AIPEU P3 CHQ

Postal employees threaten strike

Pune : The members of postal department employees' joint action committee held a sit-in agitation outside the office of postmaster general Pune on Thursday to protest against the staff crunch and inadequate infrastructure at workplaces. A memorandum of demands was submitted to the postmaster general, demanding an immediate action over it. The task force has threatened to go on an indefinite strike from July 5, if the demands are not considered.

Vilas Deshpande, president of the task force said that the department of post should follow open recruitment process to fill the long pending vacant posts. The Post is facing severe staff crunch and the offices are not equipped with advanced infrastructure. Deshpande criticised the department's move to deploy postal staff to sell the products of private companies at post offices.

Deshpande said, "The department should stop privatisation of work, outsourcing and delivery hubs. The vacancies should be filled immediately. The department should not give work tenders to outside private agencies. It is essential that the common people should receive the post on time. For this, the department should deploy the staff for postal services instead of selling other products."
Around 300 members of Federation of National Postal Organisation (FNPO) and National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) participated in the agitation. Secretary of the task force S D Vedpathak and treasurer Y N Kamble also addressed the gathering.

Times of India 29.5.2011