Royal Mail WILL be sold off:John Lewis style

[Broxi51]

I am against the principle of selling off RM because it used to be and should be once again a service.
However, I cannot understand how they will sell us off? At the moment we are making a profit and as such we can
find that any profits can be used to either modernise us, pay towards the deficit or be used as our employer, the government, sees fit. I realise that 400 million profit isnt much use in terms of the deficit or modernisation but it is STILL a profit whereas if they sell us off then these investors need their bucks and the Govt will be left with nothing.

The Government will have to write off about 10.3 billion pounds at a time when they are trying to cut costs and bring the national debt down. Surely that would be folly to add more onto the debt.
Anyone wanting to pay a sum of money for a part of RM will NOT pay anywhere near the asking price because the world is in a volatile situation and then add the falling mail market onto that.

My idea would be for the Govt to keep us on, pay off the deficit leaving RM free of that noose and then take somewhere between 5-30% per year of the profits to pay back the interest free loan.
I realise that would pose problems with Europe since the Govt would be helping RM out but tough. If Europe had liberalised their markets at the same time as us then yes I would accept any aggrieved moans from across the water but they chickened out and left us to get truly stuffed.

[BELIAL]

Reality check time, the govt. ,specifically the cabinet has 28 multi millionaire ministers in it. Do you really think they are that bothered about the national debt or how they pay next months rent when their housing benefit is cut?

[fishtank]

THE JOHN LEWIS EFFECT

All 69,000 permanent employees of John Lewis are 'partners', who own a stake in the business.

The firm, which has a turnover of around £7billion a year, is the largest employee-owned business in Britain, but many more are partly- or wholly-owned by the people who work for them.

Research suggests such firms consistently outperform their rivals, since employees are motivated by the link between the company's performance and financial gain.

Usually, part or all of a firm is held in trust, with employees as beneficiaries.

they are paid annual dividends depending on the firm's performance.

This year's John Lewis bonus was equivalent to 15 per cent of annual salary, or nearly eight weeks' pay.

THE REAL JOHN LEWIS EFFECT...from a driver at John Lewis in Glasgow

I'm a delivery driver with John Lewis Glasgow and we're allways busy!

The shifts are changing in the warehouse, theres an early shift from 6am to 2pm, and i'm on the backshift from 2pm, until 10pm. Thats just the drivers.
But the warehouse staff are having their hours and contract changed to a 3 week rota, and i think its 2 weeks at 5am, until about 1.45! and a week at 7 to 3. I'm glad i dont work in the warehouse!

When Glasgow branch opened in 1999 there were hundreds of people on the staff, but over the years its been streamlined a bit more; people leave and dont get replaced etc, and other parts of the job became centralised, so after nearly 10years, there were about 60 people working in the warehouse; now there are less than 20!! :o

But we are busy, and i'm happy about that....

[Big Daz]

Broxi

The deficit exists on paper only at the moment, the Government will not have to pump 10 billion into the pension fund. there is enough money to meet the payments of all retired staff currently claiming a pension. They will in fact take ownership of over 20 billion pounds worth of pension assets, under the original plan the intetion was for the Gov to sell the assets over time and the new government sponsered pension scheme to be PAYG.

[perstop tray]

I've stood on picket lines in the pouring rain opposing privatisation of RM so dont dismiss this as NT type drivel. Heck, I was even there when we defeated Michael Heseltine's attempt at it.

But now I say "dont dismiss this idea out of hand". This actually could be to our advantage. the devil will be in the detail but it could be our best shot at saving RM as a public service. DSA has changed all the rules. The ground has shifted under our feet. The battleground has changed, we cant re-fight the old fight anymore. RM is becoming just a vehicle to service the private mail companies. If we get a proper say in the operation of RM, maybe we can negotiate a fair contract with the private companies without the regulator forcing an unfair deal on us.
If I was a CWU high-up, I'd be examining this proposal very closely indeed.

[gazzariah]

I cant wait for it to happen dont give a s**t no more crappy union as mentioned bring it on at least we will have a say about the company . plus we our makin profit who gets the share WE DO

5 d2 doors monday 50 quid lost screw you cwu i,m going where the sun is shining and the rain dont pour.but i would rather a united union than this
fragmented weak bend over tradesmans and take it up the harris approach that our leaders have given without ky jel.

[singingpostman]

There are so many threads in this section and I dont have the time or inclination to read them all, so if this point has already been made then please accept my aopologies, but the only people interested in buying the last time that this was tried by Mandelson was TNT, and they have been reported as saying they are no longer interested, so who is going to buy this company that has so little going for it ?,

I certainly wouldnt want to be the guy on a commission on completion only basis with this one in his portfolio.

[andy2007]

We'll probably be sold off on the Stock Market, to anyone who wants to buy shares in RM. Rather than to one buyer. Who knows, who'll get the controling shares. It could be anyone. Not that the ConD'em Government cares.