Ebay Letter to Mandelson

[Geezer]

Please find enclosed a letter from the managing director of ebay to Peter Mandelson calling for Government intervention in the current dispute.

Please pass this information onto members and it should be useful to use in media interviews.
Whilst the views of the CWU and some businesses may differ on key issues we can run the theme that all sides agree that the Government should be shouldering their responsibilities.

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Dear Secretary of State,
I am writing on behalf of thousands of eBay sellers to express grave concern about the impact of the proposed national strike at Royal Mail.
Some 120,000 businesses are currently registered and making a living on eBay.co.uk.
While they work with a variety of postal suppliers, many rely heavily on Royal Mail for their deliveries and are understandably concerned that any postal strike will cause huge disruption at a time when they can least afford it.
These sellers tell us that Christmas typically accounts for a fifth of their annual sales and despite the tough economic conditions, they’re successfully growing their businesses and investing for future growth.
Any barrier to them delivering their goods could dent public confidence in a growing and increasingly important part of the economy.
While we have no wish to minimise the intractability of the issues at stake, it is not acceptable that many hard-working small businesses, are innocent victims of a dispute that is beyond their control.
I therefore urge you to consider these sellers as you encourage both the Royal Mail and the CWU to reach a negotiated settlement and to bring this dispute to a swift end.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Lewis
Managing Director for eBay in the UK