At the call of the National Federation of Postal Employees, postal workers went on a day long mass dharna at all the state capitals and other towns on June 20, 2013.
At the call of the National Federation of Postal Employees, postal workers went on a day long mass dharna at all the state capitals and other towns on June 20, 2013.
The postal workers have raised a 15 point charter of demands. They include constituting of the Seventh Pay Commission, and roll back of the new pension scheme. The workers are opposing this scheme because it is placing pension funds in the hands of private speculators, and workers want a guaranteed source of livelihood when they retire. They do not want speculators to rob them of their security in old age.
Meanwhile, postal workers affiliated to the All India Postal Employees Union — GDS, representing the Gramin Dak Sewa workers, have called for a dharna at all the Circle offices of the Postal department to highlight the demands of the Gramin Dak Sewa Workers. The National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) to which AIPEU-GDS is affiliated, has endorsed the call for the dharna and extended its full support to the GDS workers.
The GDS workers are demanding the implementation of the recommendation of the Justice Talwar Committee that they be treated as government employees on par with the other postal employees, and get all the social security benefits other postal workers get, such as gratuity and pension. They too are demanding the setting up of the Seventh Pay Commission, and are demanding that they be treated as government employees by this Commission.
A joint meeting of the Confederation of Government Employees, Railway workers and Defence sector workers has been called for June 29, 2013 to chalk out a joint course of action.