Socialist Party members in CWU
Royal Mail posted £1 billion losses in its annual report.
This comes after a national agreement reached by Communication Workers Union (CWU) negotiators, which is to be put to a vote of members, in a type of ‘rescue package’ to save Royal Mail after it threatened it could face administration.
But let’s look at the facts. In the nine years since privatisation, £1.9 billion has been paid out to shareholders and directors.
Covid pandemic
During the pandemic, our members worked, and delivered and collected test kits. There was a big increase in parcels and packets which led to massive profits over this period.
Socialist Party members warned, and Royal Mail workers knew, that this would not last for ever. An economic crisis was expected after the pandemic, which would mean people’s disposable incomes would drop and there would be a slowdown of packet traffic.
But instead of investing pandemic profits in preparation for that, Royal Mail bosses gave hundreds of millions of pounds out to the major shareholders and to the directors in massive bonuses. That includes CEO Simon Thompson, who has just resigned with a package reported to be around £700,000.
Now they want ordinary postal workers to pay for a crisis which the bosses have created, with a three-year real-terms pay cut and a massive reduction in sick pay. If you have more than one absence in a year, you will see your sick pay slashed. This will mean a direct attack on disabled workers. Ill-health retirement will be more than halved.
Bosses are now bringing in a two-tier workforce, with new starters on worse terms and conditions, which will lead to more attacks on all our conditions in the future. We are also going to see a reduction in indoor time and seasonal working hours, which will make it an even more physically demanding job, which many workers won’t be able to manage.
Private leeches
As well as gross mismanagement by the senior directors, this whole situation is a consequence of privatisation: leeching the company dry, hiving off profitable parts of the business, and leaving the ‘loss-making’ essential universal service without subsidy.
The CWU leadership should be demanding of Keir Starmer that he enacts the decision of Labour Party conference, and pledges right now that an incoming Labour government will renationalise Royal Mail immediately, with compensation only where there is proven need.
But we can’t trust the same board or the same top bosses: we need nationalisation with democratic workers’ control and management.
It’s been a real mistake by our CWU negotiators to agree that our members pay for the bosses’ greed. We should say no!
We won’t pay for their crisis, Royal Mail must be brought back into public ownership, and developed as a crucial universal service to society.
Join the discussion: ‘How we fight the anti-union laws’ at the National Shop Stewards Network conference in London on 24 June.
2023 NSSN Conference – Saturday 24 June in Conway Hall, London 11am-4.30pm –Attendance fee £6. You can register on the day at conference or email us in advance via [email protected]
Confirmed speakers so far: NIPSA General Secretary Carmel Gates, BFAWU General Secretary Sarah Woolley, POA General Secretary Steve Gillan, NAPO National Official Annoesjka Valent, GMB Officer Gary Palmer from the victorious #GMBThree
