STUC Congress 2024 Scottish Trade Union Congress unanimously backs calls to defend postal services and workers

THE Scottish Trade Union Congress has unanimously backed calls to defend vital postal services and workers.

Concerns have been growing among workers and customers that the universal service obligation (USO) on Royal Mail could be under threat. 

The USO guarantees a one-price-goes-anywhere service across the UK six days a week, but despite assurances from the then business secretary, Lib Dem Vince Cable, that the USO would be safe after he privatised Royal Mail, the company is now understood to be pushing for the guarantee to be ditched.

Communication Workers Union regional secretary Craig Anderson welcomed congress backing the union’s calls for not only a broad campaign to defend the USO but to expand the role of postal workers in communities.

He told the Star: “The Royal Mail delivers to more than 30 million addresses across the country six days a week, but it’s about more than letters and parcels — it’s about communities.

“Communities matter, and the USO is a vital glue that holds them together.

“Rather than following the race to the bottom, Royal Mail and the regulator need to back the service, back the workers, and back a future for our public service.”