three years of implementation of 6th CPC recommendations. These sections also under total distress.
Postal JCA Decisions:
It was under these circumstances, the Postal Joint Council of Action of NFPE and FNPO Organisations met in New Delhi on 3.2.2010. The necessity of focussing the issues effectively before the Government and all levels of Administration was felt by the JCA. It was also felt by the JCA that in the event of non-redressal of our above genuine concerns immediately, there is no alternative course before the Postal Workers but to launch an industrial action including strike action to be decided by the JCA soon.
In the meanwhile, to effectively focus the attention of all concerned, it was unanimously decided by the Postal JCA Meeting, in which the Secretary General of NFPE and FNPO, General Secretaries of all affiliated unions and associations of these two Federations and the General Secretaries of GDS Unions took part, to undertake the following immediate action programme:
· Joint letter from Postal JCA to be written to Honourable MOC & IT; MOSC & IT; Cabinet Secretary; DOPT Secretary and to Secretary [P] expressing the existing situation that may lead to industrial unrest and for seeking redressal of the deteriorating situation.
· Massive Protest Demonstration before Parliament on 2.3.2010 during the Budget Session of Parliament and inviting all Party M.Ps to our Demonstration and to seek their good offices for intervention.
· On the same day on 2.3.2010, field level Circle / Divisional / Branch organisations should unitedly launch a protest collective demonstration at all levels and send the same letter of All India Postal JCA addressed to Hon'ble MOC & IT to the Honourable Minister of Communications & IT by speed post.
· Further Action would be announced by the Postal JCA.
Unite to Fight the Injustice:
Dear Comrades / Colleagues, The time has come to seriously demonstrate our will that under such conditions of suffocation and torment the postal workers would not tolerate. We are not slaves to the unbridled bureaucrats who decided on their will and pleasure undermining all Departmental Rules and Procedures and distort the system from within. We have a voice and we have to make our voice clear and loud to the whole Administration and Government to put a full stop to the unethical attitude of unilateralism and repeated violations of agreements they prefer to sign after marathon discussions.
In this hour of distress, the all India leadership in the Postal Joint Council of Action urges upon the entirety of Postal Workers and their branch unions to sink their differences and come about in a united platform with all their convictions and might. United we survive and divided we fall! Let us unite and agitate to win.
With the best greetings of struggle,
Comradely,
K.Ragavendran D.Theagarajan
Secretary General NFPE Secretary General FNPO
S.S.Mahadevaiah P.Muraleedharan
General Secretary AIPEDEU General Secretary NUGDS
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES
FEDERATION OF NATIONAL POSTAL ORGANISATIONS
ALL INDIA POSTAL EXTRA DEPARTMENTAL EMPLOYEES UNION
NATIONAL UNION OF GRAMIN DAK SEWAKS
JCA/2010 Dated 3rd February 2010
To
Honourable Minister of Communications & IT
Government of India
New Delhi
Sir,
We, the undersigned Secretaries General of major Federations of Postal Employees with all General Secretaries of our affiliated all India organisations and the All India Unions of Gramin Dak Sewaks, prefer to bring to your kind notice about the attitude of total unilateralism, arbitrariness and repeated violations of written agreements by the Department of Posts and to seek your kind intervention for setting the things right in the larger interests of postal services and more than five lakhs of its work force.
We like to place the following major issues for your kind notice in order get them redressed to prevent any escalation of industrial unrest in the postal services at the time the Postal services is struggling to establish itself as an organisation of its own entity.
- Unilateralism and Violation of Agreements:
The Department of Posts has taken the route once again to total unilateralism and complete ignoring of staff side views on any basic issues that affect the interests of staff and service. It either prefers to non-consult the staff side totally before taking any decision to implement things that have a serious adverse impact on our interests and even against the existing Rules and Procedures. It forgets and undermines its own accepted agreements and before the ink in the agreements dry takes recourse to violation of same agreements to which it is a party. Unless this unhealthy practice is totally given up and an atmosphere of mutual consultations and honouring of its own committed positions in agreements is brought about by the DoP, the Postal JCA is of the firm opinion that a lot of energy and concentration of workers and employees of postal services would be wasted on unnecessary trade union action.
- Latest Violation of agreement:
When the RMS Unions expressed its intent in the month of November 2009 to go on an indefinite strike on the face of serious attacks launched on the RMS & MMS, hectic negotiations were conducted by Member [O] and Secretary [P] with the staff side on the issues and a written minutes was drawn up by the Department committing to maintenance of Status Quo as on 1.12.2009 on RMS & MMS. It was also decided that a further meeting would take place to discuss all other issues in the Charter of Demands. But even before the assured meeting took place the Department conducted its own official Work Shop for some officers at Bangalore and based on their own internal discussion is going ahead with serious implementation of changes thus distorting the status quo in RMS & MMS. Work Shops are only for consultation among officers and not for implementing whatever the Secretary or some other top officers speak in those so called workshops!
