Tag Archives: Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015

Telecom TU Movement (11) – The Historic Judgment – Moni Bose Recognised

19 Monday Oct 2015

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The Historic Judgment  – Moni Bose Recognised as General Secretary

On 18th September 1993, Justice Susanta Chatterjee of Calcutta High Court delivered the Historic Judgment in the case filed against the order of the DOT de-recognising Moni Bose as GS. The Court directed the DOT to declare Moni Bose as the duly elected General Secretary of the All India Telecom Employees Union and to extend all facilities of a recognized union to him.

This news raised immediate enthusiasm amongst telecom workers throughout the country that truth has been vindicated. The dark conspiracy hatched by DOT and OPG was defeated. Democracy has been upheld by the Hon’ble Court.

Extracts of the relevant portion of the judgment are given below:

“Considering all these aspects of the matter, this court finds that the election of the petitioner No.2 as the General Secretary of the writ petitioner No.1 is not disputed and / or challenged by anybody. At the time of filing of the petition, the petitioner No.2 is undisputedly elected as   General Secretary of the petitioner No.1 union and the delegates representing several thousands of employees have their unequivocal rights to elect the office-bearers to represent the union in accordance with law. It is up to the respondent authorities whether they would extend the necessary facilities to the union officers. The relevant circulars indicates, inter alia, that an ex-employee can also be elected as office bearer of the union and there is a dis-qualification as to an employee who has not retired honourably. In the present case it appears from the materials on record that the petitioner No.2 was a temporary employee  and his service was terminated without any reason and without any stigma. By such  termination it can not be said that the petitioner No.2 incurred any disqualification. By such termination per-se there  is no dishonor nor there is any disqualification. The termination of the job equates the petitioner No.2 in the category of the employee. If there is no allegation against him, if there is no dishonor against him, it must be construed that the petitioner No.2 stands in the category of an ex-employee having the necessary qualification to represent the union as an office-bearer. Besides, for a long period, since 1947 the said petitioners representation has been accepted by the respondent authorities. The relevant circulars under Rule have not been adhered to and the case of Shri O.P.Gupta is a glaring example. Regard being had to the background of the case, facts and circumstances and also the actions for long many years to accept the petitioner No.2, there is no necessity for issuing the impugned communications. This court has considered the steps taken on 13-12-91, 22-1-92 and 5-5-92 and this court is convinced that the steps taken by the respondent authorities in not recognizing the petitioner No.1 at the relevant points of time, are unfair, unjust and uncalled for. Said Communications are deemed to be quashed.

For the foregoing reasons this court finds that there is no bar and/or implement to grant the reliefs to the petitioners as stated for. The writ petition thus allowed to command the respondent authorities to release and / or render all facilities to the petitioners No.2 as duly elected general Secretary of the petitioner No.1 union. Such reliefs are however available to the petitioner No.2 so long as the General Secretary of the said petitioner No.1 union.”

Com. Somnath Chatterjee, M.P. and senior Advocate (who later became the Speaker of Lok Sabha), appeared for Moni Bose and argued the case very effectively.

At last, justice was vindicated. However, the DOT delayed implementation of the judgment. OPG & Co. tried to pressurize N.Vittal, Chairman, Telecom Commission & Secretary DOT, not to grant recognition to Moni Bose. He argued that if Moni Bose is given recognition, there will be further litigation by him (OPG). Shamelessly he fell at the feet of the administration, after failing in election as well as  in court.

DOT had no other option in view of the judgment. It issued orders on 11th November 1993, after delaying about two months, granting recognition to Moni Bose as the General Secretary of E.III Union. The administration failed to take the defeat graciously. In a most vindictive manner, it directed the union to conduct election within six months viz. before 28-4-94. It was intended not to allow Moni Bose to function as also to create another disruption in the next All India Conference. The conspiracy and disruption continued. (To be continued )

Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015 (9) – Campaign for National Unity

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

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Babri Masjid Demolished – 06-12-1992

6th December 1992 was a sad day for the country. The reactionary forces which roused serious communal tension were able to demolish the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya (Faizabad) on that day. The state government and the Central Government both utterly failed to tackle the situation, although it was well known earlier that the RSS Parivar was preparing for the same for months. The whole nation condemned the incident. It was a serious attack on the secular fabric of the nation. The demolition of Babri Masjid had serious repercussions.

