The following notice submitted by the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (UK) is advance notice for a Zoom meeting being held Sunday April 27, 7pm. Register here to attend.

Two years after the sellout national agreement enforced by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) in July 2023, Royal Mail workers face a new and escalating wave of attacks.

Ofcom’s announcement in January calling for “USO reform”, was timed to coincide with Daniel Kretinsky’s Royal Mail takeover, which has just passed its final regulatory hurdle.

Kretinsky’s plans for dismantling the USO (Universal Service Obligation) and transforming Royal Mail into an Amazon-style parcel company are supported by the Starmer Labour government, Ofcom and the CWU postal executive.

After months of closed-door talks, the CWU announced a deal with Kretinsky in December, “Rebuilding Royal Mail: A Framework Agreement between EP Group and CWU”, endorsed unanimously by the union’s Postal Executive.

CWU leader Dave Ward embraced Kretinsky’s takeover as a “fresh new start”.

While Labour’s “Deed of Undertakings” with EP Group rubberstamped the takeover, the CWU’s “Framework Agreement” spelled out the union’s enforcement role in delivering “a transformation agenda over the next three years” and beyond, including job destruction, the gutting of the USO and a raid on pensions.

None of this has been voted on, let alone endorsed, by postal workers!

The CWU has begun 2025 by enforcing Kretinsky’s “USO reform” pilots at 37 delivery offices, a prelude to their roll-out nationally. The pilots are “trialling” Royal Mail’s Optimised Delivery Model which includes removing fixed delivery duties, hiking-up call rates and slashing one in four jobs.

Ofcom estimates that USO reform will save EP Group £300 million over the next three years, leading to the elimination of around 9,000 routes and more than 7,000 jobs.

At the first pilot sites, delivery workers are already experiencing the reality of Royal Mail’s planned changes, with impossible workloads and bullying. Anger toward the CWU’s naked collusion with the company is growing.

But this opposition must be organised and prepared in advance with a worked-out strategy.

Ward and CWU Deputy General Secretary (Postal) Martin Walsh have declared that postal workers must “accept the reality of privatisation”. They repeat endlessly the mantra of Kretinsky, Ofcom and the government that the USO is “financially unsustainable”.

The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC) rejects these self-serving claims. We are advancing a strategy that places the needs of postal workers and the public before profit!

Martin Walsh has publicly attacked the PWRFC and the World Socialist Web Site for exposing their collusion with the company. The CWU is resorting to threats and intimidation against postal workers because they fear the emergence of an organised rank-and-file opposition to their plans.

The PWRFC is holding a Zoom meeting on Sunday April 27, 7 p.m. to discuss the situation facing postal workers and a strategy to fight back. We will report on the situation at pilot offices, the playbook being enacted by Kretinsky and the CWU, and its relationship to the corporate offensive on jobs, pay, and conditions against postal and logistics workers internationally. Register now and make plans to attend.