Royal Mail Strike: Secret Plan, 30,000 Scabs, the last act of New Labour
October 18th, 2009
A message for Adam Crozier
Post workers in the UK are taking 2 days of strike action next week. It’s apparent that, with less than a year left in government, the Labour Party is determined to make this its last mark. A document setting out the hardline stance to be taken by Royal Mail bosses refers to having the full “buy-in” of “the shareholder”, i.e. the government. Now we learn that part of this strategy is the hiring of 30,000 scabs.
Privatisation of the RM has been a goal for the 12 years of New Labour government, only prevented by the long-standing militancy of the post workers. Nevermind that no-one wants the post privatised except those set to profit from it. They can’t privatise the post until they break the workers’ organisation. They refuse to make good the pension deficit until they do so. In that time we’ve seen:
- the workers’ pension fund deliberately run down
- operating surpluses (i.e. profits) creamed off by the Treasury instead of reinvested
- the easy, profitable parts of the work (e.g. City of London) opened up to private companies (not “competition”, as they have no Universal Service Obligation)
- multiple provocations responded to by wildcat strikes
- an increase in parcel volumes through internet shopping, also hived off to private companies
- lies about “decreased volumes” – are you getting more or less junk mail?
With the release of the strike strategy, it’s clear that this has been as long in the planning for New Labour as the Miners Strike was by Thatcher.
- Essential reading: Letter from a Postman at Libcom library.
- Not related at all to Peter Mandelson or Adam Crozier: New Scientist – Bosses use aggression to cover their stupidity.