Peace Movement and Demonstration on 13th December 1992

The demolition of Babri Masjit  resulted in much tension and communal disharmony in the country. Many untoward incidents happened. It was the duty of the working class to bring back normalcy and communal harmony. The Sponsoring Committee of Trade Unions called for a Peace Rally in Delhi on 13th December 1992. Although the government did not give permission for the rally, a meeting attended more than 3,000 workers were held at Mandi House, in which CG employees including telecom employees participated.

The police arrested the leaders, but were released after intervention of CITU President, E.Balanandan, M.P.

1993

Campaign for National Unity – 30th January 1993

The Sponsoring Committee of Central Trade Unions as part of its progressive movement called upon the workers to organize 30th January 1993, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, as Campaign for National Unity and to take pledge to preserve and strengthen India’s unity and communal harmony. This was implemented by BSNLEU also.

Help to Cuba – ‘Cuban Princess’

In order to help the Cuban people, who were reeling under the economic blockade of the US and other imperialist countries, Indian people decided to send a ship full of food grains   to this socialist country. The ship “Cuban Princess”, sailed from Calcutta with 10150 tons of food grains, which was received by Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, who stated that this donation will strengthen the relations between the two countries. BSNLEU comrades from many places also helped the food grain collection.

Com.A.S.Rajan, former SG NFPTE expired

Com. A.S.Rajan, former Secretary General of NFPTE as also former General Secretary of P.III Union, passed away on 10-01-1993. He was one of the veteran comrades, who along with Com. KG Bose contested against the revisionist leadership in the Federal Council 1990 and won with good majority.

Amendment to Indian Telegraph Act proposed

The central government in its move in implementing the neo-liberal policy of liberalization, globalization and privatization started targeting the telecom sector for its implementation. A committee with D.N.Nanda, Member (Telecom). DOT as Chairman was constituted to recommend amendments to the Indian Telegraph Act 1886, in order to change the act to bring in private companies. The committee submitted its report on 9th September 1992, recommending formation of a Telecom Regulator, with the aim of privatization. (To be continued)

Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015 (7) – Workers Struggle against New Economic Policies

15 Tuesday Sep 2015

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Workers’ Struggle Against new Economic Policies – National Convention on 10th May 1992

The new liberal economic policies of the government with its Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation programmes were being implemented with out any consideration of adverse effects on the workers and the common people.

The National Convention of Trade Unions Against Economic and Industrial Policies held at Mavlankar Hall, New Delhi on 10th May 1992 under the auspices of the National Trade Unions and participated by Confederation of CG Employees & Workers, Federations, Associations and Unions of various industries  etc. adopted a resolution calling upon the workers through out the country to join the All India Strike on 16th June 1992. The  Convention also called upon all democratic and patriotic sections of people to support the mass action of the workers to safe-guard the sovereignty of the nation. Telecom workers actively participated in the convention.

Further Attack on E-III Union – Bombay Meeting called by NFTE

There was no respite on the attack on E.III Union by NFTE and government/DOT. In his capacity as the SG NFTE, OP Gupta issued a notice for a meeting of the E-III Circle secretaries  to be held at Bombay from 3rd to 5th June 1992, with the agenda “Resolving the dispute on E-III and if necessary hold election for CHQ”. Situation went to the extreme and the conspiracy  was exposed when DOT through its letter dated 05-05-1992 asked O.P.Gupta, SG NFTE to intervene in E.III Union by invoking Art. 25© of the Union Constitution.

