Moya Greene Resigns !  or God Save The Royal Mail ! 

In this issue

Moya Greene Resigns !

French Postal Unions to Strike on May 27th

Huge Fat Cat Salaries !

Privatising The Royal Mail.

Cathy Beth 

 French postal unions plan strike on 27 May

Picture: La Poste worker
The French unions CFDT, CFTC, CGT and SUD-PTT have called on postal workers to join a national strike on Thursday (27 May) where various industries will protest over employment and wages conditions.
The four unions along with a fifth one, FO, had initially planned to organise a national day of strike action specifically related to La Poste in the beginning of June to denounce the reorganisations, job cuts and workloads. But finally FO decided to organise a separate strike to take place on 15 June.
The postal unions are protesting in particular against "productivity enhancements and cost reductions" as well as "constant and destabilising reorganisations and restructuring that eliminate jobs, degrade work quality and working conditions".
"With more and more workers being reintegrated, the postmen have become increasingly anxious about their future," the unions wrote in a joint press release demanding especially "the end of the reorganisations."
They also demand "necessary jobs to perform tasks" and "the end of externalisation" of certain activities as well as the "opening of real negotiations about health and well-being at work". They ask for the "recognition of the complexity of activities, psycho-social risks and consideration of personal life when it comes to new organisation or new activities".
The unions finally push for the "increase of purchasing power and salaries, a better redistribution of wealth" and "respect for rights and opinions of staff, also in terms of holidays".
There have been postal strike movements recently in Paris, Marseille and other regions. The most recent strike took place in Paris on Saturday with around 300 postmen involved. According to the unions, about one hundred postal workers occupied the headquarters of La Poste to denounce "job cuts" and regrouping of delivery rounds related to restructuring of mail services. La Poste management claimed, however, that only 50 postmen were at the headquarters.
They decided to occupy the building to be able to meet the management responsible for the mail business in order to negotiate on the new organisation of rounds called "Postmen of the future". This includes the possibility of dividing up the round of an absent postman between his colleagues without replacing him.
"Postmen of the future is a working structure that allows the company to eliminate one in four workers and to fill the wallets through the regrouping of rounds," Olivier Rosay from SUD-PTT told the French news agency AFP.
La Poste management stressed that the programme "Postmen of the future" aims to "adapt to declining mail volumes" and "improve the service quality" while avoiding replacing an absent postman by somebody who does not know the route.
Source:French unions, AFP, CEP-Research 
 

 More than 500 on federal payroll top $200,000
 
 
By Kathryn May, Ottawa Citizen October 28, 2009

OTTAWA - The Harper government shelled out salaries and bonuses exceeding $200,000 to more than 500 federal employees last year, according to newly released documents.

The CBC reported 22 of its executives - whose salaries ranged from $125,000 to $375,000 - to the $200,000-plus list.

The Business Development Bank reported eight of its executives topped $200,000; seven at Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation; seven at the Export Development Corporation and five at the Bank of Canada; three at the Royal Canadian Mint and five at Via Rail.

The salaries for Crown corporation executives vary from $134,700 to a range of $410,000 to $482,40 for Canada Post President Moya Greene - who also is eligible for performance pay of up to 33 per cent.

The government's executive pay is determined by a special advisory committee, led by Carol Stephenson, dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business at University of Western Ontario. The committee studies the market and recommends salary, performance pay and bonus packages for all executives, deputy ministers, other governor-in-council appointees and CEOs of Crown corporations.

With the recession, the advisory committee recommended executives face the wage controls as other public servants this year and performance pay stay at last year's levels.

The Harper government's Expenditure Restraint Act forced wage controls on most federal workers in departments and agencies to try to rein in spending.

It gave executives the same wage package it imposed on unionized employees: 2.3 per cent in 2008 and 1.5 per cent in each of the next three years.

The restraint act, however, doesn't apply to some Crown corporations, including Via Rail, the Royal Canadian Mint, and Canada Post.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

+++++++++  I wonder if Moya's replacement will get the same wage, or if she was asked to leave as a cost cutting measure ?

UK govt says wants to part-privatise Royal Mail
Thu May 20, 2010 2:03pm BST



By Adrian Croft

LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Britain's coalition government said it wanted to part-privatise Royal Mail [GBPO.UL], the state-owned postal service, risking a clash with unions.

"We will seek to ensure an injection of private capital into Royal Mail, including opportunities for employee ownership," the programme for government released by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition said on Thursday.

The Post Office, which has a network of branches offering retail services throughout Britain, will remain publicly owned, the government said in its coalition agreement. [ID:nLDE64J0TW]

The plan was announced as Royal Mail Group reported a 26 percent rise in operating profit to 404 million pounds ($580 million) in the year to March, saying the performance was due to modernisation and greater efficiency.

The new government has launched a drive to cut a 2010-11 budget deficit forecast at 163 billion pounds. Bringing in a private investor to Royal Mail would ease the strain of finding the investment the firm needs to modernise.

Prime Minister David Cameron's government is reviving an idea shelved by the former Labour government, ousted following the May 6 election. Then Business Secretary Peter Mandelson suspended plans to sell up to 30 percent of Royal Mail last year, citing adverse market conditions.

Royal Mail's business has come under pressure from new competitors and growing use of e-mail. It also faces a pension fund deficit put at up to 10 billion pounds.

Mandelson's proposal ran into strong opposition from unions and Labour politicians.

UNION CRITICISES PLAN

"This is old politics wrapped in new language. The British public has consistently rejected the privatisation of Royal Mail. The move to regurgitate failed policies will be deeply unpopular," said Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union which represents postal workers.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail declined comment.

Postal workers backed a three-year deal on jobs, pay and modernisation in April, ending a dispute that led to two waves of strikes last year.

Britain's coalition of centre-right Conservatives and centre-left Lib Dems did not say what percentage of Royal Mail it was looking to privatise.

In their election manifesto, the Lib Dems said 49 percent of Royal Mail would be sold to create funds for investment.

"The ownership of the other 51 percent will be divided between an employee trust and the government," it said.

It was unclear whether this proposal will be adopted by the coalition in which the Conservatives are the senior partner.

Private equity group CVC Partners was reported last year to have offered just under 2 billion pounds for a 30 percent stake in Royal Mail and Dutch company TNT (TNT.AS) also expressed an interest.

Royal Mail said on Thursday three quarters of a 2 billion pound investment plan to transform its operations had been spent. "Continuing to invest in our business will be essential to keep up the pace of modernisation," it said. ($1 = 0.6970 pound) (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Contact Information
phone: 416-412-1100