In 2007 after the loss of our Son, Daniel Elgar who was a Southend Postman, work colleagues from Southend Mail Centre wanted a football match between the youngsters and the veterans to raise money for a trust fund for the two children Daniel had sadly left.

The response was overwhelming for us as a family and indeed a trust fund was set up for Harry and Daniel (junior). The following year Union members at Southend wanted to continue the charity football match so we decided to call it the “Danny Elgar cup”.

The football match coincided with the tragic loss of another Postman Ken Wright who died at 50 years old with cancer. Ken knew our Daniel well and it seemed only right to donate any money raised to the Macmillan cancer support. The Danny Elgar cup is now firmly an annual event with great support from all the Postman, Postwomen, friends and family of members working at Southend Mail Centre.

Later that year we got involved with the Macmillan coffee morning held at the Southend Mail Centre in the union room, and again it proved a great success. Union Reps from all functions brought in cakes and a great deal of money was raised.

We were now involved with Macmillan on a regular basis and realised that we could expand the Coffee morning to all our rural offices. Leading up to this year Paul Moffat Eastern Region Secretary was instrumental in spreading the Coffee morning throughout the Eastern region and indeed it was agreed to adopt the Macmillan charity.

It was at this meeting I announced that I would cycle for 24hrs non-stop on a Royal Mail cycle leaving Southend Mail Centre. at 9am Saturday and finishing 9am Sunday. Why? I am not sure but I must have got caught up in the emotion of it all. Talking about it was easy but I soon discovered doing it was another matter. I was supported by Kevin Martin and Andy Monteith our two local Delivery reps who drove a support van all night whilst I plodded on. It was clear that by 3am on Sunday morning Skegness (my original destination) was only 30 miles away, so I knew I had to pedal further or finish too early, so we made a mad decision to press on to Grimsby.

What I did not account for was a sign saying ‘Welcome to Lincolnshire Wolds’? It basically means 30 to 40 miles of hills before dropping into Grimsby. Grimsby Football Club was shut on that Sunday morning, so we finally ended up at Cleethorpes for breakfast, finally completing over 215 miles in total.

Anyone wishing to donate money for my cycle ride and supporting MacMillan can donate at www.justgiving.com just tap in Keith Elgar.

Also, all are welcome to our next annual “Danny Elgar Cup” charity football match, Southend Manor Football Club, Southchurch Park, on Sunday, 28th August 2011, again in aid of MacMillan Nurses. Kick off starts at 3pm, followed by a social event in the evening with entertainment.

The Postal Services Act received Royal Assent on 13 June 2011. The Act allows for the privatisation of Royal Mail, the separation of Royal Mail from Post Office Ltd and the mutualisation of Post Office Ltd. The Act also allows the government to take on the assets and liabilities in the Royal Mail Pension Plan and makes a number of changes to the regulation of postal services. Further to this, Royal Mail has also finalised its new Business Plan (known as the restructuring plan), which has been agreed by the Government.

As part of moving forward the Union’s Postal Executive has been assessing the implications of the Postal Services Act on CWU members, the Union and the company. This highlight’s the key areas dealt with by the Act and scopes its likely implications to gain a better understanding of the range of issues now facing the Union and the way events are likely to unfold.

Tackling the Pension Deficit & the Significance of the European State Aid Process

Before any sale goes ahead the government needs to take on the bulk of the deficit in the pension plan, an objective the CWU has been campaigning over for many years. As well as removing the historic pensions deficit, the Government is supporting the company’s request to improve Royal Mail Groups financial balance sheet by potentially wiping off some or all of Royal Mails debt from the previous Government loan of £1.7 billion, which was made on commercial terms to fund modernisation.

Both the pensions’ solution and a reduction in Royal Mail’s debts are dependent on European state aid clearance. The European State Aid Process is integral to the historic pension’s deficit being taken on by the Government who are not in a position to proceed with a sale until State Aid clearance is given. Then there’s the question of what type of aid can be provided and the terms that under certain circumstances can be put forward by the European Commission.

Royal Mail’s recently revised business plan formed the basis of this application. The government has indicated that, assuming the application is successful, the transfer will take place from April 2012. However, early indication from Brussels suggests that achieving State Aid clearance will not be straightforward and stresses that reaching a decision by March 2012 is a stretching target. The significance of this date is that Royal Mail faces major problems if a decision is not reached by March 2012, as without a pensions’ solution in place the company will become liable for a further pension deficit payment in the region of £300m, which it is likely to argue it cannot afford.

If Royal Mail is unsuccessful in its application for state ‘restructuring’ aid (which the business believes is a possibility), it faces the imposition of ‘rescue aid’ from the European Commission. This means state aid in exchange for undertaking a form restructuring imposed by the European Commission, which is likely to involve much harsher terms that could be damaging to members’ interests.

The Governments case will also be open to intense lobbying from Royal Mail’s competitors, who will claim that State Aid, the removal of the pension deficit and changes to regulation will give Royal Mail an unfair advantage over the competition. It is clear that the outcome of the State Aid process is crucial future developments in the Postal Industry and will impact one way or another on the privatisation of the business and CWU members.

Privatisation and Another Employee Share Scheme

The Postal Services Act not only allows for the privatisation of Royal Mail but also requires that at least a 10% share of Royal Mail be transferred to employees. The union does not endorse an employee share scheme as an appropriate means of remuneration (we all know what happened to the last Employee Share Scheme). The Act does not specify what form a sale of Royal Mail will take. It could take the form of share issue, where shares would be publicly traded. Alternatively the government could seek one or more strategic investors to buy all or part of the business.

Arrangements for the establishment of an employee share scheme need to be made before any shares in Royal Mail are sold; however, shares do not have to go to employees before the sale of the business begins, as long as 10% of shares go to employees before the government has entirely disposed of its shareholding.

The government has shared little or no thinking as to the form of an employee share scheme. Shares could be distributed directly to employees, as was the case in previous privatisations such as BT, or held in some form of trust.

The government claims that it has not and will not start thinking about the form of sale it will undertake until after the state aid decision has been received. The Shareholder Executive has argued that value for taxpayers and the future of the USO are the main objectives in any sale; this means theoretically the identity of any future buyer or the form of a sale and its implications for the stability of the USO could be considered in the privatisation process. However, the government is under no duty to take such factors into account and has given no assurances that it will do so.

The form of an employee share scheme will influence the long-term value of the shares to CWU members. The Act only obliges the government to introduce an employee share scheme, the union has the opportunity to maximise the value of such a scheme for members through engagement with the government and Royal Mail.

Royal Mail and the Government have committed to sharing information with the CWU on developments relating to the state aid application. The CWU will continue push for information on the form of any sale and will seek to highlight the importance of the buyer and form of the sale on the future of the business, its employees and the universal service.

What is clear is that the reason we have to change is because of the lack of ambition for our business demonstrated by previous governments, this government, and the Post Office board. Put simply we change whilst the government and the post office board continue attempting to run our business down…

YOUR UNION THOUGH REMAIN COMMITTED TO BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY WITH IMPROVED JOB SECURITY

It could have been so different if the Postal services act did not disable us against competition. In my view this was a deliberate pre cursor for creating the right circumstances [a failing business that urgently needs capital] to privatise our business. It is for this reason that the finances of Royal Mail have never been transparent, understood or believed by this Union.

Members will now be anxious over the shape, terms and sheer scale of privatisation proposed by this government. We can though take some considerable comfort from amendments to the Postal services bill won by the sheer persistence of a successful and pragmatic 2 pronged political campaigning strategy from the CWU.

These amendments cannot be underestimated and indeed have been hard fought and won in the best traditions of mobilising every level of this Union. I refer specifically in gaining safeguards on the Universal Service Obligation, which will protect jobs, persuading government to take on the huge pensions deficit, and also changing government thinking on competition which will attract more revenue.

The government still face difficulty in finding a buyer and a sale cannot realistically take place until after European State Aid approval on pensions is finalised. This is unlikely to happen until at least March 2012. This Unions approach and policies I’m sure will continue to shape the final outcome. The National Union now have a clear policy and are right now engaged in fresh talks on: job security, pensions, workload, colleague share, the possibility and potential impact of privatisation and separation of Post Office Limited, Mail Centre reviews and Industrial Relations. We must all be prepared to defend and fight on these issues if these talks fail. We will of course keep you informed on all these issues as we progress.

The Essex Amalgamated Branch have always faced up to change and will continue to engage with our employers ensuring we influence and shape local negotiations to the best of our elected ability and to the benefit of our loyal members. I know with your continued involvement and support that together we will protect and build on what we have.

If you want the very latest up to date information on everything going on in your business and Union then give your email and mobile numbers, which will be kept in strictest confidence, to our new communications officer, Mike Newport, who can be contacted on: 07884 454547 or by Email at: mike.newport@cwuessex.org 

A request from Leigh postman and rep, Rob Bartlett, is all it took to see a visit from Royal Mail’s CEO, Moya Greene to Leigh on Sea’s PDO last week.

Rob contacted Moya’s office to dispute Royal Mail’s figures which had dropped, moral was at an all time low within the delivery office, and yet posties are delivering more mail than ever witness before.

First impressions went down very positively with all delivery staff, and the appearance was that she had the welfare and interests of staff at heart.

Rob said: “To be fair, the experience I’ve had with Moya Greene and her assistant Emily Pang has been first class, very favourable and hands on. She did a very good meet and great with the staff, spoke very highly and had good things to say about Bob Gibson and Dave Ward which I’ve never heard from a Director of the business in my life, and expressed that she wants to work with the union, however words are only as good as actions and we need to see proof, improvements in the office and moral”.

Since the visit Rob has been in contact with Moya to try and form a plan to add stable hours to the office instead of haemorrhaging money since Royal Mail’s planner led revision to fix managerial problems. The aim of this will create a friendlier, manageable and stable place to work, while working within the limitations of the budget and affectively saving money.

The CWU are well aware of Moya Greene’s past and realise she is not a person to take lightly. In the early 1990’s, as assistant deputy minister of Transport Canada she over- saw the privatisation of CN Rail and the deregulation of the country’s rail, transport and ports systems. She then moved through a series of senior posts at Toronto Dominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bombardier. The outspoken executive said her job-hopping was fed by a combination of ambition and unending desire for new challenges.

She says although she has “always shocked” people by leaving, she pulled no punches about her reasons: “I’ve said you know this is not doing any- thing for me.” After joining Canada Post in 2005 Moya was not a popular person with postal staff. It was reported that while in charge of the business jobs were reduced, staff moral declined then the business wanted to use the money within the pension fund to improve the business. Workers voted 94.5% for strike action against the action and started a series or rolling strikes. Canada Post then decided to lock employees out of their places of work, then through the courts, forced staff to return to work under a new legislated contract.

Although having two years left on her contract, she left the Canadian Post job in 2010 after being offered the Chief Executive role at Royal Mail.

Lets hope Moya can be good for the business and posties livelihoods alike!