Deliveries market 'like wild west'

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Deliveries market 'like wild west'

The UK's parcels market has become like the "wild west", with bogus self-employment and illegal wages, a union leader has claimed.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said everyone had a story about parcel deliveries that did not arrive, or packages thrown over fences or left in bins.

He told a rally of hundreds of postal workers it was a "damning indictment" on regulator Ofcom that it had "ignored" the growing problems.

The union launched a fresh campaign to defend postal workers' pay and conditions as well as daily deliveries.

"The CWU is making it clear to the Government and the regulator that whether Royal Mail is in public or private hands we are not going away and we will not remain silent as the postal service and postal workers' terms and conditions are eroded.

"The postal service exists to serve the interests of the public and businesses which rely on it. Neither privatisation nor a failed regulatory model have been driven by this.

"Unlike Ofcom we don't see an industry's willingness to embrace zero hours contracts and minimum wage employment as a sign of success.

"When the body in charge of protecting an industry thinks its role is driving down the terms and conditions of postal workers on £21,000 a year, or promoting competition at the expense of the services the vast majority of us rely on, something has gone fundamentally wrong."

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Ofcom's duty is to secure a universal postal service that is financially sustainable and efficient. If this is ever under threat, we have powers to step in, but questions of pay and contract terms are for the companies themselves.

"We require all postal operators to have transparent and simple complaint handling procedures for consumers to follow. There are also strong safeguards under consumer law, which make a retailer responsible for goods until they are delivered to the consumer."