We should privatise Royal Mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... vatisation


Mandelson is right, our postal service is less efficient than its western-European counterparts and needs to be modernised



Anyone who has been to hear Tony Benn speak (I have been one of his more regular punters over the years) will have heard him say: "The programme of socialism is sometimes associated with nationalisation." He will then add: "Charles II nationalised the post. When I was postmaster general, I wondered why. I found that he wanted to open everyone's letters, and he could do that only by creating the Royal Mail."

By contrast, even that arch privatiser Margaret Thatcher defended the institution. "The Royal Mail is different," she told underlings firmly when she was prime minister. "We have the Queen's head on the stamps." But why couldn't a private firm still have the word "royal" in its title? After all the Royal Bank of Scotland used to be a private firm.

In October, business secretary Peter Mandelson insouciantly waltzed back into office and told the Financial Times that if he had stayed as trade and industry secretary in 1998, he would have allowed the private sector to buy stakes in the Royal Mail. "If I had not been forced to resign, it would have happened," he said. "Frankly, 10 years on I was surprised this was still an unresolved issue." Mandelson now says he will proceed with a part privatisation following a study by Richard Harper.

Labour's 2005 election manifesto said of the Royal Mail that they had "no plans to privatise it". But if the first tranche of shares sold still leaves the government with over 51% before the general election then they reckon they are in the clear. Doubtless Mandelson is conscious of EU rules on competition restricting subsidies which have been forcing post office closures, and is also concerned about raising money to offset the Royal Mail's pensions deficit.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), in the past a big Labour party paymaster, is naturally indignant at any private capital being brought into the Royal Mail. They are concerned that only public ownership can guarantee a universal service. But their credentials when it comes to "guaranteeing a service" are scarcely helped by calling its members in Liverpool, Coventry, Stockport, Oldham, Oxford, Crewe and Bolton out on strike on 19 December – the day before the last Christmas posting day for first-class letters.

While the postal market has been deregulated for private individuals sending our parcels and Christmas cards, the Royal Mail still has an effective monopoly (happy Christmas to you too, general secretary Billy Hayes).

It's not just the strikes that been crippling the Royal Mail in recent years but the restrictive practices. Fifteen years ago the Dutch postal service, KPN, was sold by the state; now, as TNT, it has become a world class company. Germany's Deutsche Post has been another success story. But the Royal Mail has been languishing, resisting new technology in a way reminiscent of Fleet Street clinging to hot metal.

As Mandelson said in his announcement: "Hooper reports that the Royal Mail is less automated and less efficient than its western-European counterparts. In modern European postal companies, 85% of mail is put in walk-order by machine for delivery to the individual home or business. By contrast, in Britain, in local delivery offices, it is still done entirely by hand. The Royal Mail urgently needs to catch up and modernise."

I hope that share ownership will include free or discounted allocations to the workforce which has been an important feature of other privatisations and which has transformed the motivation of the workforce and industrial relations. Will the CWU tell their members to turn down the free shares?

The Royal Mail should have been fully privatised many years ago. Had it been, then perhaps a thriving business could have invested around the world and raised capital free of political interference. It could have managed with fewer post office closures and less threat of our Christmas cards arriving some time in 2009. But despite its late delivery, Mandelson's announcement is a step in the right direction.

[kingtubby]

The comments are well worth reading. The article quite rightly gets torn to shreds.

[borders]

this is one of the replies , most people are of the same opinion----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GhostPostie
17 Dec 08, 12:14pm
"Harry you are so wrong. Royal Mail will still have one hand tied behind its back delivering the universal service whilst its competitors enjoy subsidized downstream access to RM's network. Royal Mail is expected to behave like a business but cannot finance itself like a business. Basically everything since competition has been brought into the network has been a total contradiction and does not add up.

Furthermore, to argue TNT has the where with all to tell Royal Mail how to do thing s is beyond belief. Apart from being the firm who was involved in losing the records of 25m people their home market is nowhere near as competitive as the UK's. TNT will be laughing all the way to the bank it takes a skim of the top in all parts of the industry but takes no risk because the taxpayer has just said it will underwrite the pension deficit.

As for resistance to change by staff. If you worked for Royal Mail you would know why. Staff simply do not trust management as they do not stand by agreements - simple. And management are so under-qualified. They simply do not have the skills to do the job - they defy believe sometimes.

It is also somewhat ironic in the week Royal Mail has been hounded for pressuring staff into walking faster, that this report suggests more job cuts. I suppose that means the posties will have to go even faster - maybe brisk jogging now.

The whole Hooper report is just a waste of time and taxpayers money. It has come up with the same predictable but now disgraced formula - get the private sector involved because they have such a great track record in things like finance don't they?

TNT made off with Royal Mail - I'll leave that one with you.

It is time for the British public to stand up and say NO to the private sector ripping off the taxpayer in health, education and all other parts of public sector activity."

[norbert]

The comments are well worth reading. The article quite rightly gets torn to shreds.

The Guardian & the Independent always have a resident right - winger on their staff to wind people up , then they go onto to the Daily Depress or Flail etc to rant about immigrants .

That journalist is a right true - blue one , works for the Tories ; writes for the London Standard , even the Chingford Skinhead chucked him out for being too right wing . Usually they are ex Conservative Students Association - Tebbit also had them chucked out of the party - nice people - nights out to celebrate Hitler's Birthday wearing Hang Nelson Mandella T - shirts .

