Royal Mail sale around the corner?

[tony.c]

Actual post, letters, paper bills and the like must be almost a thing of the past soon enough, surely, though?

Letter post is supposed to be declining. Most is business not personal mail, and about half is now collected and sorted by private companies like TNT and DHL. That is the easier and more profitable part of the process, but then these firms pass the mail on to Royal Mail for delivery, the more costly part of the process - the final mile. And they only pay Royal Mail 13p per letter for delivery when the true average cost is 19p, so Royal Mail are subsidising their competitors.
All part of managing the decline of Royal Mail in preparation for privatisation.

But as Marty21 says parcels (anything other than actual letters) traffic is increasing due to greater online buying and Royal Mail is gearing up to be more of a parcels delivery service in future.

 

[Yelkcub]

Letter post is supposed to be declining. Most is business not personal mail, and about half is now collected and sorted by private companies like TNT and DHL. That is the easier and more profitable part of the process, but then these firms pass the mail on to Royal Mail for delivery, the more costly part of the process - the final mile. And they only pay Royal Mail 13p per letter for delivery when the true average cost is 19p, so Royal Mail are subsidising their competitors.
All part of managing the decline of Royal Mail in preparation for privatisation.

But as Marty21 says parcels (anything other than actual letters) traffic is increasing due to greater online buying and Royal Mail is gearing up to be more of a parcels delivery service in future.

Ah, I see.

I did a course recently with a bloke from a RM competitor and gathered that all their delivery people are self employed, on paper. Can't see existing terms and conditions lasting long for RM staff.

 

[Dr Jon]

As with past privatisations, what these robbing Tory twats are selling off is not theirs to sell - IT'S OURS!

 

[treelover]

 

[Maggot]

Ah, I see.

I did a course recently with a bloke from a RM competitor and gathered that all their delivery people are self employed, on paper. Can't see existing terms and conditions lasting long for RM staff.

Royal Mail are guaranteeing existing terms and conditions for staff for at least 3 years. After that - who knows?

 

[nino_savatte]

What's really shameful is the way this venal government is offering the workers shares. It's as if to say "Here's some shares and if you get the sack, tough shit; they're not going be worth a piece of used bogroll if you try and cash them in". Real cunts.

But do they have a mandate to do this? No.

 

[not-bono-ever]

new billy childish poster


http://www.l-13.org/acatalog/L-13_Latest_Works.html

"VINCE CABLE ROYAL MAIL SELL-OFF IRREVERSIBLE BUT EVERYTHING IS OK

Published on the occasion of Vince Cable announcing the irreversible sell-off of the Royal Mail thereby offering irrefutable proof that the cunt should shut his cunt hole.

Distressed handbill poster

40 x 30 cm

PLEASE NOTE: The picture shown is in pre-distressed condition. The poster you recieve will look much worse and arrive folded up.

Edition of 31 signed and numbered by the artist BILLY CHILDISH"

 

[Artaxerxes]

Sadly its reputation is now so low not many will care its gone until a year or two goes by


It'll be same with NHS eventually...

 

[Dr Jon]

But do they have a mandate to do this? No.

These coalition wankstains have a mandate for fuck-all. Nobody voted for this shit.

 

[DotCommunist]

they were not-elected on a ticket to do none of this but they immediately started kicking the shit out off the tattered remnants of everything.

anybody ask them to seel the NHS and the Forensic service? no

 

[stowpirate]

Would love a referendum on this - I doubt the majority of the public are for it

Before they did so they would offer a sweetener of shares to the public? Something like 200 shares at half value or similar nonsense!

 

[J Ed]

Meanwhile in Norway a government with the balls to stand up to Brussels' neoliberalism and refuses to further deregulate their postal service

http://www.newsinenglish.no/2011/05/23/historic-no-to-an-eu-directive/

 

[intersol32]

As a Royal Mail worker I thought I'd update a few folks on this. The past few weeks, RMTV (Yes, Royal Mail's internal 'news' service, or official mouthpiece depending on how you see it) has been awash with the shares offer made to its workers. Much of this fanfare has a focus on "biggest share offer since British Gas", "a potentially once in a lifetime offer to own a stake in the company" etc etc. The small print that goes along with the value of the shares will depend on the company's performance on the stock market once it's floated. Also amounts of shares will be dependent on your time of employment with RM.

