13th June 2008
Royal Mail workers are to strike again later this year, raising the prospect of more disruption for businesses.
At a conference on Wednesday, members of the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) voted to take industrial action over pensions, Post Office closures and "the threat to thousands of jobs".
The timetable for action is yet to be confirmed, but the union said that activities would be timed "to maximise pressure on the company and the government".
A series of strikes last year caused to disruption to postal services, but ended in October when a pay increase was agreed between Royal Mail and the CWU.
However, relations now appear to have declined, with deputy general secretary of the CWU Dave Ward calling for Royal Mail's chief executive Adam Crozier to be sacked.
"Royal Mail is doing the Oliver Twist thing by asking the government for more money to pay for pensions and to transform the business," he told the conference on Wednesday.
"They want between £8 billion and £9 billion from the government, which they know will not be given, so they will come out and say the only solution is privatisation," he added.
Last month, a review of the postal sector concluded that the liberalisation of services had produced "no significant benefits" for small businesses.
However, Sam Turvey, spokesperson for the British Chambers of Commerce, told More Than Business News that the only way to improve Royal Mail's service was to continue to modernise it.
"Over half the business respondents to a recent survey we conducted said that they found Royal Mail less reliable than five years ago. Whilst larger firms can find alternatives to Royal Mail's service, many smaller businesses are still heavily reliant on them for final mile delivery," he said.
"Companies want an efficient, value-for-money and reliable service, which Royal Mail must be able to deliver without the fear of yet more industrial action. Following the modernisation path will ultimately provide the company's employees with the sort of business plan and security they are after."
Postal workers vote to strike again
At a conference on Wednesday, members of the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) voted to take industrial action over pensions, Post Office closures and "the threat to thousands of jobs".
The timetable for action is yet to be confirmed, but the union said that activities would be timed "to maximise pressure on the company and the government".
A series of strikes last year caused to disruption to postal services, but ended in October when a pay increase was agreed between Royal Mail and the CWU.
However, relations now appear to have declined, with deputy general secretary of the CWU Dave Ward calling for Royal Mail's chief executive Adam Crozier to be sacked.
"Royal Mail is doing the Oliver Twist thing by asking the government for more money to pay for pensions and to transform the business," he told the conference on Wednesday.
"They want between £8 billion and £9 billion from the government, which they know will not be given, so they will come out and say the only solution is privatisation," he added.
Last month, a review of the postal sector concluded that the liberalisation of services had produced "no significant benefits" for small businesses.
However, Sam Turvey, spokesperson for the British Chambers of Commerce, told More Than Business News that the only way to improve Royal Mail's service was to continue to modernise it.
"Over half the business respondents to a recent survey we conducted said that they found Royal Mail less reliable than five years ago. Whilst larger firms can find alternatives to Royal Mail's service, many smaller businesses are still heavily reliant on them for final mile delivery," he said.
"Companies want an efficient, value-for-money and reliable service, which Royal Mail must be able to deliver without the fear of yet more industrial action. Following the modernisation path will ultimately provide the company's employees with the sort of business plan and security they are after."
Tags: Office
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