Fight for everyone

Thursday, 26 January 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ON the surface, trade unions have won again. The Post Master General has agreed to resign and the protests by postal trade unions have come to a halt. However at this point, one is forced to question whether the result is best for the entire country and the future.

Postmaster General M.K.B Dissanayaka announced yesterday that he would resign from his job amidst continuous protests by postal unions calling on the authorities to remove him from the Postal Department.

He said he had made a request to be transferred to another post as he was a member of the Sri Lanka Administrative Services and was eligible for a transfer. He has not yet been given a new posting but what begs an answer here, is why an allegedly corrupt official is being transferred without a transparent hearing or investigation first?

Postal unions had held continuous protests including an eight day hunger strike last month calling on the Government to remove the Postmaster General who is accused of abusing Postal Department funds and resources. Dissanayaka however had denied all allegations made against him, yet the question of accountability remains.

Trade unions have said that the department had incurred a staggering loss of Rs. 3 million during the eight day protest. This week, the union had threatened to carry out yet another strike calling for the Postmaster General’s removal but it would seem that this is not needed. In November, a strike resulted in the stagnation of over 1.7 million letters and parcels leaving many inconvenienced. Moreover, this was public money wasted.

The difference from the usual trade union action that Sri Lanka is used to seeing is that, on the surface at least, this is a fight to end corruption. This has significant meaning for the rest of society but now it seems that the public official will merely be transferred for his alleged transgressions. So what will happen to the next department that he is part of? Why has this not been probed in a manner that will either clear the record for the public?

Usually the strikes that take place in Sri Lanka are over salary hikes. While this is necessary, there is little action taken to address mismanagement, corruption and wastage within the workplace.

If a legitimate accusation could be made against the Commissioner, the question remains why the Ministry did not order an independent investigation into the conduct of the official and ascertain as to whether trade unions had a legitimate reason for their strike. Why was it seen as such a loss of face for the Ministry to admit that it had a corrupt official and take the necessary steps to make sure justice was done?

Even though the strike has now been called off, there is an important lesson to be gleaned from this – that trade unions can work for the good of Sri Lanka. If they are more vigilant about mismanagement and corruption within the organisations that they operate in and help to stamp it out, the service done for the country would be immense. But they cannot stop at just their institution. Why are the government and the unions turning a blind eye to transparency and justice?