ROYAL Mail has announced that it has brought the ‘period of calm’ in the Royal Mail to an end, and that it will be imposing the changes that it wants to make next Monday.
There could not be a more provocative announcement or a more aggressive assault on the membership of the CWU outside of the instant dismissal of every member.
The Communication Workers Union has replied that despite the fact that there is nobody to talk to, it is going to carry on talking – most probably to itself.
However, it adds that it has decided on two 24 hour strikes and to continue the parts strikes, and that the dates for taking action are being kept secret, but are towards the end of September.
The CWU has in the last month said less than a Trappist monk about what it has been talking to Royal Mail about.
It has just had over three weeks of secret talks with Royal Mail, and has just admitted that Royal Mail did not give an inch.
It is now going to seek another 14 days of secret talks, despite the fact that Royal Mail will not talk.
It has also decided on two 24 hour strike dates and a continuation of the parts strikes, but the dates are secret. The CWU says it will announce the new strike dates before the end of September, if no agreement is reached with Royal Mail.
Members of the union who were angry at the cancelling of strike action and the national demonstration on August 21, will be furious at the refusal of the leadership to answer the latest bully boy action of Leighton and Crozier, backed by Brown, by calling indefinite strike action.
In reality the refusal of the CWU leadership to take a stand is a go-ahead signal to the Royal Mail managers to do their worst on Monday September 17th.
The union leadership are banking on Royal Mail being able to carry out its imposition of new terms and conditions of service in the majority of areas.
Then they will say that the membership did not want to fight, and were not up to the task.
Every member, branch, and regional organisation of the CWU must demand that national indefinite strike action is called by the CWU leaders.
This dancing in the dark with Royal Mail must be stopped by the action of the membership.
On September 17th an injury to one must be an injury to all.
Any section of the CWU that comes under attack must be immediately supported by action of the whole union.
Members who are attacked by Royal Mail in any area of the union must call on all other public sector workers in that area to take strike action along with them, since the whole public sector is in for the same treatment as the 160,000 CWU members working at Royal Mail.
The leadership of the CWU must be forced to resign and be replaced by leaders who are prepared to fight, and beat the Brown government and the Royal Mail.
Delegates at the TUC saw how Brown was not willing to make a single concession to the millions of public sector workers.
All the more reason for taking action alongside the postal workers to beat the Brown government and the bosses by bringing the Brown government down.
This will clear the way for the establishment of a workers government that will expropriate the bosses and the bankers and bring in a socialist planned economy.
This is the only way out of the crisis that faces Royal Mail workers and all workers.
Capitalism has failed. All it can now offer is wage cuts, job cuts, privatisations, slump, homelessness and imperialist war.
It is time to strike out for a better, socialist society and a socialist world, otherwise the working class will be brought right down as capitalism crashes.
