makes you wonder whats around the corner

[wolfie citizen smith]

Mandelson prepares to privatise Royal Mail

Will Labour try to raise cash to pay for the bank bailout by selling off Royal Mail? A CWU rep says that a national all-out strike is the best way to stop them

Peter Mandelson, Labour's new business secretary, has come out in favour of the part-privatisation of Royal Mail, the first time a government minister has stated this openly. He added that, as trade and industry secretary in 1998, before he was forced to resign, he wanted the 100 per cent state-owned postal company "to be progressively private, even if initially part stayed in the government's hands", a warning that this would be a step to wholesale sell-off.

This comes after Labour Party conference in September agreed a statement that it supported a fully nationalised Royal Mail. However, the conference also voted in favour of a windfall tax on energy companies, only to see Labour ministers tell journalists that the government would continue its current policies regardless of the vote, so it is clear that resolutions in this party are not worth the paper they are printed on.

It's not as if the postal service was inefficient or losing money either. Royal Mail has just announced a £177 million operating profit for first half of year, doubled from last year, with letters (delivery) securing £46 million alone. If Lord Mandelson - dubbed the "Prince of Darkness" when he was last in the cabinet - was capable of blushing, he would now.

The head of Postcomm, the postal market regulator set up by Labour, also called for part-privatisation in May. Meanwhile the Royal Mail board wants to sell shares to raise private capital and has embarked on a programme of mail centre and delivery office closures, along with automation, that will lead to a jobs massacre.

Now these privatisers have been joined by Richard Hooper, the businessman in charge of the government's review of the post, due out in November. He warned last month that "Royal Mail's modernisation will be at the heart of our recommendations." Modernisation is spin for cuts to the workforce and to the service the public receives.

Hooper said the company must gain the capital it needs to update its services, which, given the government's massive debts from bailing out the banks, will almost certainly mean recommending private funding. Second, he claims Royal Mail will need to "remove costs" by closing mail centres and delivery offices.

This lines Hooper up with Royal Mail's current plans to close up to ten mail centres and many delivery offices. Ironically Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers' Union, praised Labour for setting up the Hooper review as a way for the union to influence government policy. The appointment of Mandelson and Hooper's tacit support for Postcomm's policy of cuts and shares shows that how dangerous it was to peddle illusions in New Labour.

The vultures are circling to carve up Royal Mail. CWU leaders must act immediately. This year's union conference called for a ballot to strike against closures and pension cuts. Another motion demanded a 35-hour week with no loss of pay. Both have been ignored up to now, as officials have held out for talks with Royal Mail - despite the company refusing to discuss, let alone compromise on its plans for closures and cuts.

The union has finally agreed to ballot all areas affected by mail centre closures. Activists need to get the vote brought forward and draw in as many offices as possible. For instance, York's second class mail has been transferred to Leeds for sorting, widely seen as step to closing the mail centre, so Yorkshire as a whole should be balloted for action now, rather than wait for the inevitable chain reaction.

The fact is that this a national attack. Branches should forward motions to CWU HQ demanding the whole union is balloted on all the issues facing us - jobs, closures, pensions, privatisation. A rank and file conference is essential to light a fire under them and force them to act - something this paper has argued for from the beginning.

With Hooper soon to report and the Brown government turning right and hungry for funds, it is five minutes to midnight for our industry. Placing ourselves alongside other public sector unions in struggle, such as the PCS, and linking our strike to an all-out struggle against privatisation is our best chance to stop the sell-off of Royal Mail.

[fmrPOSTIE]

Privatisation looks a pretty shaky route now, wouldn't you agree? The fact that POL is still part of Royal Mail Group should help the overall business to remain state-owned, given the Governments committment to "the peoples post office". I have yet to read a recent qoute from Mandelson saying that he NOW wants to privatise RM.

Nobody is in favour of selling it off apart from POSTCOMM, they have no clout. Look at the EDMs signed by MPs from both sides opposed to RM privatisation. Yes the likes of CVC and DHL have been sniffing around for years but they wont get anywhere, in my view.

This wouldn't be a quick process in anycase, Leighton even said that it would take 5 years to prepare Royal Mail for privatisation, and that was when they were making 100's of millions in profit. Look at the pensions deficit, look at the IR, its a mess.

How about some positive spin???
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing- ... _page_id=3

100% privatisation is illegal (unless a JV) and would require legislation in Parliament......Im bored of these stories....

Rant over!

[baldrick]

I don't think there will be a wholesale sell off of Royal Mail. Mainly because nobody will want
to take on the pension fund deficit. The Hooper review will probably recommend that private
finance companies are allowed to take over parts of Royal Mail in return for capital injection.
This would fit in with Mandelson and New Labour's vision of Public/Private sector joint ventures -
the 'Third Way'. The sweetener from Government will probably be that they will guarantee to
underwrite the pension fund - which would also make involvement in RM more attractive to private
investment firms.

[dvbuk55]

Considering the Government has bailed out the banks with our money, who would have the money to buy the whole of or part of Royal Mail - hey, why don't the banks cough up the money - then we could buy a stake in RM, which we already "own", with our own money - this financial thingy is easy to get to grips with.