Royal Mail employee speaks out about CWU-Labour government collusion in the PE group’s takeover of Royal Mail: ‘They are partners in crime’

The World socialism website had the following interview with a Royal Mail delivery worker in Scotland who is a member of the Postal Workers Ranking Committee (PWRFC). Their name has been withheld to protect against victimization.

The discussion focused on the experiences of postal workers in the field and the devastation of jobs and working conditions resulting from the pro-company agreement of July last year. It cemented the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) Postal Authority’s partnership with Royal Mail, ending a year-long domestic dispute that was to pave the way for last year’s brutal restructuring plan.

It comes in response to CWU General Secretary Dave Ward’s fraudulent speech at this week’s Labor Party conference. His speech was an attempt to falsify figures and suggest that the union was fighting against the “stitching” of Royal Mail by current business leaders and regulator Ofcom.

Royal Mail employee speaks out about CWU-Labour government collusion in the PE group’s takeover of Royal Mail: ‘They are partners in crime’ — Royal Mail postal worker delivering mail, May 2024

The Labor Party conference adopted the CWU’s motion on ‘Britain’s Critical Infrastructure – The Future of the Royal Mail’. It claims Starmer’s government will guarantee “stronger contractual obligations” to protect jobs and the postal service and prevent an asset sale by billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and his private equity firm EP Group in connection with the takeover of Royal Mail (and its parent company International) for £3.5 billion. Distribution Services).

These worthless assurances are intended to neutralize postal workers’ opposition to the next phase of the race to the bottom. Therefore, in recent months, meetings on the takeover have been held in closed session between Kretyński and the EP Group, CWU and the Labor Party, which before taking office signaled its support in principle for the buyout.

The CWU’s call for a “new business and ownership model” under sole ownership of the EP Group is in line with the Labor Government’s commitment to be the “most pro-business enterprise in history”. It retains the privileged status of the CWU bureaucracy as a corporate enforcer, using the building blocks of a sales contract to transform the Postal Service into an Amazon-style package delivery company with tailored conditions at manufacturing plants.

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Postal workers in Scotland delivering parcels since June this year have been hit hardest by late start and finish times of up to 90 minutes. What was the impact?

At our delivery office, shipment completion times averaged around 2:00 p.m. during the week and just after 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. CWU has also agreed to longer working hours over the main Christmas period to 39 hours a week, so on weekdays you return to the delivery office around 3.30pm or 4pm and still have work to do, and around 2.40pm on Saturday if you won’t take a break.

Many people with young children took this job because it allowed them to be picked up from school. It’s already gone. Your job is to deliver packages – that’s what CWU means when they talk about “business development.” You have no life outside of work, even on Saturdays when in the past you could meet up with friends and family and socialize. Every day is a constant struggle to complete the work. You can’t tell what time you’ll finish; they increased their workload by about 15 percent. It’s like the gig economy.

This is a stark reminder of what the CWU has signed up to in its contract with Royal Mail. From what we hear, the situation is only going to get worse. What starts as a rumor becomes fact. This is a mitigation effort led by the trade union and management. So many people want to leave and new employees are treated even worse due to the two-tiered workforce. Royal Mail is burning through staff. In addition to lower pay and conditions, they have to work on Sunday as compulsory work. But now at local level they are being told that they cannot take a day off during the week but can work overtime on Sunday, as if it was a big favor in exchange for extra pay! New entrants leave because they can’t believe the stress and workload.

Martin Walsh was elected CWU deputy general secretary (post) with just 10 per cent of the vote last November. Postal workers thought the same about his defense of the sale agreement, but he claimed the CWU would “reconnect” with members in the workplace.

This is one of the biggest lies he has ever told. Calling ourselves a “communications union” is a sick joke. CWU “reconnects” members by drip-feeding the company’s line, making them even more stressed about their future.

