www.thepeoplescharter.com
derbypeoplescharter@tiscali.co.uk
PRESS RELEASE 7th December 2009
immediate release
“Our fight is a fight for
the future of the postal service,” Lee Barron, the Regional Secretary of the CWU, the postal
workers’ union, told a lively discussion meeting organised on Monday 7th
December by
He described how
much of the “public service ethos” of the post service had been undermined
over the last twenty years by many changes which had broken up “The Post
Office” into various sections, privatising many of them, and setting up the
“Royal Mail Group PLC” - a “government
owned private limited company”.
“Now,” Mr Barron asserted, “the service is run along ‘market
driven’ lines, and management have imposed and are imposing further changes
without proper consultation with the workforce.” Workers who have protested
or resisted this have been subject to a pattern of bullying management.
This has resulted
in 60,000 job losses, reduced pension provision, the closure of many local post
offices, fewer deliveries, unfair competition from private sector profit making
delivery services and an escalating impossible workload for post workers.
There had been
400 local disputes as post workers faced these pressures, and in the light of
new government threats of privatisation and job loss, and threats to pensions,
the CWU union called a national ballot for action “to protect our terms and
conditions of course – but in reality to protect the service from further
damage”
Post workers had
overwhelmingly voted for strike action, and had responded strongly on the
strike days.
Currently, the
management had returned to negotiations under an “Interim Agreement”, which was
being overseen and reported on weekly by the Trades Union Congress – and so the
strikes had been suspended – but, Mr Barron explained, “could
be recalled at any time if proper progress was not made.”
“We want to negotiate the
modernisation of the post service, designed to meet the needs of the people who
use it, and that provides decent working conditions for post workers. We don’t
want more privatisation and “market driven” processes. Of course pay is an
issue, but it’s not the main issue. The main issue is the defence of our
service. We’ve had great support from the public.”
Bill
Greenshields, for the NUT and the Derby Campaign for The People’s Charter, said that many
workers were facing just the same issues as post workers – break up of
services, privatisation, reduced levels of provision, growing workload, attacks
on workers’ pay and pensions, while top management took inflated salaries and
bonuses. “We all need to work together to stand up for working people. That’s
what The People’s Charter is all about. We intend to be very active in Derby in
bringing people together on the issues that directly effect them – the right to
work, and rights at work, decent jobs and services…. fighting for a
people’s Britain, not a bankers’ Britain”
The next planning
meeting of the Derby Campaign for The People’s Charter will be on Tuesday 15th
December 7.30pm, at The Brunswick Inn, Railway Terrace. All who want to stand
up for working people are welcome to attend.
end