Government “ConDems” Royal Mail

On the day that Royal Mail announced that all of their four businesses remain profitable and that the Group operating profit increased to £404 million – a 26% improvement on the previous year, the ConDem government announce the start of their intention to privatise parts of the Group that turned in £332 million of that profit.

Despite strike action by the CWU at local and national level in Royal Mail Letters during 2009, the operating profit for Letters has more than doubled to £121 million (£58 million 2008-09). This is in despite of an overall fall in revenue and a reduction in the Groups headcount by almost 8,000 people in 2009-10 and with record target-beating performances being delivered by Royal Mail’s postmen and women in the spring of 2009.

Donald Brydon, Chairman of the Royal Mail Group said:

“These are good results achieved against a backdrop of harsh economic conditions and relentless reduction in the number of letters sent by customers, not just in the UK but around the world. However, huge challenges remain, including the need to find a resolution to our historic pension deficit, and the need to reach agreement with Postcomm on a regulatory regime more suited to today’s changing marketplace.”

So why would the ConDems want to privatise a very successful publically owned business?

We at “unitegselection” would suggest that there are two basic reasons why they would.

 

1. It follows the Friedman philosophy of “Public bad – Private good” a philosophy that led to the selling off of other publically owned businesses such as Steel, BT and Public Utilities by a non-Labour government.

 

1. Mail volumes around the world are falling and privately owned mail operators will soon have greater difficulty in competing with a publically owned Royal Mail that continues to modernise with increasing efficiency.

In other words, it is a decision that will underpin the class divide that is being reinforced by the ConDems, one that will benefit the minority at the expense of the majority.

So what else can we expect from the so called progressive ConDems?

All the signs point towards further privatisations and the contracting out/loss of public services, putting further pressure on jobs, pay, conditions and pensions – underpinned by a review of employment and workplace law that will make it even more difficult for people and their trade unions to defend themselves, their families and communities.

If the ConDems have their way, then we will have at least five more years of even greater freedom for private businesses to exploit working people, less fairness in the workplace, and our society and the public sector will be accused and used as a punchbag for the economic mess that the heads at the top of our global banking and financial systems have got us into.

We cannot sit by for the next five years waiting, as the far left will, for a revolution to appear. We need to elect a Unite General Secretary that will fight to free our members of the shackles that the ConDems will seek to tie them down with, for fairness in the workplace and our communities, and for the return of a listening Labour Government that will take their responsibility for all of the people seriously, one that will not act subserviently to a small minority whilst mobilising and using power against the majority.

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