it would but would they really be that daft to say it like that or has editor/interviewer put some select words together. Makes a great headline and might boost share price.theotherone wrote: ↑15 Dec 2022, 20:36Granted no direct quote but the 1.7bill figure has to come from somewhere.posted wrote: ↑15 Dec 2022, 20:30the article mentions £1.7bn but doesn't quote them. Would like to see this 'interview'Mungeys wrote: ↑15 Dec 2022, 18:11Unbelievable
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... ss-picket/
Royal Mail vows to ignore striking workers as thousands cross picket line
Company leaders say they have built up £1.7bn war chest to defeat union
By
Oliver Gill,
CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT
15 December 2022 • 4:51pm
The leaders of Royal Mail have vowed to ignore striking workers as thousands cross the picket lines and support for industrial action crumbles.
Chairman Keith Williams and chief executive Simon Thompson said that they intend to ram through reforms to the business with or without the backing of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), ahead of another round of walkouts in the days before Christmas.
In an interview with The Telegraph, they said that 12,000 postal workers are prepared to cross the picket lines each day - a sixfold increase since autumn - and that the company has built up a £1.7bn war chest to defeat the CWU.
The interview came just hours after CWU general secretary Dave Ward upped the ante on Wednesday evening, describing the Government as a “shower of corrupt b******* in Westminster" as he voiced support for striking nurses.
Royal Mail is pushing through automation that it says is essential for the future of the business, but which the CWU claims will lead to waves of unnecessary job cuts. Workers have been offered a 9pc pay rise which the CWU has so far rejected.
Mr Williams said: “It's an important point which people miss, which is: we have the ability to change.
“The change is going to happen anyway. We'd like to secure the change that we need from the people, which is pretty limited, to give them the 9pc pay rise that's on offer.
“[But] change can happen as a result of the cancellation of the agreements [earlier this year], and will happen regardless of whether there's an agreement with the union or not.”
A wave of strikes has forced Royal Mail to warn that customers should post all their Christmas cards and presents by Friday this week or risk them not arriving in time. Workers walked out on Wednesday and Thursday this week, and will be striking again on Dec 23 and Christmas Eve.
Strike calendar – Winter of discontent
Proposed reforms include Royal Mail’s parcel arm switching to hundreds of freelance “owner-driver” postal workers. Until recently, only a quarter of Parcelforce drivers could be self-employed, but the changes will mean this can be lifted to 100pc, for instance.
Royal Mail expects to rack up losses between £350m and £450m this year.
Mr Williams, a veteran of disputes during his time as British Airways chief executive, said: “Most of that loss is not attributable to strikes. it's actually attributable to the change that you need in the business.
“As you change the business, you're actually improving the business. Yeah, they can be out on strikes, but the strikes are not are not the big element of the loss.”
Mr Thompson said that Royal Mail was determined to ensure that Christmas parcels would be delivered on time, with 2,000 administrative staff dispatched to the front line to help.
Mr Williams said: “We've now got all the accountants and lawyers on the front line delivering post.”
In autumn around 2,000 postal workers were prepared to cross the picket line, a figure that has now swelled to 12,000 members of staff.
Tempers have flared with the police called in earlier this month amid claims of physical violence and vandalism. One CWU representative is facing accusations of headbutting.
Mr Williams said: “The irony of this one is that because it's Christmas, the parcels market holds up nicely.”
But the strikes did impact on the letters business, he added. A quarter of Royal Mail’s letter volumes are typically delivered in December. “They [the CWU] are actually destroying Christmas cards, which are letters, which is what they're trying to preserve.”
The CWU will ballot its 115,000 members at Royal Mail for another six-month mandate to strike in January.
Mr Williams said: “What they're saying is that we're threatening 25,000 compulsory redundancies. It is nothing more than a scaremongering tactic going into the next ballot.”
Meanwhile he sprang to the defence of Mr Thompson, who Mr Ward has attacked for being “out of his depth” as CWU members held placards saying “Thompson out”.
He said: “If you look at the history of this one, it was [ex-CEO, Adam] Crozier out. Moya [Greene] out. Rico [Back] out. And now it’s Simon [Thompson] out. There’s a fact pattern here of playing the man not the ball.”
Mr Thompson added: “I am representing the voice of the customers. So is it ‘customers out’ when they say ‘Thompson out’?
“I don't think it is nice. And I don't think it's necessary. But I think more fundamentally, it diverts us away from what are the real true issues.”
I've no doubt they want to sideline union. I'm just sceptical where this £1.7bn has come from as it's a lot of money and we certainly don't have that in cash.
