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Postal Workers Fight Back

THE STAKES in the Royal Mail pay dispute have risen higher in the wake of the determined mood shown by the postal members at the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) conference. The planned ballot for industrial action will go ahead but it will be linked to a battle against plans to cut 30,000 staff.

Royal Mail is claiming the pay offer is worth 14.5% over 18 months but the union has pointed out that, taking the strings into account, it is actually only worth 4.5%, 3% from October and 1.5% next April. "Royal Mail is pretending that the offer is 10% more than this but that extra money depends on the union accepting more strings than the Philharmonic Orchestra" said CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward.

The union had previously accepted the principle of voluntary redundancies but clearly the mood from the membership has pushed the union leadership to make a stand. In a letter to members this week, Dave Ward said: "We intend to widen the debate so that people understand there is no way that a public service can be run effectively on the basis of 30,000 jobs being ripped out of the industry."

160,000 CWU members will be balloted over the next few weeks, which could result in the first national postal strike for seven years.

Stop The Card Sharks In Sheffield!

LOXLEY'S IS a greetings card manufacturing company in Sheffield. They produce around 200 million cards a year for some of the biggest publishers like Medici, Carte Blanche and Paper Rose.

It recently boasted in the local paper about its record sales of over £6 million in the last year.

Two workers told Alistair Tice what the article didn't say: "There's about 30 of us packers. They forced us to have our photo taken with all the staff for the local paper. But we're treated the lowest of the low.

"We're paid the minimum £4.20 an hour. We're on piece-work - to earn any more we have to do 170 packs an hour but most of us can only do around 120.

"I work 30 hours to take home £110 a week. Out of that I pay £60 child care (£120 in school holidays). Rumour is when the minimum wage goes up in the autumn, they'll just put the targets up even higher!

"We get chairs to sit on if we're doing badges but we've got to stand when we're on Christmas cards, which means we've all got bad backs from being constantly bent over.

"We've asked for face masks for doing glitter cards, the glitter gets up your nose and mouth. But we're still waiting.

"And there's no lighting over half the work benches. The perspex roof has been painted over, so if it's dull or cloudy you can't see to work. Again they told us we'll have to wait!

"We've had enough. We're going to join a union."

The Socialist Party has offered to help the packers get unionised and to 'out' the company by exposing their low pay rates and bad working conditions.