Maidstone to be hit hard by job losses

In the past few days two major employers in Maidstone have announced that they will be making drastic job cuts spelling misery for hundreds, if not thousands of Maidstone families.

Kent Police have announced 1500 jobs are to go, with around 1000 of these being administrative. The HQ for Kent Police is in Maidstone. Particularly galling is the reponse of the Tory MP for Rochester and Strood, Mark Reckless: "In the past few years many of my constituents have lost their jobs, many have had pay freezes or pay cuts. I do think savings need to be made. One element of that is numbers and the other is pay and pensions." I find it nauseating when uncaring politicians think it reasonable to dump on people like this. Perhaps the police should sack people for being drunk at work?

Also last week, it was announced that the Royal Mail sorting office in Maidstone is to close with an assumed loss of around 100 jobs. A new super sorting office covering much of West Kent is to open in Strood increasing the level of traffic and transport required to deliver and collect mail. I'm sure that people in Strood are not looking forward to the extra traffic!

The impacts that are not being reported are the effect on the families who suffer with wage earners being made redundant and the impact on people (especially older people and those without cars) who collect parcels from the sorting office in Maidstone.

In both cases, and with earlier KCC announcements, it will be front line services, the public and lower wage earners who take the brunt of the cuts.

Royal Mail to leave Maidstone

So the rumours were right about the sorting office in Maidstone. It looks likely that four sorting offices across West Kent will close and we are set to lose our here in Maidstone. 400 jobs to be shed, adding to the horrendously high numbers of unemployed people in Kent. Adding to the misery of families that suffer at the hands of the cuts.

This is the comment from the CWU:

Sian Jones, a spokesman for the Communications Workers Union which represents many of the postal workers in Maidstone, said: "We will be looking to see there is no loss of jobs, that workers have sufficient choice and that there is compensation for any increased travel costs they may incur in moving to Medway. 

"We will also want to be convinced there will be no adverse impact on postal services locally."

Well the Royal Mail have already said that 10% of the workforce will be lost and how will the elderly and those without cars collect parcels from Medway? I hope the CWU opposes this - I know where I stand!

Stamp out Privatisation

This went out yesterday to media in Kent. We must fight NuLab's continued selling off of public services.

Kent Greens have warned against further privatisation of public services as plans go to parliament today to privatise 30% of the Royal Mail. The Greens are concerned that further privatisation will lead to a poorer service, unnecessary jobs loses and increased costs to the tax payers of the part that remains in public ownership as private companies continue their cherry picking of the profitable parts of the service.

Stuart Jeffery comments: "As the only main party opposed to the privatisation of the Royal Mail, Kent Greens have issued a call to 'Stamp out Privatisation' of Royal Mail.

"Privatisation of public services has been a common theme of the political landscape for over a quarter of a century with devastating results. In the case of Post Offices, local communities are being deprived of a basic community service for narrow, commercial reasons. How can the government possibly justify multibillion bail-outs of banks while failing to support its core public services like Post Offices? A partly privatized postal service will lead to reductions in services to the public in the same way.

"Even more sad is that the Lib Dems and Tories are backing the part privatisation, making the loss of this service to privateers almost certain.

"As the last 12 months have shown, the market economics of the private sector has been shown to be fundamentally flawed. We must not let more public services fall prey to the market, the Royal Mail needs and deserves our support. We need to stamp out privatisation."

Message from the CWU

To all the owners of the Royal Mail,

(this means you), as it’s a publicly owned industry.

Do you realise what the government is trying to do to your Postal service and the effect it will have on your service?

In the 1980’s and early 90’s the Thatcher Government pulled off the greatest national con in history, they used Public money to advertise shares to the Public in nearly all the service industries that the Public already owned. They justified this on the grounds that competition was good, would force the prices down while using shareholders money to improve the services concerned.

Well that worked didn’t it? We the taxpayers are still subsidising the “Private” Railway industry (while the shareholders still get a dividend), and I for one cannot think of any of the privatised industries that are cheaper or better than when they were Nationalised industries. In fact most of them have been allowed to put their prices up, way above the rate of inflation year on year ever since privatisation.

But in 1994 the Thatcher Government were soundly defeated in their attempt to privatise our Postal Service, the general consensus being, that it would not be in the Public interest.

In 1997 we voted in a new Government “New Labour” and although one of their Manifesto commitments was that they had “No plans to privatise the Postal Industry”

It seems that was exactly what they set out to do.

