Members of the CWU communications union have voted in a ballot by 92% on a 74% turnout to oppose the privatisation of Royal Mail through a boycott of competitors’ mail as well as through industrial action like strikes. The significance of the consultative, non-binding ballot is that although it is a not a lawfully constituted ballot for industrial action, its use is the central plank of a strategy of the union to scare off potential investors. (Ref. 130415)
The 112,000 members working for Royal Mail were balloted as part of the union’s ongoing campaign against the Coalition government’s attempts to find a buyer or buyers for the public company following the passing of legislation allowing the privatisation. The government hopes to raise £3 billion (about €3.5 billion) with the sale. The vote stands in the context of each postal worker being promised around £1,500 (€1,750) in shares by the government as part of the flotation of the company on the Stock Exchange, and the company now being highly profitable in the public sector.
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