Royal Mail needs a new model of ownership

Postal November 5 2026

The crisis at Royal Mail will become a “major political issue” after a new union campaign will “force a positive solution” onto the agenda, Dave Ward has told members.

The CWU general secretary made these remarks to hundreds of union representatives attending a national briefing in Bristol on Wednesday.

Speaking to the meeting, Dave described the current situation at Royal Mail, where negotiations took place between the union, management and government on Tuesday.

Describing the discussions as “welcoming”, Dave said that current company plans involve “an obsession with data that goes all the way to the top of the company – and in that type of thinking, customers are nowhere to be seen.”

The assumption of the company, Dave said, is that “as letters decline, you grow parcels” – but claimed this was a misplaced assumption, since “the numbers don’t add up – as it stands, you don’t make the money you need to run those sorts of structures”.

The real answer is a “new model of ownership” where “the government will take a bigger say in the company, and workers have some real ownership of the company.”

Describing the national “mood for real change” that has seen Andy Burnham become prime minister, Dave drew parallels with Royal Mail, where “people seriously recognise the need for a different model – people want change, they aren’t afraid of it, and they’re willing to lead to campaign for it.

“You can’t say you’re going to end 40 years of neoliberalism without doing something about Royal Mail.

“We need to argue this, as workers, with members, in every village, town and city of this country.”

Encouraging members to “take confidence” in Burnham “putting Royal Mail on notice”, Dave said that “I don’t believe the government is going to just let Royal Mail go down the swanny.

“And we aren’t going to let them – this is going to be a major political issue come the next election because we are going to make it so.”

Describing the launch of SOS Royal Mail, a campaign that will “force a positive solution to these problems onto the agenda, Dave said that “this campaign will not be sorted in headquarters, but through our local power.

“Our members will be a collective voice that says to politicians – thank you for holding Royal Mail accountable, now do what you’re meant to do, which is change things for the workforce, the company and the country.

“We will win back pride in the job, we will win back good service, we will win back a company that – despite some real difficulties – can be successful.”

Deputy general secretary Martin Walsh also addressed reps, emphasising the importance of the campaign to “reach every part of our membership”, and warned that “unless we get out there, the next 18 months will mean even more significant challenges.”

Pointing out that postal workers now receive over 20,000 counselling messages a week over their performances – from criticising their delivery rates to inquiring into the length of their pauses – Martin flagged how a recent study found that 67% of Royal Mail employees were more stressed by data than anything else.

“This isn’t surprising,” he said. “This can’t be a model which will keep people in the job.”