48-hour postal strike at CME from this evening

The Joint Postal Trade Union (JPTU) said that they had decided to launch a 48-hour token strike at the Central Mail Exchange (CME), Colombo from this evening over three demands.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, JPTU Convener Chinthaka Bandara said the strike would start at 4.00 p.m today.

The main demand of the union was to convert the postal service to a ‘closed service,’ which would enable the department to independently decide salaries and matters based on recruitments. 

“This is the best solution to address the issues created by the circular 6/2006 pertaining to the salaries of all government departments. Postal Department employees point out that the circular has had a severe negative impact on their promotions and other benefits,” Mr. Bandara said.

If the government failed to provide a solution to their issues, he said the token strike would be expanded into a countrywide strike after two days.

He said 16-day strike action was launched last year and as a result, a presidential commission was set up to provide solutions to their issues.

“But no measure has been taken so far. The authorities had already closed 17 sub-post offices in remote villages claiming that they did not generate an income to the postal department,” Mr. Bandara claimed.

He said the Postal Department should have a proper mechanism to generate revenue from post officers while providing a service to the public.

He said the government and the postal administration should take responsibility for any inconvenience caused to the public during the strike. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)