Halt the Sell Off of Government Shares in Royal Mail
The Issue
On 6 June 2015 the UK government announced they will proceed to sell off their shares in Royal Mail, of which they own approximately 30%. This would mean that Royal Mail would become a fully privatised company, putting employees’ pay and conditions under threat, along with potentially endangering the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
The USO is the guarantee that all post within the UK will be delivered for the same price no matter where in the country. This gives citizens equal access to the strong and historic postal service that provides cards, letters and parcels six days a week, across the UK.
The recent suspension of delivery by Whistl shows the difficulty in making profit from delivery of post. Under the sell off by the government, there would be nothing to prevent TNT (Whistl’s parent company) from buying a majority share in Royal Mail and using this to fulfil their dreams of taking over postal services across the country, with a likely reduction in service to follow, as unprofitable delivery areas could see a drastic reduction in services. During their time in postal delivery, Whistl tended to cherry pick deliveries in more profitable areas and had a workforce on zero hour contracts, often using their own vehicles for delivery and working up to 12 hour shifts (all with support from the postal regulator Ofcom). A public service will never make enough profit for shareholders, so services and employees always suffer with cut backs and reductions.
To prevent this race to the bottom in services and working conditions, the government must not sell off their remaining shares in Royal Mail. This petition asks the government to take responsibility for the correct running of a public service and the working benefits for employees of Royal Mail.
Petition Text:
To the government of the UK; do not sell off your 30% of shares in Royal Mail. To do so will endanger pay and conditions for employees and could have terrible effects on service for citizens of the UK.
Please preserve the postal service and USO for the benefit of the country, not shareholders.
Petition Closed
The Issue
On 6 June 2015 the UK government announced they will proceed to sell off their shares in Royal Mail, of which they own approximately 30%. This would mean that Royal Mail would become a fully privatised company, putting employees’ pay and conditions under threat, along with potentially endangering the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
The USO is the guarantee that all post within the UK will be delivered for the same price no matter where in the country. This gives citizens equal access to the strong and historic postal service that provides cards, letters and parcels six days a week, across the UK.
The recent suspension of delivery by Whistl shows the difficulty in making profit from delivery of post. Under the sell off by the government, there would be nothing to prevent TNT (Whistl’s parent company) from buying a majority share in Royal Mail and using this to fulfil their dreams of taking over postal services across the country, with a likely reduction in service to follow, as unprofitable delivery areas could see a drastic reduction in services. During their time in postal delivery, Whistl tended to cherry pick deliveries in more profitable areas and had a workforce on zero hour contracts, often using their own vehicles for delivery and working up to 12 hour shifts (all with support from the postal regulator Ofcom). A public service will never make enough profit for shareholders, so services and employees always suffer with cut backs and reductions.
To prevent this race to the bottom in services and working conditions, the government must not sell off their remaining shares in Royal Mail. This petition asks the government to take responsibility for the correct running of a public service and the working benefits for employees of Royal Mail.
Petition Text:
To the government of the UK; do not sell off your 30% of shares in Royal Mail. To do so will endanger pay and conditions for employees and could have terrible effects on service for citizens of the UK.
Please preserve the postal service and USO for the benefit of the country, not shareholders.
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Petition created on 10 June 2015