Slashdot Mirror
UK Gov't Outlines Plans To Privatize Royal Mail
Ellie K writes "After 500 years, Britain announced plans to fully privatize Royal Mail today. Shares of stock (common equity) will be offered to the public 'in coming weeks', according to Reuters. 10% of shares will be given to current Royal Mail employees, Deal size is estimated at $US 3 to 4.7 billion. Goldman Sachs and UBS were chosen as lead advisers." That doesn't mean you'll be able to buy a piece tomorrow, though; as the BBC's report notes, "The plans have provoked strong opposition from unions. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is currently balloting members on strike action. Ballot papers are due to go out on 20 September to 125,000 Royal Mail workers. The earliest possible strike date would be 10 October. Plans to privatise the 250-year-old postal service have been on successive governments' agendas since the early 1990s."
Oh fuck I don't even know where to begin with the kind of egocentricity which comes down to "one time one service didn't deliver for me therefore DESTROY IT ALL because the alternatives will surely be better".
Followed by a link to a Daily Mail article, which is as a reliable as a link to a BNP article.
Have you actually tried to contract with a truly privatised, subdivided, "free market" style delivery service, like Yodel? They are so fucking awful it's an insult that they're even permitted to operate.
In 2006, the US Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act", which mandated $5.5 billion per year to be paid into an account to pre-fund retiree health-care, 75 years into the future.
Since none of USPS's competitors (Fedex, UPS etc) are required to do this, USPS has essentially been setup to fail & then be privatized.