January 27, 2010
Taste of the Future
2009 closed with Lord Mandelson dropping plans to part-privatise the postal service, in the process meaning that its multi-billion pound pension deficit remains in place. As a result, Royal Mail is looking to cut major costs.
Don’t, however, fall into the lazy assumption that the internet has reduced the need for Royal Mail’s services. Or that it’s a dinosaur state monolith whose role could be better fulfilled by the private sector. This article puts a stong case against such easy complacencies, pointing out that many of Royal Mail’s difficulties may stem from the activities of parasitic private companies.
Nevertheless, a couple of weeks ago Business Minister Pat McFadden announced that job losses could be expected in Royal Mail this year.
He might have added that the shedding of jobs has already started. And Royal Mail management are taking no prisoners.
Consider my former home-town of Southport. This week the local press is reporting the sacking of a local delivery worker. The grounds? He put his signature on a recorded delivery for an elderly pensioner, to save her the long trip to the out-of-town depot which is not served by any public transport. It was a first offence, but he got the sack anyway. He has two children to support, and in all likelihood a mortgage to pay.
And that’s not the best part. The postie in question was only sacked after the elderly lady rang up to express her thanks that he had been so kind and considerate. If she hadn’t done that, management would never even have known.
This is not an isolated incident in Southport. Since 2003, 46 postmen have been sacked, suspended or forced off work with stress. The majority of cases have occurred in the last three years.
In particular, two delivery workers were sacked last year for not wearing cycle helmets despite being in areas not designated “hazardous”. Neither had committed any prior offences. Another employee was dismissed – despite having worked for Royal Mail for 25 years – because he left his van unlocked as he delivered mail to an isolated farmhouse on a single-lane track.
Last year Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier Crozier has paid himself almost £1million in salary and bonuses. That’s on top of the £2.4million in performance bonuses and £3.6million in pay since taking over as Chief Executive in 2003. But it seems that pace Crozier, Royal Mail is determined to cut costs.
Southport’s MP John Pugh summed it up pretty well in Parliament the other day:
“It would be quite easy to leap to the conclusion that there is an underlying strategy to find reasons to shed experienced staff, so as to cut costs, replace permanent staff with casual or reduce pension liabilities. How else can we explain the fact that the manager who has sacked the most staff appears to be the most applauded by the Royal Mail? I do not go for easy explanations, but I am not entirely certain what other explanations I should offer in this case.”
MPs from both Labour and Tory benches concurred with Dr Pugh that the same experience is being repeated in other constituencies.
This, however, is only a foretaste of the future. As the public sector spending axe comes down, it won’t just be postal workers bearing the brunt. Today Britain officially – if only barely – pulled out of recession. But I don’t see even 0.1% of light at the end of the tunnel yet.
So strap in, because after the election it’s going to be a nasty couple of years. Just how nasty depends, of course, on just how hard the spending axe falls. And that depends, in all likelihood, on Dave and Chums.
Who’s feeling optimistic?
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Disclaimer: I used to work for John Pugh MP as a Parliamentary Researcher
