-Caveat Lector-
>From www.wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : Britain
Britain: 30,000 job losses at Consignia
By Richard Tyler
13 December 2001
Back to screen version| Send this link by email | Email the author
December has seen over 40,000 job cuts announced in the UK.
On December 11, the Post Office�now renamed Consignia Plc�revealed it
plans to shed 30,000 staff over the next 18 months, amounting to some
15 percent of its 200,000-strong workforce.
According to the Financial Times, Consignia has acknowledged the cuts
would involve frontline sorting and delivery jobs, and would not
exclude compulsory redundancies.
These latest losses come on top of the 10,000 jobs cut by Consignia over the last
year, and form part of a restructuring plan to reduce costs by up to �1.2 billion by
April 2003. The company is desperate to trim its �8 bi
llion cost base in preparation for further privatisation.
Despite enjoying a monopoly in many areas of its operations, Consignia reported a 500
percent increase in operating losses at the end of November�amounting to �100 million.
The company has been unable to reach delivery ta
rgets for first and second-class mail, partly due to delays caused by the poor state
of Britain�s rail system. The biggest losses have been caused by Consignia�s
Parcelforce Worldwide parcel delivery arm, as well as a dro
p in business due to increased use of email and text messaging.
Like many other essential services that have been privatised, the Post Office has been
starved of investment, as successive governments took profits from the business to
boost Treasury funds. With many areas of its operat
ions now open to competition, such as parcels, the lack of investment and relatively
low productivity has turned what was an average �350 million annual profit into
mounting losses.
Roger Lyons, leader of the MSF union, said, �We know Consignia needs to make savings.
Everyone agrees with that. It�s no secret that that�s been the subject of detailed
discussions. But the threat of 30,000 redundancies i
s so horrendous on the eve of Christmas that I have appealed to Consignia: �Come back
to the table. Let�s get through Christmas without this cruel cut�.�
Communication Workers� Union (CWU) deputy general secretary, John Keggie, representing
the majority of Britain�s postal workers, said, �Any suggestion of compulsory
redundancies will lead to appropriate industrial action,
� but added that there would be no strikes in the run up to the Christmas holiday
period.
The CWU, which claimed the announcement came as a �shock�, had drawn up a voluntary
agreement with Consignia to limit compulsory redundancies in face of expected job
losses of up to 15,000 over the next five years.
In September, the unions signed a no-strike deal with Consignia, that has served to
curb the plethora of unofficial and wildcat stoppages.
The numbers out of work in the UK rose in November for the second consecutive month,
for the first time in almost nine years. The National Statistics Office reported that
the number claiming unemployment benefit rose by 4
,800 in November, on top of a 7,500 rise in October, taking the official jobless level
to 3.2 percent. However, the International Labour Organisation�s measure of
unemployment put the UK rate at 5.1 percent in October, or
1.52 million people.
The Consignia announcement brings job losses so far this month to 40,000. Just some of
the companies who have also announced UK lay-offs this month include:
NTL The cable television and phone operator brought forward plans to cut 2,000 staff
next year, taking its total lay-offs this year to 4,000. The financially troubled
company is saddled with �12 billion in debt, accrued t
hrough a series of buyouts and an extensive cable-laying programme.
BT The leading British telecommunications company has confirmed it will shed another
4,000 employees from the company�s 115,000-strong workforce by 2003. Some 9,000 staff
have already lost their jobs in the last two years
. A spokesman said the jobs would be divested through �natural wastage,� saving BT
�850 million.
Manchester Airport is set to lose around 800 jobs. 600 workers employed by aircraft
maintenance company FLS Aerospace will go, as part of the company�s worldwide cutback.
The Irish company plans to cut 25 percent of its e
ntire workforce, largely as a result of the decline in air travel following the
September 11 attacks in the US.
In a move that has sparked widespread criticism, the airport has said it will shed up
to 200 staff employed on security duties, in order to cut costs. An airport spokesman
said that between 100 and 140 permanent employees
could be made redundant, with further cuts in temporary and part-time staff usually
taken on in the busier summer period.
Devonport Naval Dockyard The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is reviewing it warship
maintenance and support programme, threatening up to 600 jobs at its Plymouth
dockyards. A series of union meetings has been held, with up to
1,000 workers attending, to discuss the possible privatisation of MoD work at the
yards.
Rolls-Royce A further 400 jobs are to be cut at the company�s Hillington factory near
Glasgow, with 40 posts also going at nearby East Kilbride. These latest lay-offs come
after last month�s announcement that engine-maker
s Rolls-Royce was cutting 4,000 UK jobs, blaming the downturn in the airline industry.
Alcoa The US-owned aluminium producer plans to close its two Welsh sites next year
with the loss of 227 jobs. The closure of its facilities in Dolgarrog, North Wales and
in Swansea in the south is blamed on a drop in dema
nd for its products, largely from the airline industry.
Vodafone The mobile phone company has announced 215 job cuts at its Newbury plant in
Berkshire. This follows a total of 650 lay-offs revealed in October.
Britannic The life assurance and pensions firm plans to shed 250 jobs in Glasgow
following its takeover of Alba Life. The company says 150 of the affected posts would
be relocated to Britannic offices in England.
The Daily Telegraph The newspaper has seen sales stagnate while advertising revenue
has fallen. On November 10, the workforce was told that up to 40 editorial staff would
lose their jobs. The cuts at the Daily Telegraph,
along with its Sunday sister paper, are the latest in a long line of newspapers to
shed staff as advertising sales have slumped throughout the media.
Copyright 1998-2001
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
