Babu Tarapada Mukherjee, one of the great leaders of the P&T Trade Union movement, in his famous Lahore Speech (1921) pointed out five important requisites for a successful trade union.

1. There should be strong feeling of class consciousness. The bond of all unions is this feeling of class consciousness. We all belong to the Postal Services and are, therefore, brothers. We may come from different provinces, we may speak different tongues, we may be separated by wide areas extending over thousands of miles, but all this difference must appear before our common brotherhood. We may have our private disputes, tempting offers may be in work to seduce particular officials to create divided interest, but we must rise superior to all these. Private quarrel never so better and temptation never so powerful, should not alienate us from our allegiance to brother officials and make us traitors to our cause. This feeling is class consciousness, without which no organisation worth the name is possible.
2. The second requisite is that no official stand  aloof from our union. Union is strength, and we can not afford to have division in our camp. In the interest of service as much as for individual interest, every one should join the union with heart and soul, so that our demands may have behind them, the united strength of the entire body of officials.
3. The third requisite is to create  a substantial reserve fund. Brother delegates, full purse constitutes the sinews of war, and no special emphasis is at all necessary on this point. You all know without a strong financial backing, satisfactory work can not be done.
4. The fourth requisite is to give publicity to our grievances through the press. ….The organ of the union should be very largely subscribed, so that every employee may have the opportunity to acquaint himself with the activities of the association and become familiar with the progress of ideas.
5. The fifth requisite is to influence the members of the Legislative Assembly and the Council of State with a view to bring pressure on the government.  The value of help in this direction, will however, depend to a great extent on the strength of our organisation. The members are in a position to help, no doubt, but their help will not be very effective, unless our organisation becomes powerful. (From the 09-10-1921 Lahore Speech of Babu Tarapada Mukherjee)