Class-I Federation - Double Standard

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The Class I Federation is back to its favourite single point agenda i.e. NOINO bashing. For a long time we did not feel it fit to take cognizance of their mindless utterances against NOINO which reeked of autocratic & myopic tendencies as we did not want to be distracted from our goal of securing a good charter for the Class I Officers. We also sincerely believe that bad blood should not be created among two organizations which ultimately will in some ways affect the Class I Officers. However, since our silence should not be construed for weakness, we want to set the record straight. We never thought it fit to comment on any of the activities (?!) of the Class I Federation till now. But when the pure & unadulterated nonsense continues to be poured (particularly since December), we feel that time has come to call a spade a spade.

The leadership of Class I Federation has been indulging in a no holds-barred vitriolic attack on NOINO which is un-necessary & unfair to say the least. Their own behaviour is a bundle of contradictions when they say a thing & do exactly the opposite. On one hand they accuse NOINO of being a management’s union & in the same breath (& same circular on meal coupon issue) they say that “We are advising all the officers to ensure that these proposals on food coupons are implemented in letter and spirit at all levels to strengthen the efforts of the Management to achieve the desired effect”. This shows that either they are blissfully unaware of the practical problems that the Class I Officers would face because of the draconian conditions or they have decided to surrender & be in the good books of the management. In an attempt to appease the management, they have gone overboard & criticized NOINO for writing a letter (which was written in a perfectly parliamentary language) to the Chairman on the issue of meal coupons. If indeed NOINO is the ‘management’s union’ why then we have written a strong letter on this issue to the Chairman?

The Federation keeps on referring NOINO as ‘splinter group’. Well, the meaning of splinter is ‘a small piece broken from a larger piece’. NOINO was not carved out of Class I Federation. We have started from a scratch & built it brick by brick.

The situation in which the Class I Federation finds itself currently, only they have to be blamed. Lack of ideological base & an equal lack of trade union experience has been the bane of many unions now-a-days & the current leadership of the Federation is no exception to it. Their knee-jerk & immature reactions are the result of the same. Their ill-conceived, directionless & quixotic agitation (?!) during the wage-revision started with a bang & ended with a whimper. The swagger has turned into a limp. The bravado bordering on foolhardiness then has now given way to meekness akin to a Siamese cat purring softly on the lap of its master awaiting his patronizing pats.

What was the reason that Class I Federation did not become a part of the joint front? Simply because they could not stand the sight of NOINO. We were of the opinion that when the Class III organizations could overcome their differences & come together, the class I Officers could have also done the same. We firmly believe that differences should not take the form of hatred & enmity. Hence, NOINO had written a letter on 28th May 2008 to all the unions including the Class I Federation appealing for a joint front. On 16th December 2009, when the joint front (which did not include Class I Federation) rejected the offer of 17.5% repeated by the management, a huge rally was witnessed at Yogakshem. Class I Federation, (though not a part of joint front), also spoke in this meeting. On behalf of NOINO our working President Shri Sudhakar Ingole in his speech publicly welcomed the Class I Federation into the joint front & said that this would strengthen the joint front. But barely a few hours later, the leadership of Class I Federation started playing truant & again objected to NOINO signing the joint letter to Chairman. The tantrums thrown by the then leadership of the Federation were to be seen to be believed.

NOINO has taken a principled stand on all important matters. What is the stand of Class I Federation on these issues? Let us examine some of the issues. This will expose the hollowness of the Class I Federation’s mischievous campaign that NOINO is the management’s union:-

DOPA: - All concerned know that DOPA is a brainchild of the Class I Federation. Nobody is happy with DOPA. NOINO has opposed DOPA tooth & nail & has demanded that DOPA should be dumped.

GI scheme: - The Federation tried to foist this scheme with the condition that only those officers who would be members of Federation would be a part of this scheme. This was done with the ulterior motive of finishing NOINO. However, NOINO not only foiled the attempts of the Federation but was successful in bringing this scheme for all Classes.

Circular 144:- This circular prescribing age-limit for marketing posts was staunchly opposed only by NOINO by organizing a mammoth rally at Yogakshem wherein more than 500 Class I Officers participated for the first time in the history. The Federation did not utter even a single word against the circular. Ultimately the age-limit condition was removed.

Previous charter: - The Class I Federation quietly accepted the 12% offer during the last charter. So much for their so-called militancy! On the contrary, NOINO though not a major force at that time, chose to fight a lone battle on behalf of the Class I Officers. The sole credit for whatever gains were secured thereafter for the Class I Officers should undoubtedly go to NOINO.

Problems of Back-up in branches: - Only NOINO recognized this problem & conducted a nation-wide survey in 270 branches & 7 Zones across the country & submitted a comprehensive 12 page report. The Federation was not even aware of such problem, leave alone taking up the issue.
In-charge allowance: - It is public knowledge that only NOINO has been pressing for the In-charge allowance & the management had agreed to it principally during the last charter & withdrew its offer in the last round of the previous charter. The Federation kept mum on this issue too.

There are several such issues like Election duty, Extension of Jeevan-aastha plan(in Jan 2009), Census duty, demand for compensation for Conversion programs, withdrawal of Ace Competition prize, the recent derogatory article(on 18th September) in the city supplements of Times on meal coupon scheme & many other where the Federation maintained a studied silence.

NOINO has locked horns with the management on several occasions on all these issues & faced its wrath because of it. However, we are carrying on undeterred. We consider this as a divine work & we have not grown at the mercy of the management but due to the hard & sincere work of our dedicated activists. The most important point is that NOINO has been operating in this field for only the last 8 years & it still has managed to secure several achievements to its credit. The Class I Federation which now & then un-necessarily raises the bogey of NOINO has been operating for several years before that & was enjoying a monopoly of sorts in the Class I Officers’ community. Who then is to be blamed for the sorry plight of the Class I Officers? Instead of spewing venom on NOINO, the Federation would do well to mend its own house & shed its convenient cloak of injured innocence. The crux of the matter is that the Federation is finding itself on a slippery ground in the wake of the relentless advance of NOINO all over the country & hence it is indulging in mud-slinging & falsities (like majority of officers in Vadodara have confirmed that they are members of Federation does not have an iota of truth. In fact, this year, the membership of NOINO in Vadodara has increased). The writing on the wall should be clear to the leadership of Class I Federation.

Sd/-
Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO
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