Postal workers need to adjust to modern times

Uncertainties prevailed around postal workers’ wages and jobs in line with cost-cutting “economic reforms” demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Postal workers in Sri Lanka are one segment of public servants who have been at the receiving end of injustices and short-sighted decision-making. Despite having to work with minimum facilities, postal workers have been lagging behind in terms of remuneration, recruitments and salaries. This is why postal trade unions launched strike action as they claim that the government is yet to respond to 19 demands they have made to improve the quality and efficiency of postal services. 

Postal workers have raised primary concerns on the opposition to overtime payment guidelines issued by the Director General of Institutions, based on Public Administration Circular No. 10/2025 which indicates overtime procedures for postal department officers and mandatory fingerprint attendance tracking for officers in all administrative and accounting offices of the postal department.

Like any other public institution, critics believe that political influence has severely penetrated our postal services and that depoliticising the system is essential. Postal workers have been up in arms against the 10/2006 circular which introduced a new recruitment grade for postmasters and another grade for all minor staff. This created a delay in promotions and the payment of salary increments, effectively slashing workers’ wages. While the circular has remained in place for 13 years, workers have been demanding the abolition of the system to compensate for the rising cost of living. 

Uncertainties prevailed around postal workers’ wages and jobs in line with cost-cutting “economic reforms” demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2017, a cabinet sub-committee issued a report calling for the postal department to be transformed into a “postal service” and the appointment of a separate management to restructure it. Similar gazettes were issued in 2021 making postal services an essential service under the Essential Services Act. 

Sri Lanka Posts has a long history of 209 years, dating back to 1798 when the Colonial Dutch rulers started five post offices in the Maritime Districts that were under their control. In 1799 they published the first ever postal regulations and postage rates. The “East-India Company” operated the Postal service the Dutch started but it was only meant for official use. But despite having such a long history, Sri Lanka’s postal services are facing multiple dilemmas today.

Many postal workers have been working in dire conditions, especially those deployed in faraway locations. A dearth in the number of postal employees became evident when recruitments were stalled in 2016. Postal employees complain of transfers being made without adhering to proper criteria. Another observation is with regards to Grade 1 officers being deprived of salary increments. Allowances such as overtime have been unfairly removed. 

According to the Postmaster General, maximum possible allowances have been granted for overtime in all administrative and accounting offices. He said that fingerprint-based attendance for regular duties is now mandatory but the unions have opposed to this new rule. Despite their shortcomings, postal workers too need to adjust to modern times. Sri Lanka is slowly replacing manual registers with fingerprint systems to mark attendance, going by the broader aspirations of digitalisation. The world has already shifted towards facial recognition and other sophisticated mechanisms to record attendance. 

Speaking about the losses incurred, the Postmaster General said that 90% of the postal department’s total expenditure is allocated to salaries and overtime. However, it is not feasible to operate outside government regulations or audit recommendations. His observations indicate that if revenue does not improve, the department’s annual operational loss could exceed Rs. 12 billion. 

While there are mixed reactions towards trade unions and the politicisation of trade unions, there is a fine line between standing up for the rights of employees and fuelling vested interests. Sri Lanka has witnessed how trade unions have had the power to sabotage essential services. So rather than launching strikes and incurring more losses in state institutions, it is high time that trade unions look at more progressive and creative ways of standing up for workers’ rights.