TNT accused of bullying workforce

[POSTMAN]

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TNT,the Dutch postal group that is frontrunner to take a stake in Royal Mail as part of the government's controversial part-privatization plan, is threatening to sack 10,000 workers in the Netherlands if they do not accept a 5% pay cut.

The pay revelations follow a leaked email published by the Guardian yesterday which showed that Adam Crozier, Royal Mail's boss, is at loggerheads with TNT, accusing the Dutch group of poaching his customers.

As part of the pay offer, TNT is promising not to make any compulsory redundancies for three years but only if workers accept the reduction in wages, which was outlined by the management yesterday afternoon. A spokeswoman for the CWU union, which represents Royal Mail's 160,000 workers, described the deal as "bullying tactics from an aggressive employer".

"It's time the UK government threw out TNT as their company of choice and scrap their unpopular attempt to privatize Royal Mail," she said. "TNT are showing their true colors and are clearly driving down the terms and conditions of low-paid postal workers. We do not want the British postal industry to go the same way."

Bernard de Vries, chairman of the TNT Works Council, which liaises between unions and the TNT management, said the pay cut was necessary to safeguard jobs as profits fell, but admitted that workers were angry. "It's kind of blackmail," he told the Guardian. "I can understand that."

A spokeswoman for TNT declined to say whether the group would use similar tactics to cut British postal workers' pay if it bought a 30% stake in Royal Mail. The three-year pay offer involves most workers taking a 5% pay cut in the first year, followed by a 1% rise for each of the next two years.

Today, the controversial bill to part-privatise Royal Mail will have its second reading. If a minority stake is sold, the government has promised to shoulder the group's £9bn pension deficit. The business secretary, Lord Mandelson, argues that part-privatisation is the only way to modernise Royal Mail and secure its long-term future. A private partner is expected to wield strong influence on the group, providing management and technical expertise.

The CWU and some 139 MPs are vehemently opposing the plans and hope to block the bill. The dispute will rumble on for many months: Royal Mail does not expect a parliamentary vote on the bill before summer.

But the fierce rivalry between the two groups, revealed in Crozier's leaked email, has led to a breakdown of trust, making it harder for them to work together. Crozier accused the chief executive of the Dutch group, Peter Bakker, of trying to poach European customers from Royal Mail's profitable parcel delivery subsidiary, GLS.

Crozier claimed Bakker had informed some of GLS's biggest customers that TNT was about to buy the business, even though it is not part of the Royal Mail sell-off. "GLS are reporting to me that some of their bigger customers are being approached by TNT and are being told that TNT will secure a full takeover of GLS," wrote Crozier to Stephen Lovegrove, at the Shareholder Executive, which oversees state-owned assets.

TNT said that it "did not recognise the allegations".

GLS has a relatively low profile compared to Royal Mail's letters business and the post office branch network. But it is the one jewel in Royal Mail's crown as it faces an otherwise bleak future. Deliveries of letters are falling fast as people use email and other more modern forms of communication. But as the number of purchases through the internet increases, package deliveries are on the rise. By 2013, Royal Mail expects that half of group revenues and three quarters of its profits will come from its parcels division.

Jonathan DeCarteret, from consultancy Post Switch, said TNT and Royal Mail, which are being forced to open up their domestic market to competitors, had similar commercial strategies. "Although this latest spat between Crozier and Bakker is a storm in a teacup, it underlines the fact that TNT remains one of Royal Mail's fiercest rivals and it may be a case that if you can't beat them, then join them."

The government says that it has received a number of expressions of interest in Royal Mail from private postal operators, not just from TNT. A spokesman insisted that TNT was not the preferred bidder and would not receive special treatment.

Nevertheless, when Mandelson and post office minister Pat McFadden revealed the results of the Hooper review which recommended the part-privatisation of Royal Mail in December, they said they both "very much welcomed" the expressions of interest from TNT.

Analysts say that TNT would be a good fit with Royal Mail. But the company also has close commercial ties to the government. TNT is HM Revenue & Customs' primary supplier for specialist logistic services and for internal courier services, which earned the Dutch company about £20m between 2005 and 2007, according to published figures.

Geraldine Smith, the labour MP for Morecambe & Lunesdale who is the rebel backbencher leading the parliamentary revolt against privatization, will have a private meeting with Mandelson.