The disruptors thought that they will be able to smash the new E.III leadership by this black strategy. But once again, they were in the wrong. E.III Assistant General Secretary Com. M.N.Reddy moved the Hyderabad High Court against the illegal meeting. The Hon’ble High Court of Vacation, Civil Judge, City Civil Court, Hyderabad in its order dated 28-05-92 stayed the illegal meeting notified by OPG.

At the same time another interim order was got issued by Calcutta High Court restraining the authorities (DOT) from giving any effect to the purported decision of non-acceptance of Com.Moni Bose as the elected general secretary of the E.III Union by DOT as well as the illegal Bombay meeting called.

Thus once again, the game of the disruptors to destabilize the militant E.III Union was defeated. Both the DOT and the disruptors stood disgraced.

E.III Office Bearers’ Meeting on 1-2 June 1992

A meeting of the office-bearers of E.III Union was held on 1-2 June 1992, which decided to organize massive dharnas on 15th July 1992 demanding recognition of Com. Moni Bose as General Secretary.

Moni Bose, GS, addressed a letter dated 06-07-1992 to OPG as SG NFTE asking him to accept the democratic decisions and to end the disruption of E.III Union. Mentioning the disruptive actions taken by SG NFTE one after another, Moni Bose demanded him to put an end to the anti-worker, anti-union activities. He further appealed to SG “ to honour the democratic verdict of the highest forum of the union- the AIC at Bhopal and extend co-operation so that the elected office-bearers can serve the cause of the membes for a full tenure”. But, unfortunately, all these went in to deaf years.

Despite clear court orders, OPG continued with the fake list with M.B.Vichare as General Secretary. Further the three posts of Members of the Departmental Council were denied to the duly elected office-bearers. Not a single post of JCM members was allotted to E.III office-bearers. (To be continued)

Telecom TU Movement 1991- 2015 (6) – Disruption at Mysore CWC Meeting

09 Wednesday Sep 2015

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1992

Mysore CWC – Disruption by the defeated leadership

OP Gupta, as Secretary General, issued notice for holding of the Federal Council of NFTE at Mysore from 14th to 17th March 1992. Federal Council consists of the office-bearers of the Federation, all the General Secretaries of the affiliated 9 unions and the Federal Councilors elected from the All India Conference of the respective affiliated unions on the basis of their respective membership. As part of the conspiracy against the new leadership of E-III Union, the defeated leadership requisitioned for a CWC meeting of the E-III Union.

The CHQ E.III Union, after receiving the requisition, called for a  special meeting of the Central Working Committee at Mysore on 14th March 1992 for the specific purpose of discussing the non-acceptance of Moni Bose as GS of the union by the DOT. This was also to enable the CWC members, who are also Federal Councilors to participate in the Federal Council being held at Mysore.

From the very beginning, some of the  CWC members from the OPG group tried to obstruct the proceedings on one issue or another. But unfortunately for the disruptors, the majority of the CWC members fully supported the CHQ. When they found out that they are in minority, they wanted to create dispute and scuttle the meeting. They demanded without any justification that the District Secretaries of Ahmedabad, Bangalore etc. be treated as circle secretaries. This was against constitutional provisions and as such was rejected by the President.

OPG and group tried to create pandemonium and started beating some of the CWC Members. This was naturally resisted. Again finding that they are not getting any support from the majority, they walked out. That was the plan  to create a dispute.

Later, a circular was issued by OPG that he does not accept the verdict of the Bhopal AIC and the old office-bearers will continue. Com.S.Jagannathan was nominated as Officiating General Secretary, followed by Com. M.B.Vichare. OPG also wrote to the department stating that they are the real office-bearers of E.III Union.

DOT supports disruptors

Instead of rejecting the bogus claim of the disruptors outright as was required under the circumstances, DOT accepted the letter and treated the same as a dispute. It was most shameful on the part of the DOT to support a dispute after five months of the All India Conference, thus helping the disruption to butcher democracy and truth.

The Mysore CWC condemned the non-recognition of Comrade Moni Bose and strongly demanded that he should be accepted as General Secretary.

