CWU opposes final Royal Mail privatisation
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has opposed the UK government’s decision to sell the remaining state-owned stake in Royal Mail –and warned that it would consider taking “strike action” to defend its members’ terms and conditions. In a statement issued yesterday (Thursday, 4 June), CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “Selling off the final 30% of Royal Mail threatens the very existence of the one-price-goes-anywhere, six-day delivery service that Royal Mail provides to 29 million UK addresses.”
Ward continued: “When the first part of this privatisation was completed by the Coalition [the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats] we were told that this was because Royal Mail needed private capital to invest in its future, but if you ask the workforce they have seen hardly any new investment but have witnessed the worst type of short term investors making a killing without any regard to the long term future of the company or the services it provides to the public.
“As a minimum, if this Government wanted to say they were interested in the workers then they could at least increase the workers’ stake in the company.”
Ward signed off with a warning: “The CWU will oppose this final part of the sell-off and continue to campaign against unfair competition and the race to the bottom, which privatisation inevitably brings. Both existing, and any new shareholders should be in no doubt – any attempt to undermine the legally binding agreement that protects Royal Mail workers’ terms and conditions will be defended if necessary through strike action.”
