Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The closure of the mail centre in Cork has been presented as a done deal by An Post, backed up by the Government and apparently by a report; the media narrative that it is inevitab; the Labour amendment to propose to accept redundancies; and, the national union leadership which locked into the closure of at least one of the centres nationally. I would say to workers not to let their fate be decided by other people. Workers have been told the news this week. We encourage them to come together to discuss how this can be reacted to. Workers are not powerless. We saw it with the transport strikes and with the nurses and midwives. Opposing the closure and defending jobs is a viable and necessary option. The reality of the Fine Gael narrative is that it says there is full employment and there is even a suggestion that people can go and get another job anywhere. What kind of job? Jobs that are precarious, low-paid and which have poor pension and other entitlements are the order of the day.

What could workers do to maintain these jobs? Political pressure is vital. We all know that the Government has influence, as does its partner in government, Fianna Fáil. There will shortly be a by-election in Cork and also a general election in the near future. Some 240 workers and their families can have an impact on those elections. They could organise a public meeting of workers, booking a huge hotel for it, to which all parties and candidates would be invited and left with a message that, in no uncertain terms, workers do not want to accept redundancies and that this decision must be reversed. The idea that unity is strength is important. The attempt to pit one mail centre against another, with Cork against Athlone or Portlaoise, should be rejected. An Post workers can unite. The workers from the four mail centres could meet to discuss a united campaign against closure of any of the centres.

There is significant potential to increase jobs in the parcel sector. That is the message of this motion tonight. We all know and do not need to be told that posting letters is no longer common. A ComReg survey in 2015 showed the exponential growth of the parcel sector. An Post is already the largest player of this, with 40% of the sector. There are seven other much lesser players. Why would a company which is the key player in a sector allow a modern centre in the second city of the country to be closed down when it could be expanded to facilitate its growth into the parcel sector? Some 64% of Irish consumers had parcels delivered by post. Some 50% now shop online. Online shopping has increased fivefold in just three years. Small businesses spend €11,000 to €15,000 on parcel delivery every year; it is a significant growing sector. This motion argues that there is no need for any job losses in An Post. This should be diversified into the parcel sector. There is potential for support from other An Post workers in Cork. For example, many casual workers will lose out in the other depots in Cork if this centre closes because they will not be able to get casual or part-time work there. The idea that an injury to one is an injury to all is the old trade union slogan that the unions were built on. A one-day strike in Cork would send a message to An Post. Actions such as these would send a signal to the company and the political parties that jobs matter.

The Labour Party amendment is the opposite of what I have just advocated and contrary to what Deputy Sherlock himself said. It cuts out any idea of opposing the closure of the mail centre and just argues about accepting redundancies.

From the very outset, that is cutting across the workers having any ability to fight. I even heard a claim from the Labour Party saying that we would cut across people getting redundancies. I will finish with a quotation from Rosa Luxemburg who was a socialist and a trade unionist 100 years ago. When they were fighting for the eight-hour day she said:

It is clear that you must not demand a ten-hour day if you want the eight-hour day. Do the contrary and you’ll do well: if there is any possibility of getting legislation to limit working time to ten hours, it is only by constantly pressing for an eight-hour day.

I urge the leadership of the CWU nationally not to lock itself in, and not to manage the closure of the centre but to discuss expansion into the parcel sector with the local workforce.

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