Labour Representation Committee

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26 July 2007

"This dispute will shape the future of the postal service"

Speech by Billy Hayes (CWU General Secretary) to the Liverpool Postal Rally on Saturday 21st July 2007

In 2004 the Royal Mail Chairman proposed to Government that 51% of Royal Mail should be sold off.

The CWU campaigned against this proposal.

We even got the Labour Government to carry a commitment in its Manifesto not to privatise Royal Mail.

So immediately after the 2005 election, Alan Leighton retreated but still proposed to government that should be a 20% share distribution to staff.

The CWU campaigned against this.

In January 2007, the government, via Alistair Darling, rejected Leighton's proposal.

My first point is that this shows we can beat Royal Mail.

Despite all their friends in the media and business circles telling us that Royal Mail would be privatised - the CWU defeated management's proposal.

Now we are going to defeat them again through our strike.

Since January 2007 management policy has gone into crisis.

They wanted to get a lot of rich mates in to carve up a public service.

Now they can't do that - so instead, they want to squeeze and gouge out jobs, hours and services to the public.

Our fight is then a fight for our own jobs, wages, conditions and pensions.

But we are also fighting for the very future of Royal Mail as a public service.

Not only are management squeezing us - they are also cutting down the postal industry to serve big business, at the expense of small business and domestic customers.

They want to have different price zones - for more than 50% of the mail.

So what happens to the uniform price in the universal service then?

They want to reduce the universal service to just cover first and second class stamp products.

So they want the minimum possible universal service position.

Cutting back service - not developing it.

And who is going to pay for this universal service?

Royal Mail wants to move "cost based" pricing.

So if first and second class mail is the universal service - then this mail will carry the cost of providing that service.

This means, that first class and second class stamps increase dramatically in price.

All the services for larger business will be outside the universal service. Even though they use the same network

And so big business will get the service with dramatically lower prices.

That's the future that management are planning.

That's their business plan - big price increases for small businesses and domestic customers - real price reductions for big business.

And a reduction in services for everybody, except a small number of very profitable business customers.

The CWU says NO to such a business plan.

We want the postal service to expand and improve its services to customers - not cut them back.

Home delivery of items - both addressed and unaddressed - is expanding.

We want a service that grows to meet customer demand.

Gordon Brown has announced a plan for 3 million extra homes by 2020.

That's an increase of 11% in the total delivery network.

In the course of Royal Mail's proposed business plan, that's an extra 1 million homes.

This alone makes managements projections redundant.

When they drew up this plan - at the start of 2006 - they didn't plan for a big growth of delivery points.

So, we know that management's policies are in crisis.

It is going to take our actions to solve this.

Management are trying to frighten us with the threat of competition.

Are these the same managers whose policy has cost Royal Mail 40% of its access product?

Postcomm thought that Royal Mail would lose this figure by 2010.

But management managed to give it away quicker.

At the current rate – by 2010 – competition will have 70%-80% of the access product.

But Royal Mail will be in deep financial crisis before then.

Management has no idea how to solve this. Other than to get small business and domestic customers to swallow huge price increases.

Well - the CWU rejects this.

On Monday, Dave Ward and myself are meeting the Minister – John Hutton.
One of the things that will be explained to him is that we expect the Government to review competition in Royal Mail – in line with a promise already given in Labour's Manifesto.

Inside the EU, the European Parliament has just voted to slow down the general liberalisation of postal services until 2011 at the earliest.

So - the government must consider how to deal with the mess of competition that Postcomm and Royal Mail have created.

A government review will allow the chance to save Royal Mail from falling back into a serious financial crisis.

We expect the government to carry its responsibility for the industry.

Every day - certainly our members carry enough responsibility.

Now - my congratulations to the Officers and members of the Merseyside Amal Branch for organising this Rally.

We need to take every opportunity to explain our case to the public.

We need to discuss amongst CWU members what we need to do to resolve this dispute.

A big responsibility falls upon us - this dispute will shape the future of the postal service.

But we cannot walk away and find other well-paid jobs – unlike management.

This is where our livelihood resides.

That is why we must promote the policies to protect our employment and the future of the industry.

Thank you for listening - together we will win.

posted by Lucy at 21:11

58 Comments:

Anonymous said...

The real issue is not Royal Mail, but the Government. Thanks to the Government's postal liberalisation (five years ahead of the rest if the EU), the Royal Mail is stuffed - and by extension CWU members.

CWU should threaten cutting funding to Labour unless it delivers (no pun intended) on its manifesto commitment.

28 July 2007 17:38

Anonymous said...

Anonymous swallow's management's line. Our poor managers - unable to move because of government restraints! Rubbish of course, management can carry out a different policy to its current one. That is why we are going to win.

Cut funding to Labour - as recommended by Hayden Phillips and David Cameron.

08 August 2007 10:28

Greg said...

The first anonymous has got this one right - and that's why Billy Hayes is calling for the Government to intervene.

The Government's free-market liberalisation of postal services has scuppered the chances of Royal Mail being a success without cutting back on public service aspects.

The fact the Government has done this also means CWU should stop funding it. Talk about turkeys voting for Xmas!

05 October 2007 20:51

Jeffrey Boss said...

As a householder I want and need the post to be a public service. When big business has finished cherry-picking, the public service will be left enormously unprofitable and this will be used as a reason to make the service less and less useful. More than this, when the postal service's well-known friendly co-operation is replaced by a shredded service and chunks of big business, we will have destroyed another of those things that makes us a healthy-minded and civilized society.

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27 June 2008 02:43

Labour Representation Committee

26 July 2007

"This dispute will shape the future of the postal service"

58 Comments:

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