Brown on the UK postal walkout
UK prime minister Gordon Brown urged the CWU and Royal Mail to get “round the table” to end the national postal strike, labelling the industrial action as “self defeating”. When quizzed on the national strike during a visit to West Yorkshire, Brown said: “If more and more customers leave the Royal Mail and more and more customers stop using the Royal Mail, then more jobs will be lost, so this is self-defeating.
“I think, instead of striking, the workers and the management should be sitting round the table getting an end to this strike.
“I believe that by discussing and negotiating and, if necessary, bringing in an arbitrator like Acas, we can get a solution to this problem.”
When quizzed on the government’s actions during this time, the prime minister retorted: “We’re doing what we can to make possible the resumption of talks between the management and the workforce.
“The only way to solve an industrial dispute is by the management and workforce getting together.
“This strike is soluble and I believe that management and the workforce can reach a solution to this and they should do this as quickly as possible.”
Do you agree with Brown? Is the government doing enough? And to what extent will the strikes hurt Royal Mail? Please comment below.