Federal Council at Mysore, 14-17 March 1992

There was sharp difference on the policies to be adopted by the Federal Council. The acceptance of reduction of staff by the three Federations, viz. NFTE, FNTO and BTEF,  in the name of cadre restructure was severely criticized by many Federal Councilors.

Shri B.S.Verma, Director (SR), who attended as official observer, openly praised O.P.Gupta, in his speech, possibly to influence the election in his favour. This in any way, was a breach of rules and democratic principles. A resolution moved by Com. Moni Bose criticizing the NFTE leadership on cadre restructure received 42.3% votes, though it could not be passed.

Stiff contest to the election took place.  Coms. J.N.Mishra, P.S.Ramankutty and Tirlok Sharma who contested to the posts got 43% votes. Com.O.P.Gupta was elected as Secretary General, but with  a low margin of votes, which reflected that he was losing support even from his own comrades. Later, some more comrades deserted OPG.

Unfortunately, the NFTE Executive decided to recognize the disruptor group of M.B.Vichare as  the General secretary of E.III Union, thus supporting disruptors of the movement. The duly elected General Secretary of E.III union, Moni Bose, was kept out. All doors were being closed in the face of the democratically elected leadership.

NFTE Office demolished

The accommodation allotted to NFTE and occupied by it at  Gole Market, New Delhi,  was demolished on 27-03-1992 by a large number NDMC workers supported by the police. The NDMC wanted the site to construct certain buildings, including a hotel. The unexpected demolition resulted in the loss of valuable documents, furniture, type-writers etc. The offices of the P&T Administrative and T.IV unions were also destroyed. NDMC claim was that notice was given earlier for vacating and since not vacated they are demolishing the same. Com.OPG, Secretary General, NFTE, who was in the office protested. He was arrested and taken in to custody and kept at the Mandir Marg Police Station.

Coms.VAN Namboodiri and K.M.Pillai, who were in the Dada Ghosh Bhawan, hearing the news rushed to the NFTE office. The demolition was continuing. Despite protest, the demolition did not stop. They went to the Police Station and met OPG. The police stated that he has not been arrested but is in custody only and after some time will be released. But nothing happened.

Demolition of NFTE office and arrest of the Secretary General were serious matters. Com. Moni Bose, GS, was out of station. Com. Namboodiri immediately contacted the leaders of three Federations and wanted immediate protest action. E.III Union gave immediate Sit-in-Strike call in the night itself, which was followed by the 3 Federations next day. Complete dislocation of telecom services was the result. Detailed  discussions took place at high level. On the assurance of the Cabinet Secretary that alternate accommodation will be allotted to NFTE, the agitation was called off by the evening of 28th March 1992. Com.OPG had been released in the late night of 27th itself.  NFTE was allocated quarters in  Bangla Saheb Street, near VSNL Office (now Tata Communications). (To be continued)

Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015 (5)

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

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Protest Telegrams to DOT demanding recognition to Com. Moni Bose

As per the direction of the CHQ hundreds of telegrams/Savingrams were sent by the District /Branches of the E.III Union  to the Secretary, DOT demanding recognition of Com. Moni Bose as General Secretary. It was felt that the DOT will be compelled to accept the democratic verdict of Bhopal AIC.

All India Trade Union Convention on 17th September 1991

The collapse of the USSR in the 1980s changed the equation of world powers. The capitalist countries  led by USA with a uni-polar power centre had its implication world over. India was no exception. The Congress government with Prime Minister Narasimha Rao initiated the anti-worker new economic  policies by the early 1990s.  Attacks on the working class increased.  Many proposals for privatization loomed large. CITU and other progressive trade unions strongly opposed these anti-people and anti-worker industrial policies. The All India Trade Union Convention held at New Delhi on 17th September 1991 by the Central trade Unions, called for an Industrial General Strike on 29th November 1991 against these anti-people policies.

