Chapter 12 Chapter 12 The Victory of the Postmen's Strike

The postmen's strike brought me to the public's attention.Among the tens of thousands of workers in Singapore and Malaya, my popularity skyrocketed without frightening the English-educated intellectuals.My friends and I were now convinced that we could build a mass base in the trade unions and thus gain further political power, and we found a way to mobilize mass support. One afternoon in 1952, three Malays and one Indian, wearing the uniform of a postman, came to see me at the Li Jue and Wang Lawyer Office.At this time, I was no longer working in Li Jue's office, and I was talking to them at my desk outside the office.There is no air-conditioning equipment here, it is hot and humid, and the sound of vehicles passing by and hawkers hawking can be heard endlessly.They told me that the request for better treatment put forward by the Post and Telecommunications Uniformed Workers Union has not been accepted so far.They were allowed to hire a lawyer to represent them in future negotiations.City councilor a. P．Raja was their first choice, but because he was too busy with work, he suggested that they come to the Li Jue and Wang Lawyer Office to contact me.At that time, Li Jue and Wang Lawyer Office were one of the contacts of the Progressive Party, so I presumed that the lawyer's fee would not be too much. I asked Li Jue for his opinion and asked him whether he should accept it.He said that in order to show friendship, it should be accepted.So I accepted it, completely ignoring the issue of attorney fees.

P．Govinda Sammi gave me a very good report.He was a Post Office clerk, a step above the average postman, had little education, spoke English reasonably well, and was a very reliable and pertinent man.Negotiations lasted from February to May.However, the government only agrees to adjust to the same salary rate as the post and telecommunications workers in Malaya.I retorted that the jobs of post and telecommunications workers in Singapore were more onerous than those in Malaya, and that the cost of living in Singapore was also higher than in Malaya, but to no avail. We've come to a showdown.The post and telecommunications workers decided to hold a pre-strike meeting in the Maxwell Road dormitory.It was a Sunday morning, about 450 post and telecommunications workers were present, and almost all members were present.The union rep asked me to speak at the meeting beforehand.The purpose of my presence at the conference was to inspire their courage and at the same time to ensure that they had a lawyer who understood all their demands and was ready to act on their behalf.If I speak English to them, I'm afraid I won't get very good results.So I spoke in Pasar Malay, which proved to be very beneficial.They understand what I'm saying, because the Malays are the majority at the conference, only 20% are Chinese and Indians, and they all understand Malay.I developed a close relationship with them.They decided to issue a strike notice in accordance with the provisions of the emergency decree.

Strike action is scheduled to begin at 6pm on May 12.At three o'clock in the afternoon that day, the government issued an official letter, made some small concessions, but rejected the main request of the postman - the adjustment of the salary system and the effective date of the new salary system.Although the official letter was sealed and stamped "Confidential" in capital letters in two places, that night, the Postmaster General went to Radio Singapore to broadcast the government's proposal, saying that the trade union had rejected it. On behalf of the union, I replied: "Singapore's Public Communications Department published confidential letters to and from the union without prior notice to the union, while suppressing the union's responses. I am surprised that it thought it was appropriate to do so. The union felt its own demands It is fair and reasonable, and it invites the public to judge which side to support when the reasons for both the union and the government are fully published."

Just before the start of the strike on May 13, Goh Keng Swee, who had already returned from the UK, arranged for me to meet Raja Ratnam, the deputy editor-in-chief of the "Singapore Standard" at the Chinese Swimming Club on Amber Road.Rajaratnam is a Malayan who was originally a Tamil from Jaffna in Sri Lanka. He stayed in London for 12 years before leaving in 1947.He used to associate with a group of Indian and African nationalists and the British left, and he had been writing pamphlets and essays against colonialism.I explained the background of the strike to him right next to the pool, surrounded by music and the noise of bathers.He has been looking for a suitable subject to challenge the colonial government.The postmen's strike was a just cause, and he was eager to throw himself into the fight.

On the morning of the first day of the strike, postmen carried out peaceful picketing, and the government sent a large number of Gujia soldiers armed with pistols and broadheaded machetes to the General Post Office in Fullerton Building near Red Light Pier.And there are police cars and radio patrol cars driving there all the time.The deputy police chief announced that they would remain on guard until the strike ended. The next day, various newspapers published photos of Gu Jiabing and the police.In contrast, the newspaper also carried the union president's statement.The statement said: "In order to avoid conflicts with the armed police around the general post office, we will not conduct picketing at the general post office. But after expressing our intention not to cause danger due to misunderstanding, starting today, we are going to conduct picketing at the general post office and other post offices." The public immediately turned to sympathy for the postman.The next day, the government withdrew the Gu Jia soldiers and resumed picketing.

