Keep the Post Public Campaign : Update and Strategy

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Keep the Post Public Campaign – Update and Strategy going forward

No. 234/11
Ref: GS: 11.0
Date: 10/03/11



To All Branches



Dear Colleagues,

Keep the Post Public Campaign - Update and Strategy going forward

Please find attached an update on the campaign against Royal Mail Privatisation which substantially replicates a document which was agreed by the PEC.

Any enquiries on this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary's office quoting the reference GS 11.0

Yours sincerely,

W. Hayes D. Ward

General Secretary Deputy General Secretary (Postal)


COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION

ROYAL MAIL ANTI PRIVATISATION CAMPAIGN - UPDATE AND STRATEGY GOING FORWARD

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the campaign to date, outline next steps and invite branches to input into the campaign strategy going forward.

Parliamentary Process/Tactics and Next Steps

Since its first reading on 13 October 2010 the Bill has now progressed through committee stage and third reading in the House of Commons and last week had its 2nd Reading in the House of Lords.

The remaining stages of the parliamentary processes are as follow:

Committee Stage (House of Lords)
Report Stage (House of Lords)
Third Reading (House of Lords)
Consideration of Amendments
Royal Assent

It is anticipated that the Bill may be moving towards Royal Assent around May to June 2011.

In the House of Lords the 2nd Reading of the Bill was preceded by an extensive consultation and lobbying of Peers. We secured an agreement on the tactics to be deployed by Labour's Front Bench, led by Lord Tony Young and Lord Will Stevenson. General agreement was also secured with a number of influential Labour Peers, including Lord Tony Clarke.

However, most of the lobbying has been concentrated on "Cross-Bench Peers". This group has the ability to defeat the Government if it is prepared to join Labour in opposing the Government.

The next stage in the Lords is the Committee Stage. Despite the title, this stage is a full hearing of the debate on the floor of the House of Lords.

Amendments will be debated at these hearings (unlike at the 2nd Reading). The first three sessions for debate have already taken place or have been scheduled (LtBs xx/11. yy/11 and zz/11 refer) and at least two further sessions will be required.

After the Committee stage comes the Report stage - it is at this point that votes will be taken on the key amendments that we have been trying to secure support for.

We are working on providing the biggest possible raft of amendments. At the same time, there will be concentrated lobbying around key amendments which have the potential to secure the support of Cross Benches - e.g. inter-business agreement, regulation issues, USO issues etc.

The main aims of our tactics in the Lords are to try and extend the debate over as long a period as possible, and to try and secure some amendments supportive to our approach.

The main target for extending the debate is 5 May, the date of the local elections. This may well be possible - and the assumption is that the Coalition are likely to get bad results in the elections, heightening internal tensions which can be utilised.

The amendments that may be carried, will, in all likelihood, be on issues of accountability by the Government, and regulation. We have attached at Appendix A briefing material which was used in the House of Lords prior to the 2nd Reading. From this document you will see the themes that will be pursued in our amendments. For information purposes we have also attached at Appendix B, a further CWU Research briefing that has also been used in the Lords.

On the issue of regulation we continue to liaise with Royal Mail on common themes such as removing access prices from the Regulator, guaranteeing Royal Mail as USO provider for 10 years and defending the USO from the real costs of access.

On pensions the agreed position is to accept that the Government should take responsibility for the deficit, whilst we pursue our concerns on the detailed proposals in direct discussions with both Government and Royal Mail as agreed by the PEC earlier this year.

Additional Tactics

In the House of Commons we are pressing for the calling of a BIS Select Committee inquiry into the consequences of privatisation. Approaches have been made to the Labour Chair (Adrian Bailey, and influential committee members like Jack Dromey). Also an approach has been made via Brian Binley, Conservative MP for Northampton South, following our lobbying.

EDM 1408 - attached as Appendix C is the EDM placed by Brian Binley, MP. This EDM illustrates the type of tactics we are having to employ. It is an issue which is very important insofar as it prevents as early attack upon the USO by OFCOM. Whilst not over-turning the Bill, it will make the sale less attractive to speculative buyers. Clearly the EDM is a pre-cursor for a rebellion on this issue when the Bill comes back to the Commons. 34 Coalition MPs have signed up so far. Once the figure goes above 40 Coalition supporters then we are looking at a potential defeat for Government - although of course signing an EDM does not mean an MP will vote against the Government.

We should aim to get the matter raised in the local election campaigns. Labour's Front Bench has responded favourably to the idea of making this a local election issue. We will need to follow this through with the Branches.

We are continuing efforts to place pressure upon the NFSP. The position of the NFSP has become less certain over recent days, as the continuing absence of a 10 year IBA, and the award of the DWP contract to PayPoint as caused some of the Federation activists to question the appropriateness of their strategy.

We are working well on questions relating to the PO Network with the Federation of Small Business, and co-operating closely on amendments to this section of the legislation

We are attempting to get a statement of support from the leaders of all the devolved Government bodies against privatisation. This will have great value for the election campaign to these bodies in May.

We have arranged weekly "drop in" briefing sessions in the Lords every Thursday.

We will be arranging a further national event towards the end of March.

