Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on the picket line outside the Central Delivery Office and Mail Centre in Birmingham, December 23, 2022
THE “gross mismanagement” of Royal Mail is to blame for the privatised firm slumping to losses of more than £1 billion, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) warned today.
The owner of the 500-year-old company, International Distributions Services (IDS), revealed it suffered an operating loss of £1.04bn for the year to late March, against earnings of £250 million the previous year.
The British multinational claimed the financial hit at Royal Mail, whose under-pressure boss Simon Thompson announced last week that he will soon step down, was largely down to 18 days of crippling industrial action which it said resulted in £200m losses.
Royal Mail’s job quality has plummeted, with gruelling hours, two-tier pay, intense surveillance, and poor work-life balance for postal workers — but our union is fighting back, writes CWU branch secretary JOHN CARSON
CWU leader DAVE WARD tells Ben Chacko a strategy to unite workers on class lines is needed – and sectoral collective bargaining must be at its heart
