Unions back parcels MBO
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• The union which represents 1,000 Parcelforce workers is preparing to back a management buyout if the Government moves to sell the Post Office parcel services.
"We want to influence the manner in which privatisation takes place — our preferred option would be some sort of co-operative management buyout," says a spokesman for the Union of Communication Workers, which sees this week's decision to drop 'Royal Mail' from the Parcelforce name as a further sign of an impending sell-off. The union is taking a pragmatic approach to privatisation because it accepts it cannot resist the Government's wishes — it sees the recent decision to invest £250m as a signal that Parcelforce is being readied for the market. "We want to influence the course of events," says the UCW, which has been speaking to banks sympathetic to the trade union movement such as the Co-op and the Unity Bank.
Parcelforce says there is nothing "sinister" in its decision to drop 'Royal Mail' from the name: "Most customers just think of us as Parcelforce."