Postal strike is Mandelson's revenge for daring to defy him, claims union

Published on Wednesday 21 October 2009 21:56

POSTAL services across Britain will be crippled for two days from today after Royal Mail staff decided to strike, with unions blaming Business Secretary Lord Mandelson for the dispute.

Up to 120,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will stage two 24-hour walk-outs, with the threat of further action to come before Christmas. Union bosses yesterday attacked Lord Mandelson, accusing him of undermining any chance of a settlement.

Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general-secretary, said Lord Mandelson had plotted "payback" for the unions, as they had urged Labour MPs to block legislation that would have enabled the privatisation of Royal Mail.

"What we have seen in the last few days is a deliberate choreography that tells us that the government and the Royal Mail are working hand in hand to avert any chances of reaching a solution," Mr Ward said. He said he had met Lord Mandelson nine months ago when the government was attempting to privatise the Royal Mail, and was told that the minister had no confidence in the board and management, saying they did not have the skills to transform the company.

Lord Mandelson said the only way industrial relations would improve was if Dutch firm TNT was brought in to help run the business, Mr Ward claimed.

At a press conference in London, Mr Ward said: "The real truth behind this dispute is that Lord Mandelson clearly feels it is payback time because we defeated him on privatisation. Lord Mandelson is backing the same people he said did not have the expertise to deal with the transformation of the business."

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The industrial action is politically damaging for the government, and is a gift for Conservative leader David Cameron, who blamed Prime Minister Gordon Brown's "weakness" for escalation of the dispute.

Last night, Royal Mail attacked the CWU's decision to go ahead with its strikes. Mark Higson, managing director of Royal Mail Letters, said:"We have tried to persuade the CWU that there is a sensible way forward and that proposal was sent formally in a letter today.

"But despite the fact that the CWU agreed to take that solution to their national executive today, the union has yet again failed to honour its commitment to call off strikes in return for a period of no change.

He added that it "has shown yet again that its intention is to inflict as much damage as it can on the postal service and on our customers, and to oppose the modernisation which is essential if Royal Mail is to survive".

Royal Mail said it had held about 80 meetings with the CWU in recent months and that chief executive Adam Crozier had invited union bosses to meetings over a dozen times.

In Scotland, pickets will be held outside the Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen mail centres. Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Scotland, warned the survival of the universal postal service was threatened by the action, and that the only winners would be Royal Mail's rivals, such as TNT, which, it emerged this week, has landed an 8 million contract for Scottish public bodies.

He said: "This universal service is under threat. Only the Royal Mail will deliver mail to remoter parts of the country. Industrial action could push it over the precipice where it is currently poised. Once it is gone, it will not be reinvented."

Lord Mandelson said: "National strike action is not in the best interests of the company, the workforce or the hard-pressed consumers and businesses that depend on Royal Mail."

He said the government would ensure vital services would be maintained, adding that the only way to resolve the dispute was through dialogue.

CWU members voted 3-1 in favour of a strike in a ballot, complaining that jobs were being axed, pay cut and working conditions made worse.

The Royal Mail said it was merely modernising the business in line with an agreement reached to resolve the last national strike.

Cameron accuses PM of 'weakness' over handling of dispute

THE Prime Minister warned yesterday that a postal strike would be "counter-productive". In rowdy Commons Question Time exchanges, Conservative leader David Cameron accused Mr Brown of "an appalling display of weakness" by apparently dropping legislation to reform the Royal Mail.

Mr Cameron said it required "leadership, some backbone and some courage" to prevent union militancy – traits the Prime Minister did not have. The Tory leader said the strike would be "bad for the economy and business, bad for customers and, above all, bad for all those who work for the Royal Mail and care about its future".

He urged the Prime Minister to "condemn these strikes and join me in sending a direct message to the trade union to call this strike off".

Mr Brown replied: "I said exactly that last week, that it was counter-productive for there to be a strike. It's right for us in this House to urge negotiation and mediation. Our role must be to encourage the negotiations that are taking place, to urge those to go to Acas when that becomes the right thing to do, and make sure we do everything in our power to get a negotiated settlement, to something that arises from the 2007 modernisation plan."

Mr Cameron recalled that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had said abandoning part-privatisation of the Royal Mail would be irresponsible, an abdication of an important commitment.

"Yet five months after the bill left the House of Lords, it still hasn't come to the House of Commons. Why have you allowed this appalling display of weakness?" he demanded.

Mr Brown retorted that a buyer for the Royal Mail had not been found.