First step;- The previous Government had allowed the Post Office to take a 13 year Pensions holiday ( because the pension fund was in surplus).

When New Labour got in one of the first things they did was to Tax pension funds.

Result—now a £5.9 Billion pension deficit, and climbing.

Second step;- Open our Postal service to competition from the European Union, 3 years before they were supposed to, and by the way the rest of Europe baulked at doing it themselves, the new “target” for them is 2011.

Result -- Now TNT, DHL, etc; are all over here taking our profit. But we cannot compete over there.

Third step;- Appoint Alan Leighton as Chairman (a known privatiser, who lives in Canada and pays no tax on his salary or bonuses), who in turn appointed Crozier who came from messing up the F.A. and knows exactly that much about the Postal industry, but takes £2-3 million in salary and bonus per year out of the industry.

Result -- Much later deliveries, thousands of town and rural sub offices closed, many Crown offices sold off to W.H.Smiths, (privatisation by any other name). Going from putting £500 million a year into the exchequer – to making a loss.

Fourth step;- When the Postal staff went on strike because they had their Pension and attendance times changed by executive action, stand to lose 40-50 thousand jobs, their canteens have been closed, their Union ignored, their jobs made harder, are bullied and treated with contempt by managers.

The Government promise a Postal review, John Hutton M.P. oversees the Hooper review, the interim report looks favourable to the Unions viewpoint, the review is due to be published in October 2008, is not, John Hutton is moved sideways and Mandleson (a known privatiser) is made a lord and put in charge.

Result -- The Hooper review reappears, much changed and recommending, ………… partial privatisation, Mandleson says 49% sell off (mooted as probably TNT) one of our European competitors, who we are not allowed to compete with in their own market.

49% exactly what they sold off of B.T. (to start with)……But was soon fully private.

He has backed off a tad and now says a 30% sell off, after getting a drubbing on National television. But it’s a safe bet that the end game will be total privatisation.

Unlike Thatcher you may notice that New Labour have cut out the middle man (you), they do not intend to give the owners of the Post Office (you) the chance to have a say in how it is run, by holding shares.

What will this mean to your Postal Service?

Leighton, his cohorts and successor favour the Dutch system.

Which is, only handling letters which can be machine sorted down to walk order, can be packed into pouches which will then be delivered by part time workers (they envisage 84% of Postal delivery staff being part time by 2011).

The part time workers in Holland are mostly women who drop their children at school, pick up a pouch or so from the school and deliver the letters. (Royal Mail has already been talking to schools).

Other part time staff will collect the pouches from lock up garages etc; which means Royal Mail can also sell of the majority of Delivery offices.

So how far away will the new Delivery Processing office be from you if you have to collect something?, because you have the effrontery to be at work when delivery is attempted.

You may have noticed that there is no mention of packets, recorded, registered or any other special delivery service! Now what, I wonder will the 30 or 49% sell off consist of?

Surely not all the profit making products? And how much will they then go up by?

The hijacked Hooper report says that we are a loss making industry, compared to those of Europe!

It does not take into account that they are over here now taking our profit, nor does it stress that it may be because the European Postal industries charge up to three times the amount that we do, in their own countries!

So instead of the best and cheapest Postal service in the world (as it was a few short years ago), serviced by mostly friendly, honest, caring and helpful staff, which cost you the same to send an item 800 miles as it does to send it next door.

YOU WILL GET A SERVICE RUN FOR PRIVATE (FOREIGN) PROFIT.

(Zoned pricing has been mentioned)!

Your Posties will most likely lose their livelihood as well as getting a reduced pension.

Who pays for poor pensioners or those out of work? YOU DO, THE TAX PAYER.

Pass the word.

Write to your M.P. Demand the Postal service that you deserve (because you own it).

Also sign this petition only 5900 have signed, it should be all voters.

We can give you the service you want and deserve !

Unless of course, Mandleson gets his way.

I apologise in advance if we have to go on strike to protect our jobs and your service, we don’t want to (it costs us money), but it is after all the only weapon we have left.

KEEP THE POST PUBLIC !

Please send this to all your e-mail contacts, - Friends and family.

Clive Marshall,

CWU, A.D.R. (T.W.)

Save our Mail

I have signed this 10 Downing St petition and would encourage others to do so too. The Royal Mail must not be privatised. Labour's latest round of privatisation must be resisted, there is no place for private profit in this public service:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reject any part privatisation or minority stake sale of Royal Mail which could lead to loss of service, price hikes and would erode a much loved public service.