Communication Workers Union (CWU) General Secretary Dave Ward has announced a “groundbreaking negotiators’ agreement” with billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and his private equity firm, EP Group. Ward claimed the £3.5 billion takeover of Royal Mail offers the “opportunity for a fresh start”. The Labour government announced its approval of the takeover …
Read More »Watchdog fines Royal Mail £10.5m as CWU warns service run-down is ‘deliberate’
ROYAL MAIL’S £10.5 million fine for missing its postal delivery targets in 2023/24 is the “direct result of the deliberate and sustained dismantling of postal services,” the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said today. Regulator Ofcom made the fine — which comes after it issued a £5.6 million penalty in November 2023 — after just under three-quarters …
Read More »Postal workers oppose CWU-Labour government collusion with Kretinsky Royal Mail takeover
The World Socialist Web Site has received emails from postal workers across Royal Mail Group in response to the article, “Communication Workers Union embraces Kretinsky’s takeover of Royal Mail.” CWU leaders Dave Ward and Martin Walsh have for months spun the private talks they have held with billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, …
Read More »Post Office announces plans to close 115 branches and cut thousands of jobs
The Post Office has announced plans this week to close more than a hundred of its remaining Crown office branches threatening 1,000 jobs. The Financial Times (FT) stated bluntly, “The company said on Wednesday that it would seek to offload 115 branches to retail partners or sub-postmasters, placing 1,000 jobs …
Read More »Posties in line to get new vans
POSTIES in Shetland are set to take delivery of as many as 20 new vehicles, Royal Mail has confirmed. A spokesperson for the company confirmed on Friday that as part of a plan for replacing older vehicles five new vans have already been received, with a further 15 due to …
Read More »Postal workers union calls on Royal Mail to urgently invest in failing delivery service
ALMOST a third of postal jobs in Shetland vacant, posties driving a fleet of aging vehicles and a Lerwick delivery office which is “not fit for purpose”. Add to that an hourly pay rate which is lower than generally offered in the isles, and a lack of accommodation for workers …
Read More »Victimised Royal Mail worker speaks out: “More than thirty years of service ended in twenty seconds!”
Des, a long-serving delivery worker for Royal Mail in Chester-Le-Street County Durham, in the north-east of England, spoke with the World Socialist Web Site about his victimisation. He was sacked by the company on trumped-up charges last year and abandoned by the Communication Workers Union (CWU). The Postal Workers Rank-and-File …
Read More »Royal Mail worker speaks on CWU-Labour government collusion with EP group takeover of Royal Mail: “They are partners in crime”
The World Socialist Web Site had the following conversation with a Royal Mail delivery worker in Scotland who is a member of the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC). Their name has been withheld to protect against victimisation. The discussion focussed on the experience of postal workers on the ground and …
Read More »TUC 2024 Together, unions can secure collective bargaining across the British economy
BRITAIN is ready for change after 14 ruinous years, and it’s up to us now to deliver that change. Services are on their knees after years of mismanagement, and that’s certainly true of Royal Mail, privatised by the Tories and Liberal Democrats in 2014. People across Britain rely on its …
Read More »Ofcom keeps CWU in the dark over proposed cuts to Royal Mail’s second class deliveries
OFCOM faced criticism yesterday for keeping the Communication Workers Union (CWU) in the dark before announcing that Royal Mail could be allowed to end the delivery of second-class letters on Saturdays. The regulator, which is also investigating whether to permit second-class deliveries to be made on alternate weekdays, said the proposed changes …
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