Shareholder meeting

[A2B]

The CWU have said they will meet with RM tomorrow. Is the meeting with the shareholders still going ahead?

hope they dont cave in

The union must still have this shareholders meeting . It feels only like a distraction tactic by Royal Mail . Tell Thompson and co we’ll meet them on Wednesday morning. Edit, There’s a rumour going around my office that Thompson will be at the meeting . I sincerely hope he isn’t . It’s now our turn to talk with the shareholders without that troll interfering .

Think it's better if Thompson is at the meeting to be honest

[Acca Dacca]

It’s going to be some job getting the shareholders on side when most of our argument has been about them getting too much money

[Chitchat]

It’s going to be some job getting the shareholders on side when most of our argument has been about them getting too much money

Shareholders care only about their investments and at the moment Simon is destroying it. The meeting is an opportunity to demonstrate that the union wants an agreement and actually it's Simon that doesn't want a deal. They can then allude to the reasons behind why Simon couldn't possibly want to strike a deal.

[stevejm]

The union must still have this shareholders meeting . It feels only like a distraction tactic by Royal Mail . Tell Thompson and co we’ll meet them on Wednesday morning. Edit, There’s a rumour going around my office that Thompson will be at the meeting . I sincerely hope he isn’t . It’s now our turn to talk with the shareholders without that troll interfering .

I'd like to know who the other major shareholders are - if Vesa holds 22% then who holds the other 78% ? It almost seems to be a secret.

I'd have to assume that in general they are happy with S.T.'s strategy even if not totally onboard with how he is implementing it?

[walthmstowman]

That remains to be seen . Hopefully we’ll know more tomorrow night

[hans solo]

What % of shares does the government still hold

[Slim2none]

As the government? Probably none. Didn't they sell off the last of them in 2017?
Individual ministers & MPs likely hold quite a few. I imagine they rewarded themselves at privatisation.

[transporter03]

Although we would never get to find out it would be interesting to know just what percentage of the company is held by investors from outside the u.k. We are all aware of who holds 22% but beyond that ?. I could be wrong but I think the Ontario teachers pension fund have an interest in the business ?.Lots of dividend money leaving our shores. That's the nature of the beast I guess !.

[guardianangel]

Matt Newman
General Counsel
Royal Mail Legal & Compliance
Dear Mr Newman
I am responding to your letter of the 1st December.
We note your comments, as stated in your letter, that since 22nd August Royal Mail Group have recorded “more than 70 allegations of violence, assault, harassment, intimidation, threatening and highly abusive behaviour, criminal damage, and vandalism by CWU representatives”.
We also note that from the 22nd August, through to the date of this response on the 5th December, Royal Mail has failed to provide any evidence to the union on these allegations. To be absolutely clear, the CWU does not condone the type of behaviour you refer to and we have always issued guidance regarding behaviour on picket lines to our members.
We are aware that Royal Mail records our live Facebook sessions with members and would therefore know that the CWU consistently calls for respectful and peaceful picketing.
Whilst there may have been incidents of some unacceptable behaviour in an extremely small minority of cases, the company is fully aware that our representatives and members have behaved impeccably throughout this dispute, despite aggressive and severe provocation from Royal Mail managers.
Notwithstanding the above, the CWU is willing to meet the CEO and his senior management team to discuss your allegations. However, we must urgently and simultaneously discuss the completely unacceptable behaviour of the CEO, alongside the worker and union-busting tactics that Royal Mail Group are shamefully engaged in.
�At this meeting, we will provide the company with evidence of the following:-
1. The unacceptable behaviour of the CEO
A dossier of Workplace posts from the CEO, utilising the company’s social media platforms, clearly aimed at demoralising and psychologically attacking our members, who are already under immense pressure at work whilst dealing with a cost-of-living-crisis.
These posts speak derogatorily towards union members, they take place at all hours, including weekends and are sometimes accompanied with bizarre videos. ��The CWU has spoken to a mental health professional, who has confirmed that the appalling behaviour from the CEO has the potential to severely impact the mental health of our members, through causing unnecessary stress and anxiety. As such, our lawyers will be in touch soon with you on this matter. ��In the meantime, in the interests of our members and your employees, the CWU is asking Royal Mail to ensure these attacks cease immediately.
2. RMG union-busting and intimidation tactics
We know the company has set up a team, under the leadership of Grant McPherson, to deliberately and viciously target our members and CWU representatives. This includes workers and representatives being spied on and individuals being followed, with the clear purpose of intimidating them. We have photographic evidence of this.
Furthermore, we are aware that this team is orchestrating and manipulating these attacks against individual representatives that the company has identified, including instigating spurious conduct charges and suspensions. This is deplorable behaviour and we are talking to a number of managers who have confirmed this is the approach that the company are taking.
As a result, it has been confirmed to us that the company are planning to intensify their worker and union busting tactics this week with further attacks on union members/representatives, CWU finances, agreed union facilities and the leadership of the union.
3. Spurious conduct charges
We are also seeing a range of charges against our members and representatives that would never meet any criteria for conduct in normal circumstances. We will provide you with the evidence of these spurious charges when we meet.
It is clear that the actions of the senior leadership of Royal Mail have not met the professional standards they should have. These actions demonstrate a clear prejudice in any internal investigation regarding the alleged conduct of members.
However, as an act of good faith, the CWU is willing to immediately agree to a Terms of Reference for an independent investigation into the unacceptable behavior of the CEO and senior Royal Mail management and your allegations of picket line offences.
�Finally, please confirm that the CEO and the senior management team are willing to meet the union this week to discuss the issues I have raised in this letter and to jointly agree an independent investigation into all the matters raised in our exchange of correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary


