The Post Office strikes;the 2 Minute Briefing

The Post Office strikes;the 2 Minute Briefing
From THE TIMES, January 17th, 2001
Anjana Ahuja

Where and why are the strikes happening?

Around 120 postal workers in Bristol have been staging an unofficial strike during the past four days, forcing managers to deliver the mail themselves. The protests are against changes to working practices – the Royal Mail has declared that it will stop overtime payments to workers who sort post for colleagues who are off sick or on holiday. A general mood of disenchantment among workers has been festering for months. One bone of contention is the fact that some employees work a six-day week. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) would like to see everyone work a five-day week.

Why are staff so disgruntled?

The Royal Mail, which, along with Post Office Counters and Parcel Force, makes up the Post Office, is streamlining plans for the switch from a public corporation to a Government-owned plc. This will lead to around 2,000 job losses and has sparked anger in the ranks of the CWU, one of the most militant unions. Some local actions, though, are nothing to do with working conditions and job losses. Yesterday, in Liverpool, 200 sorting staff walked out in support of a colleague who had been disciplined. Last week, Coventry postal workers took action in support of a colleague who refused to move to another department. Half of all industrial disputes last year involved the Post Office and cost the organisation more than 22,000 working days.

How has the Post Office been affected?

Bad publicity, which doesn’t help the struggle to retain customers.

It has already been challenged by the rail chaos and the floods, as well as other parcel delivery companies and higher fuel costs. There have been calls for privatisation. The Post Office Users’ National Council says the organisation loses a million items a week, a figure it hotly disputes.

What happens next?

This behemoth will undergo tremendous changes. It will mark its status change in March with a new name, Consignia, and acquire its own regulator, PostComm, which will have the power to impose fines if targets are not met. Its monopoly on letters and packets under 350g and costing under a Pounds 1 to post has already been scrapped. The EU is likely to approve the opening up of European postal markets even further. However, the Government is still arguing with Brussels about where to cut the monopoly. Some say a sensible compromise would be to preserve the monopoly on first and second-class letters, and force the Post Office into the open market for all its other business.

(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2001

THE TIMES, 17th January 2001