Strikes and protests and re-purposing colonial era buildings - EDITORIAL

Earlier this week on 7 November, the United Postal Trade Unions Front (UPTUF) decided to launch a 48-hour strike from midnight.. According to UPTUF convenor Chinthaka Bandara a 48-hour strike action was to be launched from midnight in response to government’s decision to sell the buildings where the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya post offices are located.  
According to Bandara, the UPTUF would call off their 24-hour trade union action, but will resume it if the government’s decision is not changed regarding converting the Nuwara Eliya post office to a hotel.  

This is not the first time the postal trade unions have made such claims. Back in 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) directed the postal authorities to transfer post office building to the Galle Heritage Foundation for proper maintenance as an immediate remedial measure. Proposals were called to renovate the building preserving the ancient heritage. It was to be guided by principles stipulated by UNESCO and the Galle Heritage Foundation,   

However postal workers’ trade unions protested the move claiming that the government’s plan was to sell it to the private sector to build a luxury hotel, a charge denied by the Postal Department senior official, who said the aim was to develop the city of Galle, renovate old buildings and use it in a way to bring high revenue.  
Following protests by the postal unions, the plans were shelved. In 2019, the building collapsed causing serious damage to a heritage site.   
Years of neglect, consecutive renovation projects that failed to launch, mounting costs and trade union protests ultimately resulted in the near destruction of the post office building which is deemed to be one of the most historically important edifices within the Galle Fort.  

The Postal Department employs more than 22,000 employees in various positions to staff and support the 4,738 post offices across the country. Like many other state owned enterprises, the department’s losses run into billions of rupees annually. Media reports show that in 2022, the loss incurred by the Postal Department was more than rupees 7 billion. It is therefore in no position to renovate or maintain these historically important landmarks.   

Again the concept of the post office needs to change. Unlike in the days when the postal services were set up, today the internet revolution has transformed the economics of postal services around the world. It is no news that, the internet has reduced the demand for letter mail because emails are a cheaper and a quicker means of communication.  
A study by KPMG shows, online shopping has taken a growing share of the retail market and has boosted the demand for parcel mail. Postal operators have also suffered from the introduction of competition into lucrative urban markets, eroding margins originally designed to help pay for loss-making rural services.   
Today most of the activities of our post offices have been reduced to issuing receipts for traffic offences paid by errant drivers and motorcyclists.  
If it were not so sad, the UPTUF convenor’s threat that his organisation would launch an indefinite strike if the government decision is not changed regarding the conversion of the Nuwara Eliya post office into a hotel, would be funny.   

The Postal Department is making billions in losses annually. The post office buildings are large in comparison to the services they provide today. They can be easily re-purposed and remodeled reusing these spaces by introducing new services including utilizing high technology units and setting up of restaurants/hotels.   
If such measures are used, the department could cut its losses and excess staff could possibly be absorbed into the new ventures. Today the number of employees manning post offices are far in excess of work performed.

Rather than threaten strike action at each and every measure proposed to change these loss making ventures into profitable ones, union members would be far better served by trade unions if they joined hands in efforts to convert the loss postal department into a profitable venture.  
Similarly there are many other colonial era buildings which dot our city landscape.  
These buildings could be profitably re-purposed similar to Dutch Hospital in Colombo or the ‘Arcade’.