General Campaign & Branch Activity

There have been a number of successful public rallies and demonstrations in Witney, Surbiton, Birmingham, Brighton, Beeston, Aberdeen, Gloucester, Cardiff, Sheffiled etc. Some of these have been "stand-alone" KTPP events, and some have taken place under an anti-cuts banner..

There were many local demonstrations taking place in recent weeks around the cuts. As a consequence, we have had difficulty in securing as much publicity for such actions as we would have wished.

Nevertheless, it is vital that all Branches are engaged in some form of public initiatives around the Bill. We will ask the Regional Secretaries to monitor this and continue to publish information supporting such initiatives. In addition, we will continue to advertise nationally the TUC demonstration on the 26th March to ensure we maximise CWU turnout.

Dialogue with Government/Securing our Industrial Priorities

In assessing the campaign to date, it is clear that defeating the Bill and/or winning major concessions will not simply be achieved by parliamentary tactics alone and throughout the campaign we have organised inside and outside of parliament. Furthermore, whatever the outcome of the parliamentary process, the Union has a fundamental role to secure our industrial priorities and remain an effective and influential organisation in the workplace. Therefore, it is essential that we maintain a strong industrial perspective and focus to our campaign and that this is widely communicated.

Recently, this approach has commenced in meetings with Government, Royal Mail's Chief Executive, at parliamentary evidence sessions and at public rallies. The position we have set out is that we view the Bill as directly impacting on existing agreements (including Business Transformation) and the future of our members' jobs, pensions, terms and conditions. The evidence of this is becoming clearer in the company's overall Business Plan, the POL dispute and the process for securing European state aid approval on pensions.

As such, we have made it equally clear that unless the Government and Royal Mail satisfactorily address our legitimate concerns, then we will take whatever steps are necessary - not ruling out the possibility of industrial action.

The industrial position we have set out has led to the invitation from the Minister for a 3-way meeting between Government, Royal Mail and the Union. This is a significant development and it is important that we now set out our agenda for that meeting.

Pensions - the PEC has set out a comprehensive Union negotiating agenda and we are making progress in seeking to . establish a detailed negotiating process with both Government and Royal Mail.

Regulation - the Union has developed a common agenda with Royal Mail and we have met Ed Davey to pressurise the Government on changes to regulation and explore possible amendments to the Bill.

Protection of the USO - this is also part of our common agenda with Royal Mail and this issue is being pursued as outlined above. We will also press the Government on the latest development in Holland, whereby it would appear that TNT has secured a process that guarantees profit margins on USO products.

Employee Ownership/Involvement - we will continue to make clear that the Union will not accept the Government imposing a form of employee ownership. We will use the commitments in the Business Transformation Agreement to establish a negotiating process that will allow the Union, Government and Royal Mail to consider alternative approaches and ultimately agree the best way forward.

Modernisation - we continue to make clear that privatisation runs the risk of stopping modernisation in its tracks, unless there is genuine dialogue over the shape of the Postal Services Bill.

POL - we are seeking to establish all the issues that are likely to impact on our members in the event of POL separation. We will press the Government to oppose separation, whilst also pushing further amendments to the Bill.

Access to Capital/the Shape and Timing of any Sale - we will press Government and Royal Mail for more clarity over exactly how much capital they believe they need and precisely what this will be used for. We will seek to establish a position whereby all parties could consider alternative ways of accessing capital. We will press the Government further over when and what type of sale they are planning. We will seek to establish the Government's position on the company's Business Plan and its link to state aid approval on pensions.

In pursuing the above mentioned agenda, it crucial that the Union retains a wider perspective on the challenges facing Royal Mail and our members. This will be a difficult discussion for all parties and as in all negotiations we must be prepared to work at it.

We will continue to update branches on developments and will additionally be convening a briefing for senior field officials which will take place at the union's head office on (nsert date)

Any queries on the contents of this LtB should be directed to the General Secretary's department.



Yours sincerely





W Hayes D Ward

General Secretary Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

[subbie]

Well you have got to hand it to them, they know how to fight back and use the system to beat the system.

Subbie

[barbario]

Full credit to them,i don't think that they could be doing any more.

[skull]

Yes the CWU are getting a lot of stick for the 2010 agreement members voted in , but there can't be any complaints for the effort they are putting in to keep the post public .

[Big Daz]

Access to Capital/the Shape and Timing of any Sale - we will press Government and Royal Mail for more clarity over exactly how much capital they believe they need and precisely what this will be used for.

Exactly what Ive been wondering

Im thinking a increase in FSM's so as to enable walksorting of A4 mail as that would substanially reduce the time and OPGs need for IPS at my D.O and thus lead to a big increase in prep and deliver PT duties at around 30 hours weekly. That then leads into the 75/25 split potentially going tits up if this is replicated nationwide.

[goinpostal]

They are trying to amend the bill and rely on crossbench aristocrats in the house of lords the most undemocratic body to do it - ya have to ask, how has it come to this!

The only thing thats going to stop privatisation is a strike, we need a debate in the union on how to move on to the next level. Of course it will be difficult after two sold out strikes and an agreement that locks in huge closures, but that's the hard truth we have to face.