Union issues UK postal privatisation warning
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has warned that postal services in the UK face an “uncertain future”. The admission was made on the eve of the Postal Services Bill returning to parliament tomorrow (Thursday).
MPs will vote on amendments to the Bill in the final parliamentary stage before Royal Assent.
As well as allowing private investment into Royal Mail, the Bill outlines that Post Office Ltd could move to a mutual ownership model, Ofcom will become the regulator to the UK postal industry, and the government will take on Royal Mail Group’s pension deficit.
But CWU general secretary Billy Hayes (pictured) warns that privatisation could lead to the closure of thousands of post office branches.
“The UK’s postal services face an uncertain future because of the government’s Bill. Without strong guarantees the post office network could be stripped of a third of its income when Royal Mail is privatised leading to thousands of closures.
“The new law means the Universal Service, six days a week one-price-goes-anywhere, could be downgraded in just four years and we fear that consumers will see massive price hikes. Privatisation has lead to a three-day a week rural service in the Netherlands and postage costs twice as high as ours in Germany.
- Hayes says thousands of branches could close
“Royal Mail is already under huge pressure from the government to slim down and appear attractive to a private buyer. There’s no evidence that a buyer exists and this uncertainty is very stressful for postal workers.
“Regardless of who buys this business, the CWU will still be representing the interests of postal workers. We will be fighting for jobs and services for the long-term as we are not governed by the short term profit motives of ‘spivs and gamblers’, in the Cabinet or elsewhere.”
A poll of subpostmasters on behalf of the CWU published last month showed 92% thought their post office was either very unlikely or unlikely to survive without mail business provided by Royal Mail. Less than 1% said they would be very likely to survive.
Earlier this week, Post&Parcel reported that Royal Mail could slash up to 40,000 jobs by 2016.