The Singapore Standard is a local paper with a much smaller market than the pro-British Straits Times, but in this fight it has played a role.Many locals preferred the Singapore Standard to the Straits Times, forcing some colonial officials to read it too.In his editorials, Rajaratnam sharply attacked the racial prejudice of the colonial government in a cynical style, questioning the right of foreign Britons to be treated better than natives.The government gave each British immigrant an allowance of 1,000 yuan, but refused the postman's monthly salary increase of 10 yuan. During the strike, mail piled up like a mountain, which caused great inconvenience to everyone.The moderate stance of the postmen, the statement I drafted for them, and Rajaratnam's editorial in The Singapore Standard did a lot to win people over to the postmen.The Malay language newspaper Tutuan Malay supported the strikers because most postmen were Malay.The Chinese-language newspapers Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Daily also sympathized with them—there were many Communist Party sympathizers among the reporters and editors of the two newspapers, who often opposed the government.

The "Straits Times" is owned by the British and managed by the British. The chief writer Arlington Kennard is a master writer. On the surface, he appears to be neutral, but it is difficult not to support the government.In his editorial, he offered clever justifications, such as: "Singapore unions can't produce evidence that postmen in Singapore work any differently than their counterparts in the Commonwealth." The next day, I replied through the "Singapore Standard" that the Singapore postman dispatched mail three times a day, while the Federal Postman only dispatched it twice; Singapore has a large volume of mail and the work pace is relatively fast.

Rajaratnam's review This struggle made Rajarat Nam more and more excited about the Vietnam War.His comments made the most of it — standing up for the downtrodden masses against a handful of hard-hearted white colonial exploiters.His commentary style is resolute and forceful.The results of my debating practice with friendly, sympathetic British students at the Cambridge Labor Club have led me to express myself differently than he does, and I prefer to understate than to exaggerate.So the two of us became good partners: Rajaratnam's writing was forceful, mine, though to the point, was polite, always more pathetic than angry.I called him to advise, to convey to him the reaction of supporters on the street.He asked me to check the strength of his editorials, sent editorial proofs to my house for my comments, and talked on the phone, often after midnight, when his paper was about to run out.

If Rajaratnam hadn't worked for The Singapore Standard, The Straits Times would not have reported on the postman and me at all. I am afraid it will be difficult for us to gain public support.In fact, the "Singapore Standard" played a role in promoting it. In the end, "The Straits Times" had to publish my letter in order to maintain a neutral stance. As the strike approached a week, public opinion turned more strongly against the government.The government panicked.The Secretary of State recommends that "negotiations continue once employees return to work".I replied that if the workers called off the strike and negotiations failed, they might have to go on a second strike. "When this situation is repeated many times, the strike becomes a farce, and the strike is the last weapon of the union in collective bargaining."

The Secretary of State responded by promising 500 striking postmen and telegraph messengers that if they reported for work, he would personally negotiate with the trade union representatives.I urged union leaders to take a new stance and announce a three-day halt to strikes "to remove what the government sees as the only obstacle preventing it from negotiating an immediate settlement of the dispute." This saved face for the Counselor Secretary and his officials.Negotiations resumed at 10 a.m. on May 26 and lasted five and a half hours.Of the six points in the dispute, four were resolved on the same day, and the remaining two were resolved the next day.The union and the government then signed a memorandum of agreement.

It was the first strike since the emergency decree came into force in June 1948.Everything is done in full accordance with the law, there are no threats, no violence, not even unruly pickets, and the goal of the struggle is to win public support.The unions have won.The strike exposed the incompetence of British colonial officials.The two weeks of developments not only changed the future development trend of the labor movement, but also changed the future development trend of the anti-colonial constitutional struggle. Newspaper coverage and publicity enhanced my professional reputation.I was no longer just a brash young lawyer returning from Cambridge with academic honors.People saw how I dealt with the strikers, how I led them, how I spoke for them, and I won without causing much damage.I pointed out the inconsistencies and irrationality of the government, and I persuaded people with reasoning instead of accumulating grievances.The postmen's strike brought me to the public's attention.Among the tens of thousands of workers in Singapore and Malaya, my popularity skyrocketed without frightening the English-educated intellectuals.My friends and I are now convinced that we can build a mass base in the trade unions and gain further political power as a result, we have found a way to mobilize mass support, The Postmen's Strike victory was a turning point.Until then, the non-communist group has been inactive for fear that the emergency decree will also restrict and hinder them. They are encouraged and emboldened by the peaceful and non-violent constitutional mass action that can settle truly unreasonable events. .