Royal Mail Dispute a Test Case on Employee Flexibility

The Royal Mail union's vote in favour of strike action has undoubtedly caused a stir for being potentially the first big national industrial action of this recession. It will jog memories of other big public sector strikes, but there are a number of issues that make this dispute indicative of the moment, rather than a throwback to the tripartite era of the 1970s, when Labour prime ministers called summits of unions and business leaders at Number 10.

Clearly, public opinion will impact on the prospect of a lengthy strike in the company's busiest time of the year and both sides are playing to the fears of the general public.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has stressed that they are not against the notion of job cuts, but argue their members have not been consulted on the extent or nature of those cuts. Essentially, the union suggests the Royal Mail has failed to engage it's employees.

Royal Mail argues its current actions have already been agreed at the conclusion of the last dispute in 2007, but the vote for strike action is so heavy, it's difficult to believe managers' version of events holds much water with their employees.
This is just one gripe alongside deteriorating working conditions and the prospect of reduced pensions. What strikes me is this is against the background of employees in other organisations accepting pay cuts, pay freezes, enforced temporary lay-offs and unpaid work. Does this mean that the worker flexibility, that has been cited as the main reason unemployment has been relatively benign so far, is coming to an end?

Will employees of other organisations follow in the footsteps of the CWU and reject further sacrifices, saying enough is enough, as has been predicted by some commentators?

But this is a public sector-specific battle you might think? Certainly, the Royal Mail is publicly owned, but it operates in an environment of fierce competition. Already, businesses are considering their future relationships with the postal carrier, the most high profile being Amazon, which has moved its business away from the Royal Mail, at least temporarily. It's not just about a public opinion headache, business will be lost that won't come back, if the CWU calls a strike over Christmas.

Nor is the battleground just the 2009 festive season. Interestingly, both sides of the dispute are claiming to be champions of the future of customer service within the organisation, underlining how important this concept has become that both managers and employees should hasten to press it close to their hearts. It's a moot point, with none of the alternative parcel carrier services having a particularly good reputation in that area.

Neither will the parcel delivery sector be the only consumer market to be affected by a postal strike over Christmas. After years of seeing a trickle of shoppers drift steadily online, high street stores will possibly be rubbing their hands at the prospect of higher footfalls this year, with shoppers unable to arrange for gifts, bought online at a price discount, to be delivered.

It just goes to show that even in the worst of times, someone invariably gains.

(Pic: Adrian Short cc2.0)