Privatisation fails workers and customers

COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY NTL have announced over 1,500 job losses.
They recently merged with Telewest after both companies ended up in
financial difficulties. This highlights the need for a democratically
controlled public communications system.

Bernard Roome, CWU NEC, personal capacity

NTL is the last of the fixed network operators who were supposed
to bring competition to the market after the privatisation of BT. Now
after over twenty years we are left with only these two competing
privatised fixed-network companies. All the others were either bought
out or failed due to a lack of investment.

Even now only BT has a commitment to provide universal service, so
NTL can pick and choose the areas where it gives service. If you live
in a rural area you still have the same choice as you had before
privatisation – no choice.

BT got themselves into a financial mess due both to their failure
to invest properly and the policy of the then chief executive of
making BT the world’s biggest telco. This is the same company that
was making £3 billion a year profit and was the most cash-rich
telecom company in the world. They had to sell off their mobile arm,
O2 and their share in the telecom satellites. Now they’ve had to sell
their satellite business to Barclays Private Equity.

The mobile companies are trying to out-do each other to provide
the most gimmicks at the same time as trying to cut tariffs. This has
resulted in attacks on pay and working conditions.

In O2, the only union-recognised company, new contracts have been
introduced with pay rates several thousands of pounds below that
which people who worked for BT before the sell-off received.

Billions of pounds that could have been used to both benefit
customers and workers has been squandered on the altar of capitalist
greed.

We can no longer allow the country’s economic future or the jobs
of the workers in the communications industry to be left in the hands
of companies who have no concern for the future and are only
interested in short-term profit. We must have a communications
industry that is based on investment to take the whole of society
forward. One that will allow the financial and intellectual resources
to be used to benefit the many and not just a few greedy capitalist
bosses.

The communications network must be taken out of their control and
publicly managed for the benefit of all, under democratic control
shared by the workers in the industry, the wider trade union movement
and ordinary customers.


CWU conference

Campaign for a New Workers’ Party meeting

Sunday 21 May, 6pm

Hermitage Hotel, Exeter Road, Bournemouth.

Speaker: Glenn Kelly, CNWP trade union officer