- Breach of Statutory Rules:
One such issue discussed in the Bangalore Officers level workshop was to man the Mail Offices with HSG-I status by Assistant Superintendent of Post Offices instead of General Line HSG-I officials. This point has no basis to stand on and all existing Statutory Rules on HSG-I posts of General Line do not provide for such arbitrary and unilateral altering of the established positions. Even without trying to discuss with the staff side; even without attempting to amend the existing statutory rules of Government the DoP is trying to distort the rules on manning the HSG-I posts of General Line by ASPOs!
- Bangalore workshop:
Bangalore workshop of official side has discussed various action points to be implemented on Mails operations and Delivery. Sweeping changes on several issues including about delivery hubs etc were subject matter of discussion there. All the past experiences of the Department over implementation such schemes without involving staff side had ended in fiasco. But ironically those experiences are ignored and the road to unilateralism and arbitrariness is the chosen path for the present DoP. NFPE and FNPO Federations have in a joint letter expressed our differences on several aspects of Bangalore Workshop of Department. Yet the Department instead of coming to the table for discussion in a genuine effort to collectively plan for improvement of services on practical grounds are interested in arbitrariness only.
- Postmasters' Cadre:
Yet another example of DoP's unilateralism is the way the Department preferred to bring about the Postmasters' Cadre ignoring the staff side views. The staff side is demanding cadre restructuring of all cadres in the department as like Railways and Income tax where such measures have been taken up seriously after 6th CPC. Instead of processing the cadre restructuring in a comprehensive manner, the DoP has opted to unilaterally bring about some cadre restructuring called 'Postmasters' Cadre' without any consultation with us. Sweeping changes to deny the senior officials to become LSG Postmasters on seniority cum fitness has been contemplated in the said changes! We opposed the improper apportionment of LSG and HSG-II vacancies for fast track promotions through examination but now the hundred percent future LSG Postmasters vacancies would be filled up only through such fast track examinations!! Retrograde decisions are taken without minding the implications and without consulting the staff side.
- Serious attacks on GDS:
The DoP's attitude towards the GDS Employees is a glaring example of its hatred towards these three lakhs of Gramin Dak Sevaks. Merciless attacks are being let loose on the GDS System and employees. Retrograde recommendations of GDS Committee which received total condemnation from the entire staff side are being implemented unilaterally in the name of work study unit decisions etc. Arbitrary tightening of cash handling norms of BPMs will play havoc with their wages. Over and above the DoP has just immediately after implementing the GDS Committee recommendations for GDS SPMs is going for downgrading the GDS SPMs into GDS BPMs that will take away their right to higher TRCA slab and land them in down level slabs based on the tightened cash handling norms applied there too. The down gradation of GDS SOs into BOs would result in down gradation of status of several HPOs and ultimately the status of Divisions! That appears to be the intention of the Department!! In spite of Court judgments and earlier understanding reached with the staff side on the matter of PLB Ceiling, the DoP is adamantly implementing reduced ceiling of 2500/- for GDS. Even the existing practice of correct prorata fixation of wages to GDS staff denied this time by implementing the faulty calculations of Nataraja Murti Committee on prorata! Over and above the Department is not understood the importance of opening the forum of negotiations for GDS issues in the GDS Departmental Committee that has been locked up for years before! The entirety of GDS is under distress.
- Casual labourers and GDS Substitutes:
The DoP order endorsing fixation of revised wages for the Temporary Status Casual Labourers restricted it only to TS CLS and underlined that a separate order for other Casual labourers would be issued. But till date no such order has come about! The payment of daily wages to casual labourers is fixed on statutory rulings on the subject which does not require sanction every time from the DOPT or MOF. Unfortunately the Department is not ready to take a decision on this issue and wasting their time on unnecessary file movements between different nodal Ministries. Even the accruing DA instalments have not been added to the computation of their daily wages! Similar is the situation with regard to contingent workers and GDS Substitutes. All these sections are rotting at the old level of wages even after three years of implementation of 6th CPC recommendations. These sections also under total distress.
- Request for kind intervention of Hon'ble MOC & IT:
It is in the background as explained above, that the postal employees who are in distress, seek your kind intervention for causing orders and instructions to the DoP to sit across the table with the staff side Federations and Unions of both regular employees and Gramin Dak Sevaks for amicably resolving the issues before the distress and disillusionment are allowed to grow further demanding avoidable staff unrest in the postal services which as responsible trade union organisations we would desire to avoid.
Yours sincerely,
K.Ragavendran D.Theagarajan
Secretary General NFPE Secretary General FNPO
K.V.Sridharan D.Kishanrao
General Secretary P3 General Secretary P3
Ishwar Singh Dabas T.N.Rahate
General Secretary P4 General Secretary P4
Giriraj Singh D.Theagarajan
General Secretary R3 General Secretary R3
P.Suresh Siddique
General Secretary R4 General Secretary R4
S.P.Mukherjee P.Muraleedharan
General Secretary Admn General Secretary GDS
Rajanayagam
General Secretary Postal Accounts
S.S.Mahadevaiah
General Secretary GDS Union
--
K.Ragavendran
Secretary General NFPE
--
K.Ragavendran
Secretary General NFPE
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