Royal Mail service attacks threaten jobs – Nationalise!
Gary Clark, recently retired secretary of CWU Scotland No.2 branch
Ofcom, the postal industry regulator, has announced the expected consultation on the future of the Universal Service Obligation (USO), which means postal workers deliver to every door in the country six days a week, whether in urban or rural areas.
Ofcom proposes maintaining first class and parcel post six days a week, but the bulk of letters being second class (taking up to three days or more) delivered on either five or three weekdays, not Saturdays.
This would mean major job losses.
In the last few years, all postal workers have seen a complete change in how people use the postal service. There has been a major reduction in the number of letters due to changes in the way people communicate, but at the same time a huge increase in the number of packets that are being posted because of online shopping.
Royal Mail wanted to move all letter traffic to Monday to Friday as they did during the pandemic, which is something we warned about at the time. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) leadership is positioning the climbdown in the current proposal as a victory: it is “the strength and support of our members that has defended the service”. But while they haven’t accepted the new USO proposals, they are going along with pilots.
It is true that it is the strength of workers’ action that can push employers and the government back. That is why the CWU should not now be going along with trials of these new proposals.
The announcement comes as Royal Mail is sold off to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
Since Royal Mail was privatised in 2013, the company and public service has been run into the ground while hundreds of millions has been paid out in dividends to shareholders and bonuses to directors.
During the pandemic, the CWU correctly said that the postal service was a fourth emergency service. Postal workers were delivering and collecting Covid test kits, and going every day to every single door – the only person some people saw day in, day out. The CWU said the role of postal workers should be developed, for example delivering prescriptions and other medical equipment amongst other services. With a building in every community, the postal service could be developed as an important public resource.
Instead, we have seen major attacks on terms and conditions in Royal Mail, including newer recruits on worse terms and conditions, as well as changes to sick pay and redundancy and ill-health retirement terms.
Many CWU members are extremely disappointed with the failure of the leadership, during the general election and since, to demand that the Labour government brings Royal Mail back into public ownership – despite a resolution from the CWU calling for renationalisation being passed at Labour Party conference in 2022.
This disappointment will be repeated when they read the CWU response to the Ofcom announcement. It finishes with this paragraph:
“This moment is a real test for many groups. Ofcom needs to step up and allow Royal Mail to build innovation into this proposal that would include bespoke and advanced letter delivery services. Our members also want to see the Labour government take a real oversight and involvement to ensure that a key part of the UK infrastructure is protected. The prospective owners of Royal Mail – EP Group – have committed to restoring faith in the UK postal service – we will hold them to this.”
This is a major mistake from the leadership. They should be calling for Royal Mail to be brought back into public ownership under democratic workers’ and community control and management, with no compensation for fat-cat owners and shareholders. That is what will save jobs and working conditions, and ensure an improvement of the service.
