Prepare for turmoil in Royal Mail

Confrontation in Royal Mail is virtually guaranteed as the public sector pay curbs dictated by the government are combining with bosses’ determination to cut costs in order to compete against TNT and other private mail operators.

Across the public sector chancellor Gordon Brown has told workers they will get only a 2 percent rise. Postal workers are facing even worse.

As Socialist Worker went to press the pay offer remained “closed” – a secret between bosses and union leaders. Details were expected to be released this week, but there are already plenty of indications about what Royal Mail want.

According to leaks seen by Socialist Worker, there will be no (or a very low) basic pay rise. In order to get a lump sum of a few hundred pounds,

workers will have to assist in plans to save around £350 million in operating costs.

Over 20 conditions must be met to reach this 90-day business plan target, including:

The removal of night shifts in delivery offices
Monthly pay
Clear post boxes a maximum of twice daily
Work on first class only on Sundays and bank holidays
No “inefficient” offices to sort second class
No indoor overtime
Cease payment for the delivery of election material
Remove payment for door to door (unaddressed mail)
Change the attendance procedure to make it easier to discipline or sack workers
Introducing part-timers when full-time jobs fall vacant

Bosses also want the pension age to rise to 65.

Royal Mail has told CWU union officials that it is going to implement savings whether the union likes it or not.

Meanwhile the Daily Express reports that up to 50,000 postal workers could lose their jobs in the biggest cuts in the history of the Royal Mail.

Almost a third of staff in the letters division could be hit, on top of 35,000 jobs which have gone through redundancies over the past five years.

This is a very big challenge to the CWU. Socialist Worker believes that the London region has already applied for a strike ballot over the unagreed imposition of “efficiency savings”. These include ignoring the MTSF redundancy agreement.

It is quite conceivable that, with Royal Mail seeking to make savings from this month in order to meet its annual target, that it could simply impose them at some offices, leading to spontaneous walkouts.

If the cuts package is confirmed, the CWU must start the strike ballot process. Only national action can deal with this scale of national attacks.