All India Convention of CG Employees & Workers on 10-11-1911

An All India Convention of the Central Government Employees and Workers was held at Azad Bhawan Auditorium, New Delhi on 10th November  1991 to discuss about the new developments. The Confederation, All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), NFTE and NFPE were the sponsors. AIRF and other Federations were participating. A total number of 357 delegates from the Federations and different State Co-ordination Committees participated. The Presidium consisted of Comrades  O.P.Bhasin(Confederation), K.Adinarayana (NFPE), S.Jagannathan (NFTE) and Ganguly (AIDEF).

Com.S.K.Vyas, Secretary General of the Confederation of CG Employees & Workers presented the Declaration for the consideration of the All India Convention, which narrated the latest developments and the need to fight back the anti-worker economic policies of the central government.  The Declaration was supported by the various speakers including Comrades K.M.Mathew (AIDEF), K.Adinarayana (NFPE), O.P.Gupta (NFTE), G.L.Dhar (Secretariat Employees Fedn), Bhangu (AIRCE), K.K.N.Kutty (ITEF), Baroda Bhattacharjee ( CGCC W.B), Prabhakaran Nair (CGCC AP), Moni Bose (E.III), M.B.Vichare (CGCC Bombay) and Bhavani Bhattacharjee (Audit & Accounts). Most of the speakers stressed upon the necessity of not only extending solidarity and support but also directly participating in the strike called by the Central trade Unions.

The Declaration adopted by the Convention decided to organize country wide campaign on the following demands:

  1. Reformulate the industrial trade and Economic policies in consultation with the trade unions.
  2. Stop privatizations of government departments and no computerization without employees consent.
  3. Concede wage parity and grant 20% wage increase
  4. Regularise ED/Casual employees
  5. Lift ban on recruitment and fill up vacancies.
  6. Grant bonus to all employees drawing pay up to Rs. 3,500 per month
  7. Income Tax exemption for those drawing salary up to Rs. 3,500 etc.

The convention called upon the CG employees and workers to express solidarity to the strike by holding rallies, demonstrations, wearing of badges etc. as also direct participation in the 29th November 1991 strike called by the All India Trade union Convention.

The Postal and telecom unions decided for direct participation in the strike and call was given for the same.  Certain other federations also gave call for strike. The new leadership in E.III took the strike call in right earnest and made all out efforts for the same.

Nationwide Industrial General strike on 29th November 1991

The 29th November 1991 General strike was a big success. Railways, banks, insurance, transport, heavy industries all were seriously affected by the strike. Discontent of the workers against the new economic policies was expressed through the strike.

The CG employees participated in large numbers. The new leadership in E.III union gave valuable contribution in taking the correct decision by the workers. In E.III, there was complete strike in Kerala, W.Bengal, Assam, N.E.Region. In T.Nadu Circle, E.III Union observed one hour strike, while a full day strike was observed in Madras Telephone District.  Where full day strike was not possible, the workers participated in mass demonstrations, dhrnas etc. en masse with virtual stoppage of work. The CG employees have joined the fight along with the working class in one form or another. This was a unique feature.

In Delhi, a massive rally was held on 29th November 1991 at Boat Club, participated by thousands of CG employees. The same was addressed by Coms. S.K.Vya, OP Gupta, K.L.Moza, G.L.Dhar, O.P.Bhasin, Moni Bose and others.

The role of the new leadership in E.III was much appreciated by the entire central government employees and their organizations. Within 2 months after the Bhopal AIC, the workers understood the change for the better.

Massive Signature campaign

The Meeting of the Central Secretariat of E.III Union held on 3rd February 1992 strongly protested against the non-recognition of Moni Bose as General Secretary and congratulated the branches for the large number of telegrams/savingrams sent to the DOT demanding recognition. The meeting decided to organize a massive Signature Campaign on the issue. The members were called upon to sign a  Memorandum addressed to the Chairman, DOT on the following demands:

  1. Recognise Shri Moni Bose as General Secretary of All India Telecom Employees Union Class III.
  2. Stop Privatisation of Telecom Services and Telecom Industry and
  3. Stop all measures resulting in reduction of staff, redundancy and mass scale transfers on account of closure and conversion of Telephone exchanges.

