Newham Compass Launch with Neil Lawson: A Bright Future for Royal Mail?

Last Wednesday there was an inaugural meeting of a borough wide Newham Compass group. The speakers were the Chair of Compass Neil Lawson (right) and Lee Waker (left) who is the East London Political officer of the CWU (and a real Postie) as well as a Labour Councillor in Barking and Dagenham.

The meeting was in the Emmanuel Church Hall in Forest Gate and chaired by local Party activist Christopher Owens. There wasn’t that many of us (nine) but Neil didn’t seem to mind: -

Firstly he complimented the small but perfectly formed meeting. It only takes 5 people to change the world. Quality never mind the quantity matters in politics. Compass is a pressure group not a think tank. Ideas are essential but we need to make things happen. He doesn’t believe in the Labour Party “Leadership betrayal” tradition. It is much better to point out what the Party has achieved but also point out that this is not enough and the party needs to be transformed. A big Parliamentary majority doesn’t mean big changes. The forces of conservatism - the Daily Mail, the CBI etc. blocks change. We have to form alliances. The Greens have many better ideas than Labour or the Liberal Democrats but there are not serious enough about getting power.

New Labour should be criticised for not being new enough and not Labour enough. It is too rooted in bureaucracy and too right wing. They have done many good things but not good enough. Pragmatic politics not revolution however means things should be built slowly and purposefully.

Compass had worked hard with the CWU to stop the part privatisation of Royal Mail. This would have meant that the terms and conditions of Royal Mail workers would have been eroded and their bargaining position weakened. New Labour views everything from the prism that global completion is good thing and it is also an inevitable thing. The job of government is to help this take place. Therefore the best route is for Royal Mail is to be opened up to private sector competition to perform in the long term.

This is very much a monoculture view. One view of society which we think is wrong. There is no rationale or reason for this one view. There is no basis for private sector money in Royal Mail. There are plenty of alternatives. There is an ideological view. Load of angst about the union, its force and power and how it can be broken. We have a more public view of the sector. We looked at the BBC, Network Rail, and Welsh Water. There are loads of different models. The Government is fixated with one model of part privatisation. We put forward alternatives which were rejected out of hand. Eventually the government had to accept they could not get it through.

Why does the Royal Mail matter? It’s about building institutions. Why after 12 years of Labour Government did the economic crisis caused by bankers turn into an attack on public sector? Why are we facing losing a 70 seat majority? If we do, this will be worse than 1979. If we lose where can the unions and local government regroup and survive the Tories? We need institutions such as Royal Mail. When you walk into a NHS hospital you are not just patients. We are not just consumers but citizens. With Royal Mail it doesn’t matter where you live you still get the same services. When you queue in the post office you are treated as equal citizens not consumers. That is why we think they are so important. Thatcher said that “economics was the means; the goal was to change the soul". People had the choice to be greedy and selfish. She set out to destroy collective institution and replace with individual institutions. People did not believe in society. We should have done more to oppose these ideas we need to stop the poor getting poorer and stop the planet from burning (finish).

Lee meanwhile has worked for Royal Mail for 22 years. He had been a member of the Labour Party for 35 years. He had a traditional Labour background. He is also a Labour councillor in Dagenham. The recent dispute is about caring for one another, people standing up for people, an injury to one is an injury to all. He is not just a member of a union he is a trade unionist. His branch is based on real values. They all go out of the way to support others. Even if we lose money. Week in, week out, not at work, not getting paid is an enormous sacrifice. London CWU had been out on strike practically one day a week since June. He thought that the dispute had been planned centrally in the government. It’s not just Mandelson. The CWU are seen as the next Miners.

We had a 63% ballot result in favour of strike action. We had strong public support. It was really touching. People have seen this selfish society we have had since 1979. Good things have been done by Labour such as new Schools and hospitals but it is still dog eat dog. We councillors have to see people deal with loan sharks, this is the real world. People also see its dog eat dog. That is why we get support. The arguments for privatisation came from the Tories when you had British Leyland and Steel. But this has meant that 60% of manufacturing jobs has gone. The idea of New Labour is a Thatcher idea. When Thatcher was asked what was her best achievement? She said it was to change the Labour party. I am a socialist but I now agree with right wing in the Party that I use to argue with in the 1970s. We all believe in public housing and public services. We are now all social democrats, we are all reformers right and left.

The job of changing politics is still down to the Labour Party and trade unions. Trade unions are partly to blame for the current situation. My own union voted 80% to get rid of Clause 4. Which was not of course perfect but - I was known as being far left but I kept my seat and beat the BNP at the last election.

The Privatisation of Royal Mail. Royal Mail is a unique public service. Private companies are sponging off the universal service we provide. We have the best and cheapest post service in Europe. Why are private companies angry about the strike? Surely they should have seen it as a great money making opportunity? No, because it is us that have to deliver “the final mile”. Our productively has increased no end. We have lost loads of jobs. We now have a “clear office” policy. We’ve done what we can but that has left our members so angry. The total post has only fallen by 5%. Mail volumes have increased massively in the last 20 years. It is hardly surprising mail volume have fallen due to recession. Compared to when I started work the volume of post has increased. Direct mail alone has increased rounds and too many people are now threatened with sack if they cannot cope.

The Royal Mail Pension scheme liabilities are a red herring since if the government is prepared to sure up the scheme if it is part privatised then why not do that anyway? Remember Royal Mail took years of pension contribution holidays. The deficit means we now have to work longer and get less money.

Coming back to the Government. New Labour is not capable of learning anything. We have the situation were for example in Housing both the fascists and the Tories are making it a big issue to attack Labour. Housing associations are like businesses. Housing benefit is being used to pay £300 per week for nothing. The Royal Mail should settle with the CWU. Offer to work with people. Out of the 180 people I work with I don’t think anyone but me will vote labour except for those who live in my ward. We paid £3 trillion in bail outs for the Banks. Labour needs to win back those postal workers. What we need is just a regular job - that is all we are after. No short time workers. We have a seniority system that management hates.

The agreement on paper so far looks ok but doesn’t seem to be implemented by management. Labour needs to make its mind up if they are Tory Mark 2 or a social democrat party for working people. Everyone wants the same, a decent job and decent living conditions. I think unions should have done more to change the party and are as guilty as rest of them. We want our members to support a worker friendly Labour Party (finish).

There was a good Q&A afterwards and a few of us later continued the debate in the time honoured way in the nearby Weatherspoons.

(Please note usual health warning - people were speaking far faster than I can type)