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Editorial
A damaging three day strike will take place across the capital next week Wednesday 8th, Thursday 9th and Friday 10th July by the CWU the union representing Royal Mail staff on the grounds that "Postal workers in London will be taking further strike action next week as Royal Mail walks away from the 2007 Pay and Modernisation agreement and continues with cuts without reform."
Despite the assurance by the current government that there will be no part privitisation of the Royal Mail the strike will go ahead. The strike is to be spread out to cause as much disruption as possible with Martin Walsh, CWU London divisional representative, stating: "Postal workers cannot continue with the levels of cuts on hours, jobs and wages by aggressive management which we are currently experiencing. Staff are nearing breaking point and services will be hit if modernisation isn't brought forward.
"We have offered Royal Mail a three month no strike deal to suspend all industrial and executive action and sort out a way forward on modernisation. They have not taken up this attractive offer but the offer remains and would avoid next week's planned strikes.
"We do not have our heads in the sand when it comes to the challenges that Royal Mail face. We want automation, better industrial relations and faster progress on modernisation. But this cannot be driven by bullies who want to heap work on postal workers without supporting them through modernising the business or who are intent on driving down pay and conditions."
The strike which will only alienate Royal Mail staff and management will fail to address the big problem of the pensions defecit of £3.4 billion currently being revalued at a staggering £9 billion. In other words what idiot would buy into the Royal Mail with this deficit on its books?
The Royal Mail issued a statement and said: "Royal Mail today condemned the Communication Workers Union call for further strike action in London over essential changes to which the union have already agreed and which are being implemented in Royal Mail units throughout the UK. Customers will not understand how the union can claim to support modernisation but then announce strike action to halt existing efforts to modernise Royal Mail in London.
The CWU claims to have offered a “moratorium” on industrial action when in fact they are demanding a moratorium on further change at Royal Mail – and at a time when we urgently need to accelerate the pace of change in the face of an annual 10% decline in UK mail volumes. All our stakeholders, including our shareholder, the Government, are encouraging Royal Mail to modernise even more quickly yet the CWU persists in opposing change.
The CWU's strike action can only hurt customers and drive them away either to electronic communications or other postal companies. Particularly at risk is our vitally important online fulfilment and packets business - which is crucial to ensuring a successful future for the Royal Mail and its employees and to securing the Universal Service - but where large customers have a real choice to use other operators."
The Conservatives have said that they are "ideologically supportive of full privatisation" but are expected to wait until market conditions improve before moving ahead.
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