The privatisation plan nobody wants

Lord Mandelson has introduced the Bill to part privatise the Royal Mail in The House of Lords a day earlier than expected, telling peers it would "make provision for the restructuring of the Royal Mail Group and of the Royal Mail pension plan"

But it seems to be the privatisation plan nobody nobody wants.

From the workers,to the unions,rebel Labour MPs,other parties MPs,cabinet ministers,the Chief Whip,parliamentary private secretaries,Lords,the voting public,small businesses...

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Royal Mail bankrupt?

Jane Newell, chairman of the Royal Mail pension trustees, admitted that the company is 'effectively bust' and cannot afford to plug the black hole in its pension fund,which is between £6bn-£9bn depending on what you read.

In a letter to the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, she warned of 'potentially devastating consequences' for the 450,000 Royal Mail pension holders if the Government does not bail out Royal Mail.Even winding-up the Plan it would not even be able to provide as much as 50 per cent of members benefits.

Mrs Newell warned that the Government must press ahead with recommendations made by the independent Hooper report.

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Privatisation plans to be revealed this week

Privatisation plans for Royal Mail will be introduced in Parliament on Thursday,the issue has caused deep concern at the heart of Government with some Cabinet ministers urging Mr Brown to ditch the plans altogether.

The former Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain yesterday became the most high profile figure to join the revolt after he added his name to an early day motion opposing the plans.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson hinted that the Government could be prepared to offer some last-minute concessions to the rebels - including a provision in the bill requiring the Royal Mail to remain majority public owned.

Ministers want to sell a stake of about 30% to the private sector to help pay for the modernisation of the service.

Dutch postal group TNT has expressed an interest in taking a stake.

Other foreign companies who have been eye up its assets include the German parcel courier DHM, American giant FedEx and the Danish and Swedish post offices.

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Crozier lies?

Incredibly Royal Mail CEO Adam Crozier has allegedly lied to a Daily Mirror reporter over Royal Mail cost cutting plans.

Claiming "I don't know what you're talking about" Crozier seems to have no idea that his senior managers across the UK have ordered a savings spree in delivery offices with executive action in abundance,and delivery office managers threatened with the sack if they don't get the savings the business wants.

Royal Mail have claimed that the cuts are "about central costs and overheads and certainly not about our front-line people".

In a document leaked to the Mirror marked 'In Strictest Confidence' and headed 'The Journey To Get Us There',it says "a requirement to cut 10% from our cost base, including people costs".

This is despite royalmailchat being inundated with postal workers talking about their delivery office cuts in the last few months.

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Posties on ice

Ironic,as i'm writing this there is that very popular TV show on now,where perhaps in the next few days Royal Mail postal workers could give them a run for their money.

The met office issued a severe weather warning this week forecasting heavy snow affecting all of the UK especially the east.

Described as the worst winter for 10 years,where usually Planes Trains and Automobiles are stopped in their tracks,Britains army of posties will,as always do their best to make sure the mail gets through.

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Post Office chat

Seems RMC could have a rival at last in the message board stakes as The Business and Enterprise Committee has launched a web forum on the future of the Post Office.

Through the forum members of the public can submit their views on postal services and help shape the future of the network.

Well they could if they knew the bloody thing was about,as it doesn't seem to be publicised anywhere!

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Donald Brydon new Royal Mail chairman

Donald Brydon is the new chairman of Royal Mail and has been appointed for three years from March 26 on a salary of £200,000 a year.

He has a reputation as a bruiser,and was also called a "a thug" while defending market research group Taylor Nelson Sofres from a £1bn hostile takeover approach when he was chairman.

Mr Brydon said: "The Royal Mail is one of Britain's great organisations and I am honoured to be ask to lead it in the next phase of its continuing modernisation."

The CWU hopes that 'Donald Brydon will be able to adapt to the challenges of the postal sector and succeed to modernise a wholly publicly owned Royal Mail.'


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Royal Mail profits still rising

Leighton and Crozier due to leave,CV's to write,Royal Mail profits up,the £1M a day loss a distant memory,all four arms of Royal Mail making a profit for the 1st time in 20 years,you couldn't make it up...... could you?


Group revenue rose nearly 3% for the 2008-2009 financial year to £7.2 billion,with Royal Mail on track to DOUBLE the annual profit it made last year.Royal Mail made an operating profit of £255 million in the nine months to Christmas, compared with £162 million for the whole of 2007/8.



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Rebels with a cause:Mandelson's a pratt:Government backs Royal Mail sell off:Mandelson lies:

So much news so many headlines,where do i start.

At the time of writing 71 'rebel MPs' have already signed a Commons early day motion (EDM) saying they are opposed to part-privatisation of Royal Mail because they want Royal Mail to remain "wholly publicly-owned", in line with the policy for postal services agreed at Labour's conference last year.

Earlier today, Mandelson met around 60 Labour MPs in the Commons to discuss the issue,with Mandy saying "I happen to believe that if you are going to open a market, if you are going to liberalise it and open it to greater competition, then the existing player has to be in a position to take on that competition." Which is all very well,except he's said it 6 years too late!

Plans to sell-off part of the Royal Mail will be put to Parliament within weeks despite the threat of the large-scale rebellion by Labour backbenchers.

Oh,and Mandy lies when he says "taxpayers could not be expected to bear the added strain of stumping up the "hundreds of millions" needed to modernise Royal Mail."


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CWU willing to set a new course for industrial relations

Dave Ward has written to Adam Crozier to offer Royal Mail an opportunity to sit down with the Union and reach a new collective agreement on modernisation.

Dave writes "It has never been more important that we signal, at the highest level, our joint commitment to make a fresh start."

"In light of the Hooper Report I am calling for an urgent Industrial Relations Summit meeting between the leaders of our respective organisations."

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