She is concerned that, with the government agreeing to take on Royal Mail's massive pension deficit, TNT - and not the taxpayer - will benefit most from its future profits. She is also concerned about Mandelson's reluctance to quantify how much a sale of a 30% stake might raise. Crozier has said it could raise hundreds of millions of pounds.

Pass the parcels

The Dutch group TNT, which is quoted on the Amsterdam stock exchange, faces many of the same problems as its British rival. Last month, TNT announced its profits for the year had slumped by almost a fifth. From next month, most of the Dutch postal market will be fully liberalized and TNT faces competition for the first time. The company says these twin threats amount to a "perfect storm" requiring drastic action. Much of these arguments will sound familiar to followers of Royal Mail. Management complains that competitors - such as TNT - can get away with paying staff much less than the state-owned operator. Royal Mail's profits are also set to nosedive. Unlike TNT, Royal Mail has had to service a pension deficit costing £280m a year.

[POSTMAN]

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Workers at TNT Post, the Dutch national postal company, are to take a pay cut. According to a new deal agreed with trade unions, postal workers' earnings are set to drop by 15 percent.

During an initial period, TNT Post will make up its employees' wages to 95 percent of their present level. The older the employee, the longer the transition phase will last. The deal includes a guarantee that there will be no job losses during the first three years.

The pay cut comes in response to a liberalisation of the postal market, which will oblige TNT Post to compete with companies with much lower operating costs.

The new collective labour agreement, which applies to 25,000 TNT employees on the lowest four pay scales, still has to be approved by trade union members.

[DGP1]

I certainly won't be accepting a pay cut just so that senior managers can get extra bonuses (plus the shareholders grabbing extra).

Plus, after 3 years they'll just start laying people off

And Mandy thinks this is good management :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo :mfo

[banner18]

Welcome to our own bleak future here if RM is sold off.

[stokes11eg]

Welcome to our own bleak future here if RM is sold off.

Hidden Agenda, do you think? Could it be that T.N.T will eventually stop operating in holland, and eventually gain the monopoly here?

[BELIAL]

Guess how much of it's national postal carrier the Dutch first sold off to TNT? You got it -30% . Guess how much they own now
Guess how often some folks get their mail delivered in that massive rugged wilderness that is Holland - Twice a week

[Yahoorsur]

Bernard de Vries, chairman of the TNT Works Council, which liaises between unions and the TNT management,

wanna bet that the first thing these feckers do is set up a 'works council'?
as to the rest of their agenda,its as plain as hell they will want to take us on,my advice? start saving money for when we are on strike,cos one is coming and coming soon.

[trythat]

The new collective labour agreement, which applies to 25,000 TNT employees on the lowest four pay scales, still has to be approved by trade union members.

So the delivery staff get stuffed, while everyone else above them get to keep their pay as now, and I suppose get to to keep a better pension as well, just remember if you take a pay cut, you also get a pension pay cut. Not could news at all.

[norbert]

Bernard de Vries, chairman of the TNT Works Council, which liaises between unions and the TNT management,

wanna bet that the first thing these feckers do is set up a 'works council'?
as to the rest of their agenda,its as plain as hell they will want to take us on,my advice? start saving money for when we are on strike,cos one is coming and coming soon.

bit like DRAW , there is a union " avoiding or neutralizing " element , a mate who works for a now privatized company is a Company Council rep , they have three stages of reps , the irony is that at Union Branch Level , staff have had to rely too much on the real union rep , basically he's had to come back from London where he is now on the Grades Committee , so my mates standing for Union rep as the members need proper representation , not a glorified talking shop .

The other irony is that there's been a row between :cfo and the TNT Executives as there's allegations of TNT telling everyone that TNT are buying up RM's European Parcel Business .
It all sounds like the aggressive Corporate Takeover Days of the 90's .

TNT have asked the unions in the UK to be considerate - New Liebour DTI Minister Stephen Byers put :lfo & :cfo in to soften the CWU up , :mfo wants TNT to do his dirty work , pretty obvious going by his 60% of all IA days slurs , it's all to save face as New Liebour's " manageralism " ( i.e . bringing in Private Sector Senior managers who don't know or understand the industry ) hasn't really worked TBH .

ROMEC is a classic example of the possible shape of things to come , their Senior Management tried to do a recognition deal with UNITE only to sidestep the CWU .