Postal staff: Ditch sell-off plans

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Postal workers and managers will lobby MPs as part of a union campaign against controversial plans to privatise Royal Mail.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite will meet politicians in Parliament, urging them to ditch its sell-off plans.

Officials warned that if Royal Mail is privatised, prices will go up, business will be squeezed, the countryside will be isolated and free post for HM Armed Forces could be stopped.

The lobby follows rejection by the CWU of an offer by Royal Mail of a three-year pay deal to around 125,000 employees. The union described the proposed deal as a "sweetener" ahead of privatisation, and warned of industrial conflict.

The company said the proposed deal would increase base rates by 8.6%, with a lump sum of £300 in December 2013, adding that it wanted a "new model" for the company to work together with the CWU. But the union rejected the proposal, branding it "misleading and unacceptable", saying workers had recently voted by 99% for a pay rise without any strings attached, which the company had "ignored".

CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: "Postal workers want more security; what's on offer is less. With privatisation looming, the protections Royal Mail have put on offer are not worth the paper they're written on. Our members clearly voted - by a huge 99% - for a pay rise without strings attached, yet the company ignores them."

Mr Ward said the Government and Royal Mail chief executive Moya Greene had promised a year ago that postal workers' pensions were safe, adding: "Now they have reneged on their promise and postal workers' pensions are again under attack. For the company to present this as some kind of benefit linked to a pay offer is scandalous. This is daylight robbery of a further £2 billion of pension scheme assets being used to subsidise privatisation. CWU is seeking a parliamentary inquiry and a review of the European state aid settlement. The pay rise is only there as a sweetener to swallow some very bitter pills on damaging changes to pensions, and a raft of workplace uncertainty. The deal that they've spun in their press release is not the real deal. Postal workers will know that. As far as industrial stability is concerned, the company has no real strategy for growth. Royal Mail consistently claims it has a plan for growth but it can't explain it to the workforce. All postal workers see are budget cuts and increasingly unmanageable workloads. If we can't get the assurance we want over our members' future, then industrial conflict is inevitable."

Ms Greene said: "Co-operation is central to the future success of the company. This offer represents Royal Mail's commitment to a long-term engagement strategy with the CWU and with our people. We have already built a stronger Royal Mail together through closer co-operation and trust in recent years. We are now offering a new long-term agreement with the CWU and our employees. This is a good deal - good for Royal Mail and good for our people. We are asking the CWU and our people to accept this new agreement. There will be further discussions this week with the CWU about the proposed agreement."

Unite officer Brian Scott said: "Our postal service doesn't need privatisation. Its annual profits show it is able to succeed in public ownership. Our Royal Mail management members are becoming increasingly concerned about the proposed privatisation and its implications for the public, pensioners, the disabled and small companies - as well as future employment and their pension provisions. We'll be urging MPs to press the Government to keep the Royal Mail in public hands for the public good."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Obtaining ongoing access to external capital is a key part of Royal Mail's continuing transformation process. Combining the best of the public and private sectors, we can secure as many good quality jobs as possible. With the competing demands of schools and hospitals, Government has made it clear it does not have the capital itself to invest in Royal Mail. It wants that capital to come from the private sector. Irrespective of Royal Mail's ownership, we will continue to provide the UK's six-day-a-week, one-price-goes-anywhere universal service. We are honoured to provide the service - the requirements for which are enshrined in legislation - to more than 29 million addresses."

[Jynxx]

I don't know what planet greenes from I don't know of any RM staff who trust her, she's evidently very blind if I ever seen her face 2 face first question from me is why we screwed over with colleague shares.

[UnhappyGremlin]

As much as we don't trust Moya Greene, and the whole of RM's senior management team for that matter, she is right about one thing.
It really is a good deal for RM.....