Yesterday we all arrived in the canteen at our depot to find that photocopies had been left on our tables concerning the 2013 Growth and Restructuring Act - which basically outlines that any employee agreeing to become a shareholder forfeits certain rights - including claims against unfair dismissal, and more importantly losing the right to a Redundancy payment. Quite convenient if the privatized RM sinks like a stone and everyone loses their jobs.

Basically they're looking to shaft us pretty hard by the looks of it.

 

[butchersapron]

It's happening:

Government to float Royal Mail on stock exchange 'in the coming weeks'

Vince Cable has fired the starting gun on the sale of Royal Mail by formally announcing the government's intention to float the company on the London Stock Exchange in "the coming weeks".

"This is an important day for the Royal Mail, its employees and its customers," the business secretary said. "HM Government is taking action to secure a healthy future for the company. These measures will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the six days a week, one-price-goes-anywhere universal postal service."

Well done lib-dems, and esp Vince 'the peoples princess' Cable.

Please get involved in the campaigns to stop this madness - here is the CWU's rather feeble and un-angry one. This is the postal workers forum with a special privatisation forum. Anything else? The CWU are now balloting on a national strike vote - result oct 7th. Any local campaigns people know about?

 

[treelover]

http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitio...?source=facebook-share-button&time=1373871107

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

This is a great day for people power, I think there would will be a spring in my step and joy in my heart to take me through to Christmas (assuming it isn't banned by the left again this year)

Congrats to all the campaigners, including fellow urbanites, who worked to get Royal Mail privatised.

It's been a long journey over several years, but the public clamour reached a critical mass and the government were finally forced to act. I'll never forget marching with 100,000s of thousands through London as even the tourists cheered us on. All the organising, the long nights of taking petitions and countless other activities have now all been proved to have been worthwhile. I don't know a single person who wasn't in a near frenzy demanding this wonderful policy.

What's that you say? No one did? Oh, it's probably the result of fundamentalism, stupidity, bribes and lobbying then. As you were.

 

[nino_savatte]

I'm hoping this will cost a few Tories their seats in rural constituencies.

 

[ItWillNeverWork]

Sell it off just at the point it's making us money. And they wonder why we have a deficit.

 

[Dr Jon]

Sell it off just at the point it's making us money. And they wonder why we have a deficit.

It's the last piece of the family silver they have left to sell, isn't it?

 

[Greebo]

It's the last piece of the family silver they have left to sell, isn't it?

This isn't about making money, this is about wrecking the country before they lose power.

 

[Pickman's model]

This isn't about making money, this is about wrecking the country before they lose power.

it's always been about making money. only it will be the new owners who make the money like the owners of eg thames water or bt or british gas. wrecking the country? just a bonus.

 

[RedDragon]

Who's going to be insane enough to spend £750 on Post Office shares.

 

[Fez909]

So there's going to be a strike over this, but surely the customers can do something, too. How about a boycott? I don't know how effective that would be as I believe they make most of their money from businesses. There must be something...

 

[Fez909]

What about bombarding them with fake letters on one day? Write out some real address with fake names on them. Don't put a stamp on. Repeat across country. Disrupt the mail for that day/longer. I think they'd have to attempt to deliver them in case they were real.

Would that work?

 

[Maggot]

No.

 

[Fez909]

No.

Why not?

 

[spliff]

Why not?

Because TNT is the firm you should be focusing on.

 

[Fez909]

Because TNT is the firm you should be focusing on.

How is that going to stop Royal Mail being privatised?

 

[RedDragon]

It's too far advanced to stop.


The sale will happen within weeks.

 

[magneze]

It's too far advanced to stop.


The sale will happen within weeks.

It is with that attitude.

It's a terrible idea. As already mentioned, it's actually making money now - the move to internet shopping means that it's become quite essential. Privatizing it will just jack up the prices, fuck the employees and ultimately kill the service. All whilst making a fat profit for some other company or the state-owned mail operator of another country. Stupid.