Postcomm chief slams union greed (UK)

Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton has hit back at union claims that the regulator is incompetent, arguing that the Communications Workers Union is “undeservedly” reaping all the cost savings Royal Mail has made.

Stapleton counters: “The CWU has been extremely competent in making sure that all the savings Royal Mail has made – through single daily delivery – has gone to its members and not Royal Mail’s customers.

“Second delivery was 4 per cent of Royal Mail’s volume and 20 per cent of its costs. Everyone thought that the savings would be passed on to the customer but in fact they went on higher wages, a five day week instead of six and higher pensions – the customer hasn’t got anything.”

The move follows CWU general secretary Billy Hayes’ public broadside last week that Postcomm was ‘draconian’ and ‘incompetent’ and was to blame for Royal Mail’s demise.

He also claimed Postcomm was stifling Royal Mail and creating a financial crisis for the UK’s biggest mail carrier.

But Stapleton argues that both the CWU and Royal Mail have their heads stuck in the sand, claiming that neither has reacted swiftly enough to the rise of digital marketing.
He comments: “The CWU doesn’t seem to have realised that what happened to it in telecoms is happening to it in mail, namely that alternative communications media is impacting on the future development of the mail market.”

Stapleton also blames Royal Mail’s lack of new product development. He says: “Half the problem is that the company which should be leading the charge for mail to succeed in the digital world is holding up its hand and saying ‘it’s the regulator that is stopping us; we don’t have enough capital’. But when you analyse it, it isn’t capital it needs. Admittedly we ask for three months’ notice for new product introductions but it hasn’t even test marketed anything since last August.”

Royal Mail sources lay the blame at the door of marketing director Alex Batchelor, who left the company last week. His role has been subsumed into that of strategy and commercial director Alex Smith, who takes up the post next month.