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Labour Representation Committee
We will be posting regular blogs on this page. Please feel free to comment.
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.
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16 July 2007
Closing Down Democracy
John McDonnell MP
At the next Labour Party Conference, party members and the affiliated Trade Unions face one of the most important decisions in the history of the party since its foundation over a century ago.
In only weeks since becoming leader Gordon Brown has moved very swiftly to undermine one of the last vestiges of direct democracy left in the party. Amongst a fairly innocuous set of proposals for encouraging wider involvement in the party's policy discussions, the new leader of the party has moved to remove the right of party members and our trade union supporters to determine the party's policy position on key issues of the day through the annual party conference.
Why is this being proposed?
Partly it stems from a statement Gordon Brown made to trade union leaders last year when discussions were taking place over the need for legislation on trade union rights. At that stage it was made clear that if there was no movement by the Government the campaign for the restoration of basic trade union rights would inevitably and repeatedly spill onto to the floor of Labour Party conference. Much as the same way the Defend Council Housing resolution was passed overwhelmingly at successive conferences, it was suggested that trade union rights would not go away as an issue.
Worryingly to some of us at the time, Gordon Brown responded by saying that under his leadership we can't have Labour Party conference defeating a Labour leader in office on policy issues in this way.
This response increased anxieties that far from changing and breaking with the trend commenced by Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson for ignoring the views of the party Gordon Brown would actually go further in excluding members from decision making. In effect this is what this proposal would do.
In recent years many party members have felt that their voice has been ignored. One of the reasons for the exodus of party members from the party has been the implementation of policies to which many party members have not only been opposed but also have had no valid opportunity to have a say over.
The ability of Labour Party conference to discuss and determine the policies of the party has been eroded over the last 15 years. Nevertheless the ability of Labour Party conference to decide by resolution the policy of the party on a number of key questions meant that at least there still remained some opportunity for members to participate in a process of direct democracy.
To deny them this right by adopting Gordon Brown's proposals for party conference sends out a message to party members and our trade union supporters that their views are irrelevant. Downgrading the concerns of our members by referring them to the long winded process of the five year rolling policy forum programme will be seen as a means of shelving their views and avoiding their issues.
If we look back over the last 10 years we see that many of the mistakes which have cost our party support have been made when the Government has ignored the views of its members expressed at party conference.
If allowed, democracy does actually work. The message to Gordon Brown is give democracy a chance and trust our members. Let's not let anyone undermine any further the democratic procedures of our party that we need in place to ensure our party and our government keeps in touch with our grassroots and its feet on the ground.
You can respond to the consultation online via your MpURL, Labour members' net at www.labour.org.uk/membersnet or by writing to to the Labour Party, 39 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0HA by noon on Friday 14th September 2007.
posted by John at
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