27.06.1996

Organise against teamworking

The postal workers’ two national one-day strikes have received overwhelming support. Yet, incredibly, the Communication Workers Union has decided to suspend the walkouts “to allow for further negotiations”.

The strikes, called to resist Royal Mail’s notorious Employee Agenda, have been met with enthusiasm and growing confidence. For example, a union representative in Edinburgh told me there was 99.9% support for the strikes, while a spokesperson in Merseyside said they only knew of one “conscientious objector”.

The Employee Agenda package proposes to implement its all-embracing instrument of control, known as ‘teamworking’, which potentially attacks just about every aspect of workers’ conditions, including union rights. But the union leadership wants ‘improvements’, rejecting the deal on the grounds that it is “not good enough”. Basic pay would rise, but 30% of the members would lose out because of changes in allowances. The CWU’s own claim is for a 35-hour, five-day week, together with marginal improvements in annual leave for those with more than 20 years’ service.

The union is making a virtue of the fact that these very modest demands were lodged in 1993. However, militants see that not as a sign of praiseworthy patience, but as a reason for doubting the leaders’ willingness to head a genuine fightback. An activist at Mount Pleasant sorting office in London told me:

“Our illustrious leader [joint general secretary Alan Johnson] was in favour of accepting the deal and the EC was split on the issue. It was only the support we got for our unofficial rank and file meeting which forced them to call a strike ballot, resulting in the 68% ‘yes’ vote.”

Royal Mail is beginning to move into action against the strikers. In Edinburgh a driver who refused to take out a last-minute delivery to beat the strike was disciplined, even though it would have taken him over his legal driving limit. A union rep is also threatened with disciplinary action for showing his disgust at a worker crossing the picket line, although a scab who brandished a knife is believed to be still at work.

The pressure will intensify, as will the media assault - workers’ morale will inevitably start to drop if the CWU leadership refuses to escalate the action.

Inevitably, some Tories have called for the post office’s privatisation to be put back on the agenda. Not all sections of Britain’s bosses think that would be a good idea. The Independent (June 25) comments:

“Anachronistic as it might be to see a national public service being held to ransom by striking workers, and tempted as ministers might be to seek revenge, abolition of the Royal Mail’s monopoly would be the wrong way to go. Legislation enacted on the hoof invariably turns out to be ill judged.”

Over the last decade the cost of posting a letter has dropped by one percent a year in real terms, while postal staff have been cut by 5,000 a year. This is one industry that many capitalists would prefer kept under direct state control.

However, they could be disappointed. The government looks set to hive off the lucrative direct mail business, worth £1 billion a year. That would force the post office to press for the ending of countrywide one-price delivery and start to charge more for rural areas and longer distances, particularly hitting many small businesses.

Whether privatisation comes or not, attacks on the workforce will continue. Workers must not only pressure their union leaders to stand firm against teamworking, but start to organise themselves across branch lines, taking the initiative to fight for what they need, not what the bosses might be prepared to let them keep.

Peter Manson