Canada Post chief Moya Greene in talks about taking the helm

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Canada Post chief Moya Greene in talks about taking the helm at Royal Mail

Royal Mail is believed to be planning the appointment of the boss of Canada Post, Moya Greene, as its new chief executive. She will be the first woman to head the state-owned postal service since it was created 350 years ago.

The 56-year-old is likely to recognise many of the items she will find in her in-tray. During her five years at the helm of Canada's equivalent of Royal Mail, she forced through a programme of modernisation that earned her some vocal critics among union leaders. There was also persistent talk that the business was being lined up for privatisation.

Royal Mail has been searching for a new boss since Adam Crozier announced in January that he was quitting to become chief executive of ITV. While it still has a short list of three candidates, Greene is believed to be the frontrunner and the appointment could be made within days. Royal Mail declined to comment.

The news comes after the government announced that it is seeking to part-privatise Royal Mail, a move that has angered union leaders. At their annual conference this week, members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) unanimously passed an emergency motion rejecting plans by business secretary Vince Cable to inject private capital into the business. Union leaders warned the government that they were "battle-hardened, not battle-weary" after last year's strikes, which hit the company's revenues and led to a new agreement on pay and conditions. But they have ruled out taking industrial action over the issue.

While disruption on the scale seen in Britain last year has not happened in Canada during Greene's tenure, relations with union leaders have been fraught. Last year the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) marked her fourth anniversary as boss with a report card in which they graded her F for employee injuries, a D- for grievances, a C- for strike days, a D for expanding services and an F for respect.

"If you compare the four years before Greene with the four years under Greene's management the numbers show that injuries have gone up 15.4% and grievances have gone up 59.3%," said Denis Lemelin, the CUPW's president. "We've also seen days lost to national strikes go from three to 36 and there has been a sharp decline in efforts to expand community services."

Greene was originally appointed to Canada Post on a five-year contract, but it was extended by two years in September last year. It is one of the largest employers in Canada, delivering approximately 45m pieces of mail to more than 15m addresses in the country.

Greene certainly has experience of privatisations, despite the fact that Canada Post has yet to bring in outside capital. In her early career as a civil servant, she headed up the privatisation of Canadian National Railway and the deregulation of the airline industry. She also has experience in the private sector, having previously been an executive at rail and aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. She has also held senior positions within Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and TD Securities

[Dogs of War]

She seems a right we hitler.

[maisymoo04]

i have family in canada and they say the postal service is awfull well done royal mail lets spoil everything now with this stupid foreigner to come over and F*** EVERYTHING UP THIS IS DISGUSTIN

[Patrick Clifton]

i have family in canada and they say the postal service is awfull well done royal mail lets spoil everything now with this stupid foreigner to come over and F*** EVERYTHING UP even more than it is already THIS IS DISGUSTIN

You made an error, fixed it for you

[maisymoo04]

WHAT ERROR

[maisymoo04]

soz pat just read it prop mate yes is very true m8