Postal workers apply for work on Friday

Although public servants were given leave on Fridays, postal workers were given the opportunity to work on both Fridays and Saturdays, according to Postal Department sources.

The Postal Trade Unions had requested the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information to give them the opportunity to work on Friday, even though the postal workers had been given leave on Friday.

Accordingly, after a discussion held yesterday (June 20), the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information Anusha Pelpita has agreed to give the postal workers the opportunity to work on Friday.

Postal workers also work on Saturdays and are entitled to a special allowance for working on Saturdays.

In order to receive this allowance, one has to work on a Saturday and have the opportunity to work on a Friday as there is a law that if the previous day in the public service is a holiday, the next day he cannot work overtime.

However, he added that he hoped the number of letters in the mail would decrease as government agencies were closed on Friday.

Post Master General Ranjith Ariyaratne said that the Postal Department must work on both Fridays and Saturdays to complete the flow of letters until Thursday.

Accordingly, he said he had agreed to work on both Friday and Saturday with the consent of the Secretary of the Ministry of Mass Media, which owns the mail.