Postal Union may break link to Labour Party

THE main postal union could face “intolerable pressure” to break its link with the Labour Party because of the Government’s lack of action over problems at the Post Office.

In an interview with The Times, Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said that he expected an upsurge in calls to sever the link at the union’s conference. He also believes that breaking the link will be a priority for many activists in the summer round of union conferences because of the controversy over Public Private Partnerships.

He said: “Our members will not distinguish between Postcomm (the regulator, which is planning open competition in postal services) and the Labour Party. If they think that the Government is not listening to them, it will put us under intolerable pressure.” He also said the public was acutely aware of the problems; “People are waking up to the idea that you can’t have a cheap service and have a good service,” he said.

Mr Hayes does not personally support breaking the party link because there is “no viable alternative outside the Labour Party”.

Last year Unison, the UK’s biggest union, voted to review its funding of Labour after anger among its members over the Government’s plans for Public Private Partnerships.

Mr Hayes is urging the Government to halt the postal regulator’s plans amid fears that Consignia, the Post Office group, will be unable to fulfil its legal duty of delivering post and parcels anywhere in the country for the same price.

Meanwhile, the dispute between Consignia and Postcomm grew yesterday after Martin Stanley, the regulator’s chief executive, accused the post group of sending an “irresponsible and inaccurate” letter to MPs about Postcomm’s proposals for the mail market.