Denial of revised wages with effect from 01.01.2006 to the Casual, Part-time, contingent and daily rated mazdoors working in various offices of Tamilnadu Postal Circle – Notice for indefinite hunger fast in front of Chief PMG office from 27th June 2016-regarding.

ALL INDIA POSTAL CASUAL, PART-TIME, CONTINGENT AND CONTRACT WORKERS FEDERATION
Central Head Quarters:
2151/1, Dada Ghosh Bhawan, New Patel Road, New Delhi – 110008

No. CL/GENL/2016-19                                                                 Dated 25.05.2017

To,

Shri. M. Sampath
Chief Postmaster General,
Tamilnadu Circle,
Anna Road, Chennai – 600002
(Tamilnadu)

Sir,

Sub:- Denial of revised wages with effect from 01.01.2006 to the Casual, Part-time, contingent and daily rated mazdoors working in various offices of Tamilnadu Postal Circle – Notice for indefinite hunger fast in front of Chief PMG office from 27th June 2016-regarding.

1.    Your kind intervention is requested to redress the following genuine grievances of the most-exploited and low-paid poor Casual Labourers working in various offices of Tamilnadu Postal Circle. They are mostly unorganized and marginalized and hence your goodself alone can do justice to them.

2.    Department of Posts issued orders on 22.01.2015 (ie. Two years back) for payment of revised wages to Casual, Part-time, contingent and daily-rated mazdoors working in the Postal department with effect from 01.01.2006, consequent on revision of minimum pay of Central Government employees by the Government as per the recommendations of 6th CPC.

3.    On receipt of the Directorate orders some Chief Postmaster Generals (Kerala, Andhra etc.) sought clarifications on two points (1) who is a causal labourer and (2) to whom Directorate orders are applicable.

4.    Directorate issued detailed clarifications as follows:
Point No.1 – who is a Casual Labourer?
Clarification vide Directorate order No. 45-24/86-SPB-I dated 17.05.2009 re-circulated in OM 2-53/2011-PCC dated 17.06.2016.
“It is hereby clarified that all daily wagers working in Post offices or RMS offices or in Administrative offices or PSD’s/MMS under different designations (Mazdoors, Casual Labourers, contingent paid staff, daily wager, daily rated mazdoors, oursiders) are to be trealed as Casual labourers. Those casual labourers who are engaged for a period of eight (8) hours duty a day should be described as “full time casual labourers” and those who are engaged for a period less than eight hours a day should be described as “part-time casual labourers”. All other designations should be discontinued.”

Point No. 2 – To whom Directorate orders dated 22.01.2015 are applicable.
Clarification – “The Spirit of this Directorate’s OM dated 22.01.2015 is to allow revised remuneration to such full-time, part-time casual labourers, who have physically worked or who continue to work as such in that Capacity, with no ambiguity whatsoever.”

5.    The above two clarificatory orders issued by the Directorate set at rest all the doubts regarding payment of revised wages to causal labourers with effect from 01.01.2006. Accordingly almost all the Circles started paying revised wages to casual labourers.

6.   But, we regret to inform you that, evenafter a lapse of two years the above orders are not yet implemented in Tamilnadu Circle for reasons best known to the administration and the eligible revised wages and arrears from 01.01.2006 are not yet paid to the poor causal labourers.

7.    Further, Directorate has already issued orders, again revising the wages of causal, part-time, contingent and daily-rated mazdoors with effect from 01.01.2016, consequent on revision of minimum pay of Central Government employees by the Government vide Directorate OM No. 7-10/2016-PCC dated 31.03.2017. This revision was also not made applicable in Tamilnadu Circle.

8.    The above issue was discussed several times in the past by the Unions/Associations with the Circle administration. But the issue still remains unsettled and the causal labourers are deprived of their legitimate right for revised wages. The Central Working Committee meeting of the All India Postal, Casual, Part-time, contingent and contract workers Federation held at Hyderabad on 22.04.2017, viewed with grave concern the totally negative attitude of the Tamilnadu Circle administration and decided to organise serious agitational programmes for redressal of the genuine grievances of Casual Labourers of Tamilnadu Circle demanding-
       (i)   Immediate revision of wages of all Casual, part-time, contingent and daily-rated mazdoors as per Directorate orders cited above with effect from 01.01.2006 and again from 01.01.2016
        (ii)  Immediate payment of eligible arrears as per above cited Directorate orders to all Casual, part-time, contingent and daily rates mazdoors.

9.   Accordingly, notice is hereby given to the Chief Postmaster General, Tamilnadu Circle, that the leaders of the All India Postal Casual, part-time, contingent and contract workers Federation shall commence indefinite hunger fast in front of Chief PMG office Tamilnadu Circle with effect from 27.06.2017, Tuesday from 10 AM alongwith the members of the Federation.

10. We earnestly hope that the Circle administration shall come forward to negotiate and settle the above mentioned genuine and legitimate demands of the Casual labourers without precipitating the issues further. We sincerely want to avoid a confrontation with the Circles administration. We like to make it clear in case of our demands are not settled before 27.06.2017, the Circle administration alone shall be responsible for the consequences arising out the indefinite hunger fast.
Awaiting positive action

Yours faithfully,

            (P. Mohan)                                                                                  (M. Krishnan)
            General Secretary                                                                       President &
                                                                                                                Member, Standing Committee
                                                                                                                National Council JCM