The CWU postal workers union yesterday slammed a call from government appointed regulator Postcomm to privatise Royal Mail.
CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: ‘This is another bad decision by Postcomm following their many bad decisions which have led to the problems in the industry.
‘Postcomm are again overstepping their remit with this report.
‘They have consistently been obsessed with the drive to develop the competition model and calling for privatisation is another step from an organisation that is ignoring their public service obligation.’
He added: ‘At the end of the day this is only Postcomm’s opinion, and it is the opinion of the review team and ultimately the government that will count.
‘There is currently no political support for this and privatisation has been regularly opposed by parliament.’
In its submission to the Hooper review of the postal sector, Postcomm said: ‘Royal Mail needs access to private capital and a stronger set of incentives to enable it to restructure and become more profitable.’
It also proposed that Post Office Ltd should be separated from Royal Mail and kept wholly in public ownership.
Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton said: ‘Postcomm wants to see the government and Royal Mail embrace a partnership approach with the private sector to secure a universal service.’
Earlier this month, the independent review of the postal sector found in an initial report that liberalisation had produced ‘no significant benefits’ for either households or small businesses.
Rob Bolton, HP section chairman, CWU South Central No1 branch, called for strike action.
He told News Line yesterday: ‘Postcomm’s call is a further attack on the terms and conditions of workers on Royal Mail.
‘If a private equity company were allowed to buy a slice of Royal Mail, they would proceed to announce thousands of further redundancies and attacks on our pension scheme.
‘That is how private equity companies work. They buy a business, strip it bare, announce thousands of redundancies and rob the pension fund.
‘We have seen this in many companies over the years.
‘The regulator is not independent but a Trojan Horse for big business.
‘This cannot be allowed to happen.
‘The CWU leadership should immediately call industrial action to defeat these plans.
‘If they sit on their hands and do nothing they will be watching the destruction of the postal industry and the CWU with it. Hayes and Ward must be told that Royal Mail cannot be allowed to be put in the hands of privateers who will asset strip the public service.’
