ROYAL MAIL, acting on its brief from the government has announced the closure of major automated sorting centres which will affect Liverpool. Oldham, Bolton, Stockport and Crewe.
The response of the CWU leadership is to condemn the Royal Mail closure announcement as ‘irresponsible.’
Dave Ward, deputy general secretary, does not oppose the closures in principle, instead he states: ‘Royal Mail has reneged on an agreed process by prematurely announcing this decision. The consultation period has not come to an end making their announcement irresponsible and misleading.’
Refusing to condemn the proposals in principle, Ward continues: ‘We believe Royal Mail’s plans are flawed, and have suggested a number of alternatives, such as relocating the current mail centre in Liverpool to another site in the Merseyside area.’
He continues: ‘Royal Mail, as a public service and major employer, has an obligation to take into account their social and economic responsibility to the communities they serve. With unemployment in Liverpool being one of the highest in the UK, Royal Mail is failing to meet those responsibilities.’
In fact, Royal Mail’s only obligation is to the government. The government has made it crystal clear that its only interest is in privatising the public sector, including the Royal Mail, so that it can continue to hand billions of pounds to the banks!
The Labour government has long ago given up any obligation that it felt that it had to either the working class or the unemployed.
Ward continues in his statement to emphasise: ‘The CWU acknowledges that changes are needed to modernise the postal industry, but a balance needs to be struck which meets the business plan, service standards and social and economic concerns.’
Once again he will not demand ‘no closures!’ He tries to do the impossible – balance the plans of big business alongside the concerns of the workers.
He should know by now that the interests of the two are irreconcilable and that any force such as the trade union bureaucracy that tries to balance between the two always sells out the working class to big business and government.
Far from opposing the changes Ward continues that: ‘Royal Mail needs to bring the workforce along with these changes in order for the business to be successful so we call on them to remove their preferred option, return to the negotiating table and have a genuine and meaningful consultation over the future of mail centres.’
The Ward message is if you want ‘to bring the workforce along with these changes’ have a ‘genuine and meaningful consultation over the future of mail centres’ with us union leaders who will help you achieve what you want.
The CWU leadership seeks to collaborate with the management to bring in its changes. It wants to be an essential part of this process, and argues with the boss that this is the only way that Royal Mail will get what it wants.
This is why the CWU leaders will not state unequivocally that they will fight all attempts to close the sorting offices and mail centres.
The membership has seen this all before.
After calling a series of partial strike actions to oppose the managements flexibility agenda and a below inflation wage rise, the union leaders called off the action in favour of five weeks of secret talks and then accepted everything that the employer wanted to bring in.
On pensions they started the defence of final salary pensions by saying that they understood why the present scheme had to go!
They then moved a motion at the CWU conference for action but with no date attached, giving Royal Mail all of the time that they were looking for.
Now they are preparing to stand by and watch sorting offices and mail centres close, and Royal Mail be privatised as long as they are part of the process.
This betrayal must be stopped.
There must be strike action to defend every mail centre. Leaders who refuse to fight for this policy must be made to resign.
