
The Socialist 20 May 2020
Rich get handouts - workers get pay cuts

Confidence plummets in Tory strategy for Covid-19
Staff and parents fight 'back to school' plans
Transport workers & passengers mustn't pay the price
Rich get handouts - workers get pay cuts
Contract tracer speaks out: Tories' plan is outsourced chaos
Crisis in council services: Labour must fight or stand aside
Furlough cut-off could force millions back to unsafe workplaces
Safe protests against Tory corona chaos continue
Johnson claims workplaces safe but HSE cancels inspections
Postal workers' action results in double victory for union
Trade unionists organise to fight for workplace safety in big NSSN meeting
Posties walk out in Peterborough after manager tests positive
Universal Basic Income: not a solution to insecurity and poverty under capitalism
The Jungle: capitalism's remorseless attack on workers' safety and conditions
Going viral: letters to the editors
Trump, coronavirus, capitalism, and the presidential race
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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1087/30791
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Posties walk out in Peterborough after manager tests positive
Carl Harper, Peterborough Socialist Party
Royal Mail workers at Peterborough Delivery Office left work on the morning of 16 May after learning a line manager had tested positive for Covid-19.
The members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) were unhappy that the manager had been 'operating' around the workplace and failing to adhere to social distancing prior to the result. Management had not even informed the union the test was taking place.
We understand that 95% of the office walked out. Many went home rather than return to an unsafe workplace. Royal Mail bosses say a "deep clean" has taken place.
Many members have requested they be tested too. One worker reports at least three more staff have tested positive, and delivery workers exposed to the manager in question have been tested.
The Socialist Party supports any collective action that workers at Royal Mail and elsewhere take in defence of their members against unsafe conditions.
Postal workers have already died as a result of this horrific coronavirus pandemic. It shows how the private sector is incapable of running vital public services such as Royal Mail. We stand for bringing those services back into public ownership.
But to finally solve all the problems, they should be run under democratic workers' control and management, and as part of a planned, socialist economy.
Then the safety and needs of workers and wider society can replace the search for big business profits at our expense.
In this issue
What we think
Confidence plummets in Tory strategy for Covid-19
Resist school reopening
Staff and parents fight 'back to school' plans
Make transport safe
Transport workers & passengers mustn't pay the price
Socialist Party news and analysis
Rich get handouts - workers get pay cuts
Contract tracer speaks out: Tories' plan is outsourced chaos
Crisis in council services: Labour must fight or stand aside
Furlough cut-off could force millions back to unsafe workplaces
Safe protests against Tory corona chaos continue
Johnson claims workplaces safe but HSE cancels inspections
Workplace news and analysis
Postal workers' action results in double victory for union
Trade unionists organise to fight for workplace safety in big NSSN meeting
Posties walk out in Peterborough after manager tests positive
Universal Basic Income: not a solution to insecurity and poverty under capitalism
Readers' opinion
The Jungle: capitalism's remorseless attack on workers' safety and conditions
Going viral: letters to the editors
International socialist news and analysis
Trump, coronavirus, capitalism, and the presidential race
Related links:
Peterborough CWU have massively voted for strike action
Peterborough food workers picket and protest
Make a stand: set legal no-cuts council budgets
Black Friday day of action against Amazon
Peterborough & Huntingdon Socialist Party: Where is the Labour Party going?
Books that inspired me: The Road to Wigan Pier
Trump Twitter ban: only independent workers' voice can defeat right
Vaccine confidence - a worker's response
A day in the life of an agency worker
Royal mail management forced to make concessions
Royal Mail: No more behind closed doors talks
Openreach and EE: Massive vote for action
Stop Royal Mail's profit-driven plans to force postal workers to share vans