LAST POST FEAR FOR 50,000 JOBS

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http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/62 ... -000-jobs/

A staggering 50,000 post workers could lose their jobs if a plan to part-privatise the Royal Mail gets the green light from Downing Street.

Unions have warned almost a third of the workforce will be laid off under a deal to sell half the state-owned group to foreign firms.

According to experts, the Government is likely to agree with the report by Postal Services Review Panel chief Richard Hooper, which also recommends closing half of Royal Mail’s 71 centres.

And it is feared that a £3billion deal has already been struck to sell a third of the British institution to Dutch company TPG and German firm DHL.

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, vowed to oppose any form of privatisation.

He added: “The majority of decent politicians and the general public are fed up with privatisation.

“We have all seen the failure of the market so why would you recommend any sort of privatisation of one of Britain’s key public services?”

However postal chiefs and Government ministers insist Royal Mail needs a shake-up to cope with its declining market.

They say email and the credit crunch have led to a 7% drop in mail volumes.

A source close to Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said: “Our concern is to save the Royal Mail and secure its future, not privatise it.”

Meanwhile the Tories claim the Government has “stolen” £22billion from the Royal Mail’s pension fund to make national borrowing figures look lower.

Alan Duncan, the Shadow Business Secretary, said: “People will be appalled that the Government is resorted to raiding pension funds in order to plug the black hole in the public finances.”

The union is pressing ahead with a strike in a row over office closures this Friday.

More than 1,000 staff will walk out in Liverpool, Crewe, Coventry, Bolton, Stockport and Oxford.