Support Post Office worker in their fight

• I, for one, wholeheartedly support the concerns voiced by the Communication Workers Union member, Ian Ward, about the highhanded manner in which Post Office Ltd is handing over the franchise of Kentish Town Post Office to a newly-formed company, Shieldex Ltd (Strike vote on franchise post offices, Jan 12).
I was so concerned about the handover that I produced a standard letter for customers and handed out several hundred to customers leading up to the December 20 deadline for ‘consultation’.
The reply I received stated that the change of management is not “open to public debate but is a commercial matter solely for Post Office Ltd to make”.
The business logic in the reply does not make sense – a direct managed branch has higher costs but a failing branch handed to a franchise that would open longer hours would be cheaper to run?
The arrogance that somehow staff and customers’ views do not matter somewhat beggars belief.
They did consult, apparently, with our “locally elected representatives” but do not say who they are or what they said.
Their letter tries to convince me that I will like the improvements and will buy into ‘other services’ – photo processing and mobile phones. I will not.
If the workers vote to strike, I would hope that us, their customers, will support them.
I would like to make a call for an all-out boycott of the Kentish Town branch as of February 16 when the handover is due to go ahead. We do not have to blindly accept ‘change’ as inevitable – we can resist it.
When they tried to re-name the part of the Post Office services handed over to the private sector as ‘Consignia’ they faced such uproar that the name was reverted back to Post Office Ltd (and Post Office Counters Ltd).
These handovers are part of the next stage in privatisation and deregulation of all postal services which sees the Royal Mail delivery service seriously threatened.
This would mean many different companies delivering your mail and would surely hasten the complete demise of the Post Office branch as we know it.
If you would like to get involved in forming an action group around defending the Kentish Town branch please call 0207 209 0197.
In solidarity with our Post Office Workers.
Cathy Pound
Secretary
Camden RESPECT
Castlehaven Road
NW1