The Times: Royal Mail to shed 16,000 jobs

[taffboy gwyrdd]

Labour is still the only party that is funded by organised labour, where else would you direct your money/support?

It is also supported by big corporate and private donations. There is no reason why one should support or donate to any political party, but if one did then it would be weird to do so to an organisation that shat on ones own interests.

Of course the union organisers may have vested other interests in Labour party success.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Depends how democratic the union is. If it is democratic then a continued facilitation of funding Labour is clearly with a fair degree of consent. If not, then that is another reason to be skeptical of union beuracracy on top of their fondness for authoritarian capitalist government.

Have a look at some TU websites, a few of them allow you to download their articles of association and/or constitutions. The "democracy" tends to be inverse to membership size - the larger the union, the less democratic the union tends to be, and the more tortuous the path to amending even simple issues within the constitutional framework for the grass-roots membership.
Union hierarchies have engineered themselves into quasi-dictatorships, and the grass roots have little they can do except withdraw their membership (and risk any new worker's movement they form not being "recognised" by their employers) or continue their membership in order to receive the protections that membership of a large union supposedly garners them.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Labour is still the only party that is funded by organised labour, where else would you direct your money/support?

If I still held a union membership, I'd want any political levy to be disbursed after an annual plebiscite of the members. Okay, so that means that the EEAU would probably want to give money to fascists (old anti-Chapple joke there), but it would at least be democratic.

 

[where to]

more Royal Mail privatisation stuff coming out this week apparently.

 

[gunneradt]

maybe we should all stop using the internet and email and revert back to letters?

not a good idea unless you want to wait three days for it. I actually had a post before 12pm the other day - I nearly fainted.

 

[agricola]

more Royal Mail privatisation stuff coming out this week apparently.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7907179.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/23/royal-mail-pensions

The Government sadly chose to spin this as "£8-9 billion pensions black hole in Royal Mail pension scheme" and linking the part-privatization to it, which (thankfully) more than a few commentators pointed out was absolute bollocks since since the Government allowed RM to take a pensions holiday as well as it being clearly nonsensical that any private company, when faced with part-privatization of a national utility, would take on the part that has £8 bn of debt.

The 150 rebel MPs need to stand up and vote this down when it finally appears in the Commons (Mandleson introduced it in the Lords), but I wont hold my breath given their previous craven surrenders.

edit: It now appears that the Government will guarantee the pensions - with the "£8bn debt" - if the plans are not opposed. More wonderful economic policy from the Leader!

 

[glenquagmire]

I'm not optimistic. Either the Bill goes forward as currently drafted, in which case it will go through with Tory and Lib Dem support, or they will amend it slightly and over half of the Labour 'rebels' will support it after mumbling about concessions and stuff.

 

[butchersapron]

That's how it looks in parliament yes.

 

[agricola]

I'm not optimistic. Either the Bill goes forward as currently drafted, in which case it will go through with Tory and Lib Dem support, or they will amend it slightly and over half of the Labour 'rebels' will support it after mumbling about concessions and stuff.

I agree thats what is more likely to happen, but 150 Labour MPs is enough to prevent this, given that they could if they chose to do so torpedo other Government business unless these plans are shelved (they wont of course).

 

[agricola]

Mandleson introduces the Bill, a day earlier than expected, in the Lords. I wonder why?

 

[Badgers]

Colleague has a mate who works for Royal Mail.
His mate worked a 6 day week to top up his earnings but has been told that the extra working time will no longer be available.

 

[agricola]

bumped because, in a remarkably hypocritical move even for him, Mandleson has accused the CWU of using "scare tactics" to oppose part-privatization of the Royal Mail.



edit: while he accuses them of using such tactics, he points out that their jobs and pensions will be at risk of they dont sign up to it

 

[glenquagmire]

Not a massive Compass fan but this may prove useful to comrades http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=3677

 

[TomPaine]

Looks like Mandy and his ilk are just greasing the the blades of the job cut gullotine ready for Cameron and his Job Cut Jacobins to take over.

Over here in the US we are starting to hear similar things. Cut backs on deliveries and such. A friend of mine whose mum worked in the US postal service for 20 years, left recently. This appears to have been a good decision as they just sliced back the working hours of the staff and there would have been no way she could have paid the bills on a less then 40 hour week.

 

[marty21]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...-boss-adam-crozier-exclusive-115875-21160740/

despite all the row about fred goodwin's supertastic pension, the royal mail have upped the pensions of the senior bosses, whilst claiming that ordinary workers face a pension defecit