by Keith Richmond
THE Communication Workers Union has warned the Government that if it approves Peter Mandelson’s plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail, the union will disaffiliate from the Labour Party.
Lord Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has long seen partial privatisation of the postal service as a possible way forward.
He warmly welcomed the Hooper report when it was published in December and told the House of Lords: “We intend to take forward the recommendations as a coherent package.”
But the CWU is totally committed to opposing closures, the break-up or the privatisation of the postal service in Britain. Billy Hayes, the union’s general secretary, said: “We are delighted, but not surprised, at the growing opposition to any form of privatisation of this vitally important public service.
“At a time when the private sector has been clearly shown to have failed the British public, it is ludicrous to consider selling off one of our nation’s most prized assets and best-loved institutions.
“On behalf of our members and the public, we urge the government to think again before embarking on such an ill-considered and potentially damaging course.”
Speaking at a joint policy commission meeting of senior trade union and government figures at the House of Commons, Mr Hayes said the government’s plans for part-privatisation of the Royal Mail are a defining moment for relations between the trade unions and the Labour Party.
He said: “Privatisation of Royal Mail is a totemic issue for postal unions CWU and Unite. Current Government plans are a defining moment in the relationship between the unions and the Government. The relationship will be severely strained towards breaking point.
“Coupled with planned job losses and office closures in Royal Mail, the Government’s actions are placing a huge strain on the unions’ relationship with the Labour Party.”
The CWU has an agreed policy – emergency motion 6 at conference last year – to ballot members on disaffiliation should privatisation of Royal Mail take place. Senior sources at the union were at pains to point out this week that means partial privatisation or indeed any attempt to take the Royal Mail out of its present position as as a publicly-controlled body.
The CWU, which has a quarter of a million members, is Britain’s eighth biggest union – after Unite, Unison, GMB, USDAW, PCS, NUT and NASUWT – and disaffiliation would hurt the Labour Party. The union last disaffiliated from the party in 1927 after the general strike – and did not return until after the Second World War.
