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Royal Mail: Industrial Dispute

My Lords, I am too long in the tooth to comment on the situation that we are in. After a lifetime of industrial relations experience, I think that sometimes things are said that can only exacerbate a difficult situation—but the Statement has been made, and I cannot sit here and not respond in the best way that I can. I declare my interest as a former postman, former union official and former chair of a Labour Party that was the custodian of manifesto commitments. I want to say one or two things before asking a couple of specific questions. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, true to the form that he showed through the passage of the Postal Services Bill in this place, was straight—he said what his party believed in and what it would do. As I have said on previous occasions, I respect that; if you have a manifesto commitment that gets the support of the people of this country, you have every right to do that. I want to help him on the question of why people go on strike. The Secretary of State has just said that this is not universal. Even in this day and age, in this economic climate and with the domestic pressures on people, almost 80 per cent of the ballot was in favour of a yes vote—not just from those in the pockets of so-called obstructionists, but throughout the country. Nearly 80 per cent have voted to support their union. I shall give my noble friend an example. There is an office in this country, nowhere near the capital city, with six workers. They received their ballot forms and all six voted yes, in an area of high unemployment. I shall tell your Lordships why. There is a 20 year-old woman employed in that office who has a child. She did her job but was told to go out, stay out and do more. When she said, "I’ve got to go to pick up my child at the proper time", they said, "You stay out until you’ve completed what we’ve told you to do. Otherwise go out and stay out; you’re fired". That is part of the reason for the almost 80 per cent vote. Your Lordships have heard the union spokespeople say that it is not necessarily about money; it is not. It is not necessarily about modernisation, because the union has agreed to that. What is happening, and this House should know it, is the downright bullying of people. If anyone is in any doubt, please ask me for details about specific instances where management is bullying staff at present. That is why we have this industrial unrest. The Secretary of State mentioned the Hooper report. At the end of that long session of the Postal Services Bill, there was near unanimity on two sections: the pension deficit and the regulator. The point was the sale of shares, which was in direct contradiction of a manifesto commitment by the Government’s party. It is not just the political forces—I see that the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Oldham, wants to stop me. I asked the Secretary of State throughout that debate what he was doing about this. It is the same management that is controlling this dispute that he had very little confidence in when he read the Hooper report. He should get on and sort out the regulator, do something about the pension deficit in a real way, as the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, has asked for, and let these people get on with what needs to be done. Finally, will the Secretary of State tell me the names of the workplaces where the walk-sorting machines are working? I have asked this several times before, and I ask it again today.