Latest Tory Royal Mail selloff needs 'clear union response'

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The government plans to sell its remaining shares in Royal Mail.

It currently holds a 30 percent stake in Royal Mail, worth £1.5 billion. The other 70 percent was sold in 2013.

CWU union members opposed privatisation by 96 percent in a ballot in June 2013. They backed a national strike by 78 percent four months later.

But union leaders backed off from strikes in favour of a deal.

This guaranteed a 9.06 percent pay rise over three years and promised that no worker would be employed on a zero hours contract.

Workers accepted it by 95 percent.

But the agreement also effectively meant a five-year no-strike deal. And it committed the union to helping bosses “improve efficiency”.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said, “The CWU will oppose this final part of the selloff.

“Any attempt to undermine the legally binding agreement that protects Royal Mail workers' terms and conditions will be defended if necessary through strike action”.

Chad is branch secretary at CWU South Central Postal in Oxford. He told Socialist Worker, “We’ve got an agreement that’s under threat. The CWU definitely needs a clear response.”