A-Infos (en) Ireland, The Workers Solidarity* # 85 -Postal Workers Under Fire Interview: An Post and the Threat of Privatisation

Over the last year or so, the working conditions of staff in An Post
have been the subject of cutbacks and attacks by its management
and ultimately the government. This includes shutting the SDS
Courier service, withholding pay-rises, and understaffing many
sorting offices. The strategy is to undermine workers? morale and
thereby to facilitate either privatisation or simply to weaken An
Post in order to benefit private competitors. Kevin Doyle interviews
a postal worker in Cork to find out the mood on the shop floor.
> > >    What is the situation in An Post now?
Right now they are the focus of privatisation efforts in the public
sector. They are not needed like ESB workers who can stop power,
nor are they seen as essential like health workers. They are
perceived as an easier target and are weaker.

    Was the recent shutting down of SDS a part of this strategy?

Yes, it had to do with the opening of the markets wider for the
private mail companies that are already working in Ireland and
making profit - like DHL, Federal Express etc. These companies
only deal with parcels and packets and it's a profitable business.
SDS provided the same service at low cost, which is what you
expect of a public service, but now with SDS out of the way, it will
be even better for the private operators. People need to realise how
dangerous privatisation will be. Right now wherever you live in
Ireland you get the service that anyone else gets... it's even. But
privatisation will change that. The money is to be made in the high
population density areas where post can be moved in bulk easily.
So a lot of people and a lot of communities will lose out if
privatisation happens. The service will become uneven and
unequal.

    How is the privatisation issue being pushed?

An Post management is trying to convince the workforce that
privatisation is the only way forward for the company. It is a EU
directive, they claim, that cannot be ignored. It's a method of
bullying. As part of this we see all the new investment in
technology. But the new technology has not increased productivity.
Similarly, they want to leave a lot of workers go, on the grounds
that it would make An Post more efficient. Management claim they
have no money to pay workers and yet the give themselves huge
bonuses and salaries.

    Speaking of investment, the Cork Mail Centre (CMC) is the big
new operation with An Post, but it sounds like a harsh place to
work.

The situation is crazy. Everyone down there says one thing: too
many chiefs and no Indians. That's what it is like there. A lot of
supervisors and managers for just 200 people. That is where the
inefficiently is. Supervisors watching, watching, watching. Which
is even odd because the place is covered with cameras, monitoring
everyone.

    What is the situation with the union in An Post now?

The union in An Post is very strong if you look at the numbers. It
has a big membership. But for the average worker the opinion is
not just that the union does very little for the members, it actually
does nothing. There is a lot of mistrust.

    How can the union be doing nothing in the present situation,
what with the drive to privatisation?

The union as I said is strong in An Post, but instead of taking
strength in that fact, and putting the real issues on the table for the
government and the management of An Post it is just staying quiet.
And it is not because they have no perspective. The union
leadership know how things are going and where they are going...
An Post workers have been hit under the belt a number of times in
the last few years, but the union instead of taking the opportunity to
defend its members, it is just ignoring the situation. For example,
some of the money due to workers under the last national
agreement has not been paid yet. But instead of taking the
opportunity not to agree to any talks on a new agreement with the
government and the management until this money is paid, they
accept the situation and make promises to the workers. So now we
are in the ludicrous situation where we are being asked to agree to
a new pay deal and we still haven't got what is our due from the
last! It is a joke.

    It?s sound crazy all right. What sort of input does the ordinary
member of the union have into all of this?

There is no real democracy in the union. We do have elections
once a year but if issues arise in the interim, there is nobody to
discuss them. The reps are not doing the jobs that they should.
They don't seem to care. For example at the CMC a lot of issues
have arisen with shift work, salaries, and the treatment by the
management, but the union has been incapable to handling them.
There is no decision making process. There is not the gathering of
the workers in the short term for us all to be informed of what is
going on and what is happening. Or to vote. It is authoritarian. It is
and it is getting worse. Because you see the more you give to the
management they more they will walk all over you. Little things
make a difference, you see.

    There was almost a national strike after the recent stand-off over
SDS?

The situation is a paradox. There were a lot of people in SDS
working hard, 24/7, and they knew they benefited the company. It
was well known. But the management just decided that this was
the branch to be cut off, even though as I say it was the branch that
bore fruit. So it was crazy and especially to those who worked in
SDS and knew what the truth was. You just can't do that. People
were angry about that but they were also afraid. The union also
spun the line that to strike would make An Post even more
susceptible to privatisation because a strike would hurt the
company financially. So the situation really was not good. It was
very disappointing. The union is not doing the job it should do. I
think a lot of members don't realise the union leaders are playing
games behind our back - their agenda is different.

    Where do you see things going?

An Post Worker: I hope things will come around and that at the
end of the day we will manage to save An Post from privatisation.
You don't want to think the opposite, because it is your job. But the
truth is that all the signs, everything is pointing the other way
around; in other words that the government and the management
will manage to get what they want - privatisation. The problems are
manifold but the lack of solidarity between the union members and
the general problem with the union as I spoke about earlier - these
are central. If we are united there is no way management could get
away with what they are planning to do. So the big challenge is to
build solidarity and to make the union our union.

Further reading

Workplace struggles and the unions
========================
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