That Hooper report was to get New Labour off the hook , the unmitigated disaster of the Postal Services Act 2000 , New Labour " Managerialism " - the dynamic private sector saviors :lfo & :cfo - no vision , no ideas , no imagination , the Brown Stakeholder executive to increase the value of these government / part government owned firms , jumping in too quick with the EEC directive that "forgot " to ring fence the USO . Gordon's "Public Sector " Reforms " - you name it , it hasn't worked !

Even bringing :mfo back is "interesting " - times running out for McBean and there's a General Election on the horizon . I also suspect the TNT business is to sweeten Murdoch up on Europe - nothing really new :mfo there - Thatcher just knighted the Newspaper Barons and Editors to get them to print what she wanted -it all stinks of the Queen - sorry Prince of Darkness :mfo

[kingtubby]

Just thought I'd add this from the comments - by 'GhostPostie'

With regard to the walk sequencing machines everyone seems to believe will save Royal Mail. In our area we have supposed to have been getting one for the last 12 months but no sign yet. In the areas they have been introduced management seem to be very quiet on how well they are doing. You get the occasional area manager say "yes they're amazing" but very little seems to change. In actual fact we have been told that if they are introduced in our office/area it could be 10 o'clock in the morning before we receive any mail. That's 41/2 hours later than now. We will start our deliveries approx 3 hours later. I defy anyone to say this is either efficient or progress. I have worked for Royal Mail for over 10 years and there has been endless talk of walk sequencing since I started. It has not been staff resistance that has stopped this but managements total lack of understanding anything technological. Staff in every organisation resist change when it can result in them losing their jobs, if they did not they would not be human, surely. These people want to earn money to pay for their mortgages etc, when this is threatened they resist change, perfectly natural. I am not saying that is good for a company but what is more important in this world? people and their families or companies? I'll let you decide.

Secondly, Royal Mail under Leighton and Crozier was supposed to have that essential business vision now. These are dynamic leaders with the private sector know-how that make companies succeed. So what has gone wrong? We have to ask 2 questions. Firstly, should Leighton and Crozier not consider their positions imediatley given that it is they who have essentially steered the Royal Mail ship to this untenable position? And second, if private sector know-how has failed once why is it thought it will succeed a second time?

Having read the Hooper report I was somewhat underwhelmed - by its statements of the obvious - and by the fact that it has fallen back on dogma that over the past 12 months has so blatantly become obsolete. Basically the report was out-of-date before it was published. Although it is no great suprise that it replicates what Mandleson was saying in the FT only a few days previous. It basically prescribes what a good manager at Royal Mail described as 'managed destruction'. And by the way there are some good managers at Royal Mail. They are honest and trustworthy and good at their job. I do not always agree with them but they do what they have to do - they just do it better by treating staff like people and not animals. Unfortunately senior management do not like managers like this and as a result most are either off sick with stress or in the process of being sacked or as RM like to call it performance management. You know an organisation is trouble when even a senior manager hated by union officials resigns because even he believes they way the company is run, by those further up, and how it treats its people is wrong.

[pickaname]

Just thought I'd add this from the comments - by 'GhostPostie'

With regard to the walk sequencing machines everyone seems to believe will save Royal Mail. In our area we have supposed to have been getting one for the last 12 months but no sign yet. In the areas they have been introduced management seem to be very quiet on how well they are doing. You get the occasional area manager say "yes they're amazing" but very little seems to change. In actual fact we have been told that if they are introduced in our office/area it could be 10 o'clock in the morning before we receive any mail. That's 41/2 hours later than now. We will start our deliveries approx 3 hours later. I defy anyone to say this is either efficient or progress. I have worked for Royal Mail for over 10 years and there has been endless talk of walk sequencing since I started. It has not been staff resistance that has stopped this but managements total lack of understanding anything technological. Staff in every organisation resist change when it can result in them losing their jobs, if they did not they would not be human, surely. These people want to earn money to pay for their mortgages etc, when this is threatened they resist change, perfectly natural. I am not saying that is good for a company but what is more important in this world? people and their families or companies? I'll let you decide.

Secondly, Royal Mail under Leighton and Crozier was supposed to have that essential business vision now. These are dynamic leaders with the private sector know-how that make companies succeed. So what has gone wrong? We have to ask 2 questions. Firstly, should Leighton and Crozier not consider their positions imediatley given that it is they who have essentially steered the Royal Mail ship to this untenable position? And second, if private sector know-how has failed once why is it thought it will succeed a second time?

Having read the Hooper report I was somewhat underwhelmed - by its statements of the obvious - and by the fact that it has fallen back on dogma that over the past 12 months has so blatantly become obsolete. Basically the report was out-of-date before it was published. Although it is no great suprise that it replicates what Mandleson was saying in the FT only a few days previous. It basically prescribes what a good manager at Royal Mail described as 'managed destruction'. And by the way there are some good managers at Royal Mail. They are honest and trustworthy and good at their job. I do not always agree with them but they do what they have to do - they just do it better by treating staff like people and not animals. Unfortunately senior management do not like managers like this and as a result most are either off sick with stress or in the process of being sacked or as RM like to call it performance management. You know an organisation is trouble when even a senior manager hated by union officials resigns because even he believes they way the company is run, by those further up, and how it treats its people is wrong.

RM is utterly corrupt. A certain few have been skimming off it for years...now the salad days are over its time to flog the carcass to the vultures and give :mfo and :lfo a knighthood for the trouble.