Member Info for OliGarch

AngerSharkz, better men have tried to get the USO revised.
Moya Greene tried for about eight years as she could see this car crash coming but OFCOM would not budge.
It would be a huge tick in the box for Thompson but it's also a big "if" and failure will not look good.
We will see if Thompson's gamble pays off but at the moment I suspect that OFCOM are regarding his threats as some form of blackmail otherwise we would have seen some movement there?

In my opinion, Daniel Kretínský is not interested in the UK operation of IDS and therefore probably doesn't have much interest in your average postie or indeed rubber gloves although it's fun to speculate?
The international operation of IDS is almost certainly his focus of attention?
I'm not sure how badly this will affect the average postie but if I were Simon Thompson and looking to put the USO into some sort of special administration then I would also be preparing a solo life raft as this is not going to look good on his CEO CV going forward?

AngerSharkz, as one would expect, I think that it would have to be a lawyer worded letter from the RM BoD to the UK Government, and OFCOM if the intention is to place the "six-day-a-week, one-price-goes-anywhere postal service" into special administration whilst still delivering it's premium services, for letters and parcels, to specification especially when it is still solvent and capable?

Hounddog, interesting read. So are you saying that IDS could potentially be better off calling time on RM UK if the situation drags on and if so would there likely be any financial penalties from the regulator or UK Government for breach of it's operators licence as I would assume that IDS holds this licence as it oversees the UK operation?
Also, does IDS own the UK operation infrastructure such as post boxes, fleet and estate or does this belong to the UK operation?

Sid, the problem with this article is that it is focusing on IDS as a group without analysing both businesses separately?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/simplywall.st/stocks/gb/transportation/lse-ids/international-distributions-services-shares/news/heres-why-international-distributions-services-lonids-has-a/amp

AngerSharkz, just throwing some ideas out there as in reality none of us can say for sure how this is going to pan out.
I believe that the RM BoD threatened to "hand back" the unprofitable parts of the USO and concentrate on the profitable parts?
If this threat was to come to fruition then it could become a possibility that RM sees their operators license revoked and the USO given to a different operator? I have no idea how that would work out but it would leave IDS in a position to then solely trade under the banner of GLS?

Perhaps OFCOM will be quietly told by the Business Secretary to allow the UK operation to carry on failing the USO in order to avoid a political fiasco? This would be a win-win for both the Government and RM as the customer is already getting used to a kiss poor service anyway so eventually it will become the norm?

Should the union and membership decide to vote in favour of the current offer, it will be interesting to see where the finances of the UK operation are come April 5th 2024. Take away the £200m lost through industrial action (although I believe that the business saved almost that amount in non payment of wages, NI and pension contributions plus the reduction of annual leave) and add in the increase in postage prices worth around +££370m and you would think that it could turn a profit?
Given the dismal state of some of our buildings and the shocking state of most of the RM fleet then I have to say that I'm not entirely convinced, however we shall see.
Hopefully those of a weaker disposition will be able to exit this stock without loss?

In my opinion, should the RM BoD request that the USO components of RM be put into administration then the UK Government would need to act fast and would most certainly need to find or make a space in the ministerial calendar to debate this as a matter of urgency.
The changes to the pension scheme had to go through a similar process and took a few years however debates were held up by COVID and were probably deemed to be low key in the wider parliamentary process.

AngerSharkz, after listening to Dave Ward the other evening saying that there are certain board members who aren't interested in striking a deal with the union, it could be that the BoD has now decided to steer the USO onto a failure course in order to force OFCOM to make changes.
That may sound a bit OTT but desperate times require drastic measures?

AngerSharkz, I am not disagreeing with you on this point. The UK Government would be stuck between a rock and a hard place as IDS is a privately owned company and it may rue the day that it sold off the USO part off to private enterprise if it ever thought that it would come back to bite them.

AngerSharkz, I'm not sure that the UK Government would want to be "handed back" the unprofitable parts of the business, namely the USO, whilst there are other parts of business and group that are making a profit?
Let us remember that "the USO requires Royal Mail (the universal service provider) to deliver letters to every address in the UK, six days a week, at a uniform price, and parcels five days a week" and whilst it's true that this could be reviewed and changed, it is also the current playing field. Also OFCOM have also allowed Royal Mail to increase the price of a second class stamp recently which should help with viability?
In my opinion, any move by IDS to hand back the USO to the UK Government will be met with fierce resistance.

I thought that you lot had decided many times over that the business wags the dogs tail and therefore can implement executive action if and when it feels necessary to do so?
I carnt understand why Maximus thinks that Thompson needs a "man date" but it's probably the best offer that Thompson will get this Easter........lol

Cashola, "It's 'fazed' not 'phased".
Time to set phasers to stun?

Negotiations with Royal Mail Group concluded last night without agreement.

The company advised the union that the Directors who have been leading negotiations are no longer available and that the Board will be meeting today to determine their next steps.

There has been progress in several areas and the union made it clear last night that we are willing to continue negotiations today and tomorrow to finalise an agreement. This offer has been reiterated to the company this morning.

We will be consulting with the union’s Postal Executive later today, taking stock of the situation and considering all available options with regards to our next steps.

The company have published selected aspects of their latest offer directly to employees and claim that the main sticking point is new entrants terms and conditions. This is not true. We have seen these actions throughout this dispute from the employer and we know you will not be phased.

We will engage with all CWU members on the status of the whole talks, explaining exactly where the differences are, including the unacceptable pressures deliberately being placed on our members through imposed revisions that are failing quality of service and USO compliance.

Further information will be sent out in due course.

Thank you for your continued support.

Dave Ward
General Secretary

Andy Furey
Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

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CEO questioned on changes to bonuses

Mr Thompson was questioned over recent changes made by the Royal Mail board, which mean company bonuses are based on shareholder value rather than the revenues and profits of Royal Mail.

https://news.sky.com/story/royal-mail-boss-grilled-over-140-000-bonus-as-union-threatens-six-more-months-of-strikes-12788802

I'm pretty sure that during the first select committee meeting, Darren Jones reminded Simon Thompson that his bonus was changed to read "shareholder value"?
No mention of performance targets or productivity though.

casperdog, prior to the summer of 2022, could you remind us all of the previous national strike action that the posties have taken since privatisation please?

Yes, it's a shame that the workforce didn't bow down and accept forever worsening terms and conditions in order to protect the share price and dividend payments. Still, you can't have it all......

Chickenfriedrice, protesters don't need to set fire to parliament as it regularly catches fire due to it's ancient electrics and steam heating system. There's even a dedicated patrol of fire wardens 24/7.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61526638.amp