The new offer is said to include protections for employee benefits and pensions, and commitments to maintain Royal Mail’s name, brand, UK headquarters and UK tax residency.
But many of the company’s 150,000 employees have lost faith in management, Ward said.
“We welcome some of the commitments that have been made, but the reality is that postal workers across the UK have lost faith in Royal Mail’s senior management and the service has been deliberately broken,” he said.
At a conference last month, the CWU passed the “urgent motion”, pledging to oppose franchising, outsourcing and service cuts “in the event of any takeover”.
But the new takeover could very well threaten those guarantees, warned Johnbosco Nwogbo, campaign manager at We Own It.
“I don’t think there’s been any certainty that the new company that’s taking it over won’t do those things,” he told the Big Issue.
“This acquisition is motivated by the desire for profit. So how can they say these things are off the table? This check is almost happening at the end of the night because everyone is thinking about the election.”
We Own It called for the deal to be blocked until after the general election. They want the government to renationalise the service.
“We must not allow such valuable public assets to be used as playthings of private equity firms,” he said.
When was the Royal Mail privatised?
The Royal Mail was founded in 1516 by Henry VIII. Originally intended to manage royal communications, it eventually expanded into a national postal service.
For most of the five centuries that followed, the service was run by the crown, and then by the state.
That all changed in 2011, when the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition privatized 90% of the company with the Postal Services Act.
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Two years later, the government floated 60% of its Royal Mail shares on the stock market – a move opposed by 96% of Royal Mail staff. The government then sold its remaining shares in October 2015.
Currently, Royal Mail is part of International Delivery Services, which also contains General Logistics Systems and Parcelforce. Křetínský already owns a 27.5% stake.
“Privatizing the service was meant to fix a big problem – people were sending a lot less letters,” Nwogbo said. “It was meant to bring in a number of new technologies and techniques in order to make it profitable while they continue to provide a universal service offering.”
However, long-term pressure from shareholders – who want more for their investment – has seen service quality decline. Delivery offices and capacity have been cut, while rice prices.
The cost of a First Class stamp has risen by almost 50% in just five years.
“Royal Mail is supposed to keep Britain connected. The profit motive is far removed from this principle because there is an incentive to cut costs and reduce services so that shareholders continue to benefit,” he said.
“Profit from Royal Mail – such as parcel delivery – should be returned to Royal Mail, to offset the loss from delivery to more remote parts of the country.”
In 2021, investors were paid £400m in dividends. And although the company made a £319m half-year loss in 2023, shareholders in parent company IDS have been promised a “modest” dividend.
Regulator Ofcom recently warned that the Mail could become “financially and operationally unsustainable in the long term” if it is not allowed to stop delivering letters six days a week (‘Universal Service Obligation’).
Both the Tories and Labor have rejected the suggestion for now. But it could become a reality under increasing pressure from shareholders, Nwgobo said.
“The motivation is not the improvement of the service, but the profit. The gain comes from labor maneuvers and may soon come from a reduction in universal service obligations,” he added.
We own it, we want the government to block the sale of Royal Mail and return it to public ownership.
It is a remote possibility, with no major party expressing interest in the policy. But the public demand is there, Nwgobo insists, with 68% of people supporting renationalisation.
“We will not give up. The government has turned to many other things,” he said. “We will mobilize people to make this demand – that Royal Mail should be publicly owned and should fulfill the purpose for which it was founded. This is keeping us connected, not enriching shareholders.”