Postal staff strike from July 5

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Postal employees in the state will launch an indefinite strike from July 5 as part of a nationwide agitation.The Joint Council of Action representing the National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE), Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO), All India Postal Extra Departmental Employees Union (AIPEDEU) and the National Union of Gramin Dak Sevaks (NUGDS) have called the strike protesting against the reforms planned by the centre. NFPE secretary general M Jayakrishnan said in a statement that the Postal Board’s implementation of the recommendations made by Chicago-based consultants McKinsey for optimising the mail network will in fact result in the erosion of customers of India Post.The introduction of ‘speed post hubs’ by shutting down National Speed Post Centres have resulted in huge delays in dispatch of speed post articles, Jayakrishnan said. The unions have demanded the centre to roll back the decision and also reject the proposal to introduce first class mail hubs and delivery hubs.The decision to close down existing offices also should be withdrawn, they demanded. Discussions held between the Postal Board and the unions on June 6 and June 7 in New delhi had failed.