NW Region Thanks MPS For Support For EDM428

Carl Webb CWU Regional Secretary wrote to North West MPs thanking them for their support for EDM428:

Dear Colleague

On behalf of over 25,000 North West Postal Workers and their families, I would like to thank all those MPs who have signed EDM 428 (Royal Mail), calling on the government to abandon its plans to part privatise Royal Mail.

I would once again ask those MPs who have not signed the EDM to add their voice to the growing list of Labour MPs and sign EDM 428 and support a wholly publicly owned Royal Mail.

The North West CWU is now planning events around the region to raise the profile of the campaign even higher, including those MPs constituencies who support privatisation, contrary to the commitment the Labour Government and the Party gave at Warwick & Warwick 2.

In June 2008 the National Policy Forum of the Labour Party notes that: “We have set out a vision of a wholly publicly-owned, integrated Royal Mail Group in good health, providing customers with an excellent service and its employees with rewarding employment.” The Labour Party Conference 2008 endorsed this unanimously with the support of the government.

It is cringe-making watching ministers trying to delude themselves and the electorate that anything less than 50% - means that Royal Mail is not privatised.  The CWU finds it hard to believe that anyone, including the Ministers involved, doubt that privatisation by instalment is not privatisation by another name.

The CWU accept that the Government can’t stand back and do nothing. It was the Unions that insisted on the review on competition in the first place.

The CWU agrees with Hooper’s report on many of the challenges facing Royal Mail.  We welcome a number of his recommendations, most importantly the maintenance of the universal service obligation; the recognition of Government responsibility for the pensions deficit; and the need for a new relationship between Management and the Unions in order to cope with the modernisation of Royal Mail. 

But much of Hooper’s analysis, particularly the international comparisons on efficiency are highly questionable and the overall package of measures (centred on part privatisation of RM) is fundamentally flawed.

Hooper’s report seriously underestimates the costs of postal competition to date and the risks this poses to the future USO. "In his interim report Hooper says of competition (quote from Hooper)“no significant benefits to millions of small businesses and domestic customers” and posed a “substantial threat to Royal Mail’s finances and the USO” and endorsed all the key arguments put forward by the CWU about the impact of liberalisation to date. However, the tone of Hooper’s final report on the impact of competition (which was central to its interim findings) has been played down in the final version to support a policy of privatisation.

The UK is also the only European country to operate the peculiar form of downstream access arrangements which lead to Royal Mail subsidising its competitors. 

The company’s latest accounts for 2008 show that the universal service products made a loss of around £100m.  This may well be an underestimate, yet illustrates how the selective function of competition has unbalanced Royal Mail finances.

Hooper describes the CWU as “obstructive and “defending our privileges”. The CWU have always said that we are more than willing to discuss change with Royal Mail, but by negotiations and agreement. Management must be persuaded that this is the only way that change is going to happen in a successful manner. Hopefully, this can be done by discussions with us and with a little arm-twisting from those with influence outside the business such as you.

The CWU believe there is an alternative to the prescription for managed decline set out by Hooper. There is a positive future for RM that delivers greater investment, exploits new technologies and market changes, with better products and services for customers and greater support for businesses that supports the wider UK economy at a time of economic recession.

The CWU has set out the following:

• Royal Mail to remain 100% publicly owned with a new board and management team committed to delivering a successful modern public enterprise;

• A new financial package for Royal Mail that:

delivers greater investment (through better use of the £600m still unspent from the Commercial Agreement with Government);

allows Royal Mail to keep the money it would save on servicing its pension deficit (£280m a year for 15 years);

changes the access and pricing regime (to end unfair competition and stem the loss of revenue to Royal Mail’s competitors); and

establishes a Universal Support Fund (as provided for under the EU Postal Directive that ensures all operators who use Royal Mail’s national infrastructure help pay a fair price towards its upkeep).

• Royal Mail to deliver modernisation based on implementation of agreements negotiated with the CWU that treat the recognized union as a genuine partner in change;

• The Government to honour their moral responsibility as sole shareholder in Royal Mail to take responsibility for the pensions deficit and resolve issues about the pension cuts imposed to date;

• Amendments to the Postal Services Act which enshrine in law greater support for SME’s together with a new delivery specification that guarantees customers a consistent and reliable service and provides a foundation for the development of other new products and services;

• More product and service innovation. Modernisation must mean delivering for customers. We don’t underestimate the risks posed by changes in the postal market but we want Royal Mail to embrace these developments, exploit the new technologies and maximise the commercial opportunities they present;

• An integrated, national postal network with a revitalised Post Office providing a ‘shop front’ for Government services and a People’s Bank with a full range of financial services that people can trust and rely on.

The CWU is committed to a fully publicly owned, modern Postal Service, as the Government is committed to in their manifesto. We are confident that this is what the British public wants and increasingly MPs are voicing their concerns about plans to privatise the Post Office.

We look forward to seeing you on the 24th February in the House of Commons when hundreds of CWU members will be lobbying parliament.

In the meantime, if you wish to discuss this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me on the numbers below.

Campaign News