thats the job dave !

[yellowbelly]

Although we would never get to find out it would be interesting to know just what percentage of the company is held by investors from outside the u.k. We are all aware of who holds 22% but beyond that ?. I could be wrong but I think the Ontario teachers pension fund have an interest in the business ?.Lots of dividend money leaving our shores. That's the nature of the beast I guess !.

This is from the Morning Star UK (Financial Site) but looks to be a bit out of date considering VESA now hold 22% but
it gives you an idea:

Major Shareholders
Name Type Amount Holding %
Vesa Equity Investment S.A.R.L. - 160,304,736 16.03
RWC Asset Management LLP - 66,201,803 6.62
UBS Asset Management - 60,235,232 6.02
BlackRock Inc - 51,701,446 5.17
Schroders PLC - 50,374,716 5.04
Standard Life Aberdeen PLC - 46,196,278 4.62
Vanguard Group Inc - 39,784,696 3.98
Columbia Threadneedle Investments - 30,386,690 3.04

[I-POSTIE]

[Binsey]

Major Shareholders
Name Type Amount Holding %
Vesa Equity Investment S.A.R.L. - 160,304,736 16.03
RWC Asset Management LLP - 66,201,803 6.62
UBS Asset Management - 60,235,232 6.02
BlackRock Inc - 51,701,446 5.17
Schroders PLC - 50,374,716 5.04
Standard Life Aberdeen PLC - 46,196,278 4.62
Vanguard Group Inc - 39,784,696 3.98
Columbia Threadneedle Investments - 30,386,690 3.04

Loads of Trade Union friendly Hedge Funds there!!!!

[rambo1]

Major Shareholders
Name Type Amount Holding %
Vesa Equity Investment S.A.R.L. - 160,304,736 16.03
RWC Asset Management LLP - 66,201,803 6.62
UBS Asset Management - 60,235,232 6.02
BlackRock Inc - 51,701,446 5.17
Schroders PLC - 50,374,716 5.04
Standard Life Aberdeen PLC - 46,196,278 4.62
Vanguard Group Inc - 39,784,696 3.98
Columbia Threadneedle Investments - 30,386,690 3.04

Loads of Trade Union friendly Hedge Funds there!!!!

And some pension funds. Anyone who has a pension has got to realize that they are in effect nasty greedy shareholders too.

[Acca Dacca]

I hope this isn’t going to be another instance of Dave Ward says he’s going to speaking to shareholders and then we never hear what happened? If it happened.

[stevejm]

This is from the Morning Star UK (Financial Site) but looks to be a bit out of date considering VESA now hold 22% but
it gives you an idea:

Major Shareholders
Name Type Amount Holding %
Vesa Equity Investment S.A.R.L. - 160,304,736 16.03
RWC Asset Management LLP - 66,201,803 6.62
UBS Asset Management - 60,235,232 6.02
BlackRock Inc - 51,701,446 5.17
Schroders PLC - 50,374,716 5.04
Standard Life Aberdeen PLC - 46,196,278 4.62
Vanguard Group Inc - 39,784,696 3.98
Columbia Threadneedle Investments - 30,386,690 3.04

Thanks for that. Adding up those percentages and adding an additional 6% for VESA that adds up to 56%. We're getting closer - but who holds the other 44% - obviously a few posties still.

As someone else pointed out - a dangerous mix of hedge funds and pension funds. Hedge funds in particular have zero interest in society - they are greedy, ruthless, cut-throat, self-serving, amoral, sociopathic leeches - and those are only their redeeming qualities.