Billy Hayes:We are fighting for Royal Mail

[POSTMAN]

We are fighting for Royal Mail

For the CWU, the postal workers' vote for strike action is part of the fight for a modernised, innovative, fairly run industry

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Billy Hayes

The CWU is committed to a future for Royal Mail as an efficient, modern public service. We want the industry to utilise all the benefits of new technology, and thus provide an innovative range of services for both business and domestic customers.

So it is with much reluctance that the union comes to a position in which 76% of CWU members in Royal Mail vote for strike action. But it is our view that a labour-intensive industry cannot be modernised unless the workforce is treated with respect.

Postal workers know that the modernisation of the industry does not include reducing services, tearing up collective agreements, bullying and cutting earnings. That is why our members and negotiators are demanding a new national agreement to carry through the modernisation of Royal Mail.

Management needs to accept that its own rhetoric, about the workforce being Royal Mail's "most valuable asset", is actually true. Only by new engagement with the workforce and its union can the dispute be resolved.

Of course, the government, as the "employer of the employer" has a role to play. The industry can be transformed by the government taking on its responsibility for the deficit in the pensions scheme. This would immediately provide Royal Mail with £280m additional capital per year.

Last week at the Labour party conference, an emergency motion was carried that directed the government to do exactly that. This significant policy was largely ignored by the media. Yet if the government acted on party policy, an extended dispute might be averted.

The postal industry has suffered from decades of under-investment, failed privatisation attempts and a botched regulatory regime. Despite this, Royal Mail has fared better in the recession than its privatised rivals Deutsche Post and TNT. Not only does it offer a service for domestic customers at about half the price of these rivals, but it also has reached record levels of quality of service.

Of course, a national strike will not help the industry. Postal workers have to ensure that the working conditions and wages are tolerable. They, and their union, understand the industry better than their critics.

The age of the internet and information technology has not rendered the postal industry redundant. On the contrary, it has buoyed up Royal Mail and created the basis for a new platform of services. Whatever the challenges, it is only the workforce that can ultimately meet them.

That is why the CWU regards the dispute as a fight for the future of Royal Mail, as much as a fight for the rights of postal workers. Management must take the opportunity it has to successfully, and progressively, resolve these issues.