A few weeks ago in Perth, Walsh met with CWU representatives in Scotland. There was no job site report in our delivery office. A CWU representative has just provided us as individuals with pieces of information that are crucial to our well-being in the workplace.

There is nothing in writing. We have been told that the ‘My Performance’ app used to track individual productivity under the contract will now be moved from PDAs (handheld tracking devices) to our mobile phones via the ‘Royal Mail People’ app. Thanks to this intrusive company app, we can now order a new uniform, organize annual leave, days off, and even view our payslip. If you would like to print your payslip, you must now submit an individual request. It is not uncommon for hours worked to be underpaid, so this should be checked. There is no longer human contact with HR or the manager on these issues. We are just a hop and skip away from the platforms that economic workers use.

We are facing walks that will increase from approximately 4 hours 15 minutes to 5 hours a day. We were told Saturdays would be parcel and first class only and everything else would be moved to Monday and Tuesday. This is planned for the beginning of next year and involves the takeover of the company by Kretinsky. CWU merely repeats management’s comments.

Ward from the Labor Party spoke about defending the USO. What was the role of the CWU in the deliberate destruction of postal services?

Only members tried to keep the service running in a losing battle, trying to ensure that important mail, such as hospital appointments, was delivered to people. This is in the face of the union selling us downstream. USO is just a term used by CWU. Now they are talking about suspending much of the mail on Saturday. We were the ones who argued throughout the entire dispute that the company was coming for the postal service. Members never received a response from CWU about its actions to prevent management from prioritizing parcels over mail, in breach of the universal service obligation. The union hierarchy talks about protecting the universal service obligation, but it doesn’t care and allows postal workers to be repressed by management. With last year’s deal, CWU took its first opportunity to ditch the service in favor of a parcel delivery network. They can’t talk to regular members about defending the USO because it’s bullshit. When Walsh talks about any “expansion” of the service, he’s talking about increasing package deliveries between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. This is a huge clue as to what they think about universal service obligations. They sing from the same hymn sheet as Royal Mail-IDS. How demoralizing is this for postal workers who are looking for a way to defend their jobs, conditions and postal services?

What do you think about the role of the CWU and the Labor Party in Kretyński taking power?

The CWU is in collusion with the Labor government and does not agree to this takeover. This is atmospheric music. I see them as partners in crime and there is no hope that anything good will come from this. It will be worse for employees. I’ve heard Labor say they won’t discourage investment – that’s how they present an asset stripper billionaire taking over. From Rachel Reeves on down, they are completely pro-business. This tells you everything you need to know and is bad news for us, regardless of the so-called stipulations agreed with Kretinsky regarding the takeover.

As for Ward claiming to be a great opponent of privatization, what a farce! When we prepared to strike to defend our conditions over two years ago, the CWU told us that we had to think about shareholders and that Royal Mail was not a service but a private company. Who comes first in any PLC? It’s shareholders and their dividends. This has always been a priority for CWU, and the situation has only gotten worse.

There is a large TV in our cafeteria that broadcasts company propaganda via the RMTV news channel. It’s like 1984. He keeps pushing up the stock price to reinforce the idea that it matters. It’s not subliminal, it’s written all over your face.

I encourage all postal employees to join the work of the Postal Employees Ranking Committee. You have the chance to hear from Royal Mail workers across the country for support and to know that there are many others who feel the same and want to fight back. Anyone looking for a voice will find it on the committee, you will be more than welcome.

In our recent Zoom meeting, we received greetings from the Canada Post Ranking Committee and recognition of the level of exploitation they face. This was very impressive and made us realize how postal workers are fighting the same fight. This will be a great awareness for people – it was for me. This doesn’t just happen in the UK; other rich and developed countries treat their workers like garbage because the unions in every country have aligned themselves with employers and governments.

This is a global problem that requires a global solution. We must stick together as brothers and sisters around the world

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Royal Mail employee speaks out about CWU-Labour government collusion in the PE group’s takeover of Royal Mail: ‘They are partners in crime’

Naford

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