Carl Harper, Royal Mail worker and CWU member
Thousands of jobs are at risk as TNT/Whistl has suspended its entire UK delivery operation after losing its financial backers.
Just six months after City Link folded, and following the privatisation of Royal Mail, the news is further evidence that capitalist competition in the postal industry is not working.
Bosses are trying to push down workers’ wages, terms and conditions, with increasing use of zero-hour contracts and subcontracting. When it emerged that the company was in trouble, workers were given a piece of paper briefly explaining the situation and then left to wait to see whether they need to find new jobs. The many TNT/Whistl workers on zero-hour contracts would not receive any redundancy pay.
Dave Ward, Communication Workers Union (CWU) general secretary elect, said: “The sad truth is if Whistl had been successful then it would have been at the expense of even more job losses in Royal Mail.”
But this shouldn’t be the case. The whole delivery industry should be brought into public ownership and taken out of the hands of these ruthless employers, who are looking to maximise profit ahead of workers’ security and public service.
