Royal Mail requests price increase
Royal Mail has today put forward plans for a price increase with so-called "bulk mailers" the likely targets for an exercise which could raise an additional £100 million a year. Those who appear to be in the firing line include banks, utility companies and catalogues which tend to use the UK mail service frequently with tens of thousands of letters and bills sent out each and every day. But is this fair?
The truth is that the Royal Mail is being prepared for a sell-off over the next few years which would see the operation itself either floated on the stock market or sold to an outright buyer, while the enormous pension fund deficit will stay with the UK government and effectively UK taxpayers. It seems as though the Royal Mail has missed out on a number of opportunities to introduce new technology and has so far been unable to come to a long-term agreement with the unions regarding future working practices and future use of technology.
Despite the government announcing a number of sweeteners which include staff discounts for share purchases in the future this is an issue which will not go away and will see the UK government and the unions at loggerheads once again.
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