The corporate media’s portrayal of Royal Mail’s sickness absence bill as a burden caused by postal workers is a political deception. In reality, the workforce carries the true burden, as their health deteriorates under a restructuring plan pushed by billionaire Daniel Křetