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Royal Mail: Government
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Royal Mail is not the only organisation that has victimised union activists in recent months. Health workers in Manchester are fighting to defend Unison union rep Karen Reissmann, who was sacked for speaking out against cuts. In local government Unison is in a battle for the reinstatement of Michael Gavan, sacked for opposing privatisation.
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The privatisation of state-owned Royal Mail is the ultimate goal of management and the Labour government, but so far attempts to move in this direction have been warded off. Under pressure from the CWU and many Labour MPs, who are conscious of the anti-privatisation sentiment in the public at large, ministers have rejected Royal Mail's proposed employee share scheme, which management's stalking horse for privatisation (and their own enrichment!)
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The government has £2.9bn committed loan facilities to Royal Mail, supposedly at "market" interest rates. Despite EU competition rules it is difficult to see that the government could allow Royal Mail to become insolvent. If it did, the good news for members is that they would enter the Pension Protection Fund and receive compensation in line with the PPF rules. The bad news is that such a huge claim would sink the PPF - the PPF's latest consultation document discusses imposing a further levy on schemes with deficits large enough to sink it. Privatisation of Royal Mail - the last utility in public ownership - has been discussed in recent months, especially by its chairman, who is keen to see employee share-ownership. This cannot work unless the government takes over the existing pensions, which would be illegal under EU competition rules.
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The Local Government Association (LGA) has issued a warning to the Royal Mail about its plans to remove the present strict limit of three mails per house per week. This step is bound to cause damage to the environment , cost council tax payers more and enrage private house owners ,Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Chairman of the LGA reasoned.
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"Most Government departments already show a marked decline in the usage of Royal Mail. The DWP alone has cut £27.8 million and of all the Government departments who responded that figure jumps to over £38 million.
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