The signature campaign was a big success with many thousands of employees signing the same and sending to DOT. (To be continued)

Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015 (4)

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

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E.III – New leadership at Central Head Quarters

Workers in Telecom all over India were enthralled hearing the election of new team of office-bearers. Congratulations and Greeting Telegrams poured from many places. Senior leaders of the P and T movement congratulated the new progressive team.

V.A.N.Namboodiri, President and Moni Bose, General Secretary were given a rousing reception at the New Delhi Railway Station on their arrival from Bhopal AIC. Coms. K.Adinarayana, Secretary General, NFPE, P.S.Raman Kutty, General Secretary, T.III Union and other leaders spoke congratulating the victorious office-bearers. They stated that this election of AIC Bhopal will strengthen the Telecom Trade Union movement in its forward march. None of the defeated leadership of OPG & Co was present in the railway station to greet the newly elected office-bearers.

The ballot papers and other connected records were brought to Delhi, which the defeated leadership had tried to destroy at Bhopal. They were deposited in a safe place.

The new leadership went to Dada Ghosh Bhawan, the Central Head Quarters of the E-III Union. O.P.Gupta, out-going General Secretary, gave charge to the new office-bearers and stated that he will vacate from Dada Ghosh Bhawan within one month , since he is no more an office-bearer. He also handed over the car of the union.( a very old car almost not usable). Since OPG was staying for some more time in DGB, Moni Bose was given another room to stay. A small kitchen was constructed in a few days for the use of Moni Bose and family. Jyotsna Bose, his wife, came to Delhi.

(But OPG did not shift from DGB as promised and continued to stay there with family). The residential accommodation of the GS was never handed over to Moni Bose, new General Secretary).

OPG, as outgoing GS, addressed a letter to Secretary, DOT intimating the election of the new office-bearers as required. The new office-bearers met the Secretary DOT and other top officers and started functioning. It was decided that V.A.N.Namboodiri, All India President, should function at CHQ in addition to the General Secretary. In fact, he had not returned to Kozhikode, Kerala, his place of office, after the AIC, since Moni Bose insisted on his presence at CHQ.

The Conspiracy

At the same time, a conspiracy was being hatched by OPG & Co. with the connivance of the administration and FNTO leader Ch. Raghubir Singh, who was very close to OPG. Raghubir Singh, in his capacity as Leader of the Departmental Council of Joint Consultative Machinery, wrote to Chairman, Telecom Commission and Secretary, DOT (both posts are occupied by  same officer) on 10-12-1991, after more than one month of the AIC, opposing recognition of Com. Moni Bose, on the ground that he is a dismissed employee of the 1949 strike. The letter-head of the JCM was misused, of which OPG was the Secretary, Staff Side. On enquiry, it was found out that the letter was typed and got signed by Raghubir Singh by the defeated leadership and given to the management.

Moni Bose De-recognised as General Secretary

Within two days of the submission of the letter, DOT intimated Moni Bose on 13-12-1991, denying recognition to him as General Secretary of the Union. The conspiracy of OPG-Raghubir Singh –DOT was exposed. The fact was that OPG could not accept his defeat in grace, even though he has accepted the same at the venue of the conference. Later it was also understood that there was much pressure on him by many, to somehow stick to his earlier position as GS.

The plea of the DOT to deny recognition to Moni Bose had no base or sense. It was a blatant violation of rules. There was no rule that a dismissed employee can not be an office-bearer. Moni Bose, all along has been an office-bearer of the Union and was the All India Vice-President of the same union, till he resigned from the post just before the Bhopal AIC. He was recognised as an office-bearer by the DOT as Vice-President when OPG was the General Secretary, but when he became General Secretary defeating OPG, the DOT derecognised him! Wonderful logic of the government to protect the pro-management leaders!

The derecognition of Moni Bose was taken as a challenge by the union. The new team continued its regular functioning. VAN Namboodiri, as President of the union, corresponded with the DOT in the new situation.

Case filed in Calcutta High Court for recognising Moni Bose

CHQ took up the case of non-recognition of Moni Bose with the Calcutta High Court. Com. Somnath Chatterjee, MP, who later became the Speaker of the Parliament, was the advocate for the union. (To be continued)

 

Telecom TU Movement 1991 to 2015 (2)

10 Monday Aug 2015

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Bhopal AIC – OPG defeated, Moni Bose elected as GS, E.III Union

The polling continued for many hours. With more than thirty names in the ballot paper, it was not easy for the delegates to tick the names they supported and to vote. Smaller circles could complete the voting earlier, but it took much more time for the big circles. It took many hours to count the ballots which almost continued for a good portion of the night also.

When the results started coming from the circles one by one, delegates looked up unbelievingly. It became almost sure that OPG, General Secretary, was going to be defeated. Frantic efforts were made by the group to stop announcement of the results by raising untenable objections.

Homi Daji, President and Presiding Officer, was pressurized not to announce results. But he stood firm and did not want to be seen as taking a wrong position in front of thousands of delegates. There was pin drop silence, when the President announced that he was going to declare the results.

The results were announced for the posts one after another with the number of votes received. V.A.N.Namboodiri was declared elected as President and Moni Bose as General Secretary with good majority. Out of 15 posts of office-bearers, OPG group got only 4 posts, that too with very thin majority.

The following were declared elected from Moni Bose panel:

President                                 : Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri

Vice-Presidents                       : Com.A.K.Saramma

:Com.Anima Banerjee

:Com.K.D.M.Tripathi

General Secretary                  :Com.Moni Bose

Asst. General Secretaries       :Com.M.N.Reddy

:Com.S.R.Nayak

Treasurer                                 :Com.Begraj Khari

Asst. Treasurer                        :Com.P.S.Sangwan

Coms. N.T.Sajwani, N.Y.Lokhande(Vice-Presidents), R.K.Kohli and S.Jagannathan(Asst. General Secretaries) got elected from OPG’s panel.

Federal Councilors

The election to the posts of Federal Councilors to NFTE was also conducted. Out of 35 posts, a good majority were elected from Moni Bose’s panel. The list of the elected Federal Councilors is given below:

Comrades Gunasekharan, S.B.Borkar, R.L.Mondal, Gour Saha, Swadesh Das, A.K.Bhattacharjee, Paritosh Bose, Shibdas Banerjee, J.Ranganathan, P.Abhimanyu, P.V.Chandrasekharan, S.N.Sarma, P.Ramaswami, P.Asokababu, N.T.Sajwani, S.B.Srinivasan, R.S.Yadav, M.Madhusudana Rao, R.K.Totre, M.P.Dalwadi, M.N.Khokhani, N.Chakravarthy, S.Siddiqui, B.B.Raut, L.N.Mishra, S.G.Pawar, B.P.Sharma, K.L.Sharma, D.V.Lavadia, M.B.Vichare, Triveni Rai, Sriram Swarankar, J.Sampath Rao and J.S.Pandey.

OPG accepts the results

Though shocked and reluctant at first, O.P.Gupta out-going General Secretary, accepted defeat and assured full co-operation to the new team. The AIC ended amidst slogans welcoming and congratulating the newly elected office-bearers.

Thus the Bhopal AIC ended with a change of team. The old reformist leadership was defeated and a new set of office-bearers with V.A.N.Namboodiri as President and Moni Bose as General Secretary were elected to the leadership of the biggest union in telecom. (to be continued).

Telecom TU Movement 1991 to 2015 – The Challenge, The Change and the Forward March

27 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by in Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015

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Dear Comrades, Friends and Well Wishers,

As stated earlier, I am posting the book on the Telecom Trade Union Movement from 1991 to 2015 in this  blog in installments. Any suggestion, correction, modification and also criticism from the readers will be much appreciated and valued.

Telecom TU Movement  1991 to 2015 – The Challenge, The Change and the Forward March

Preface

Posts and Telegraphs Trade Union movement has a glorious history of more than one century. The movement in an organised way was started by the first decade of the 20th century, though there were certain local struggles earlier on some urgent issues faced by the employees. During the period 1900-1920, the major associations, Indian Telegraph Association, All India (including Burma) Post Office & RMS Union and All India Postmen and Lower Grade Staff Union were formed, initiated by the pioneers, Henry Barton, Tarapada Mukherjee and V.G.Dalvi respectively. The Historic 1946 Postmen Strike and the First Pay Commission of 1946 resulted in a series of efforts to unify the unions/associations, which resulted first in the formation of the Union of P&T Workers (UPTW) in 1947 and later the formation of National Federation of P&T Employees (NFPTE) in 1954. All the existing unions/associations were realigned and   resultant 9 unions affiliated to the National Federation of P&T Employees.

NFPTE was in the lead in all the struggles of the Central Government Employees. It called for a strike in 1957 demanding appointment of II Central Pay Commission, which was deferred after the government agreed to the demand. The 5 Days Glorious Strike of 1960 by the Central Govt. Employees against the retrograde recommendations       of the II Central Pay Commission was treated as ‘Civil Rebellion’ by the Nehru Government and took strong measures to suppress it. There continued a series of major struggles by the CG Employees throughout the last century, in which NFPTE always took the pivotal role. The One Day Historic Strike of 19th September 1968 demanding Need Based Minimum Wage, the 1974 Railway Strike for grant of Bonus, in which the forward section of the NFPTE & CGE movement also participated are only a few of the great struggles organised during the period. In all these strikes, employees in lakhs were severely victimised by way of arrests, imprisonment, dismissal, termination and other punishments. A few Railway employees at Pathankot, Bikaner etc. became martyrs in the 1960 and 1968 strikes.

Consequent to the bifurcation of the Postal and Telegraphs Department in 1985, NFPTE was  bifurcated in to National Federation of Postal Employees(NFPE) and National Federation of Telecom Employees(NFTE). Though the parting was heartbreaking, there was no other way. But co-ordination continued. In Circles like Kerala and Assam, even the Circle Conferences were held together for a very long time.

The bifurcation of the P&T Department was a tactical decision to shift telecom sector in to a separate entity, in which developments were taking very fast. It was also to divide the mighty organisation of NFPTE which was in the forefront of the struggles. NFTE was fully controlled by the revisionist leadership of Com. Om Prakash Gupta, Secretary General NFTE, who also was the General Secretary of two out of the five affiliated Unions. This leadership compromised with the government on many major issues like recruitment, promotions, restructure etc. which were against the interest of the employees. Serious inner struggles started in the affiliated unions. A new progressive leadership came in All India Telegraph Traffic Employees Union Class III (usually called T.III union) in the last years of 1980s. In the All India Telecom Employees Union Class III (E.III Union), there was serious opposition to the revisionist leadership of Om Prakash Gupta, General Secretary, which resulted in a contest of office bearers in the All India Conference of the Union at Bhopal in 1991. The revisionist leadership was defeated and new office-bearers with V.A.N.Namboodiri as President and Moni Bose as General Secretary were elected.

The present book starts its narrative from this period. The challenges, the new leadership had to face, were many. It had to face both the defeated leadership and the department which was supporting the latter and which could not get adjusted to the new progressive leadership.

This period of 1991 – 2000 as well as the period from 2000-2015 consequent to the formation of BSNL is included in this book. This has been a period of challenge, change and consolidation, in which lakhs of workers have been active partners who marched forward with determination, dedication and direction.

This book is dedicated to these entire workers who made the forward march possible. I am sure that this will give inspiration and confidence to the BSNL workers to continue their forward march for strengthening BSNL, for a better service to the nation and improvement of their own conditions.

V.A.N.Namboodiri

Patron, BSNL Employees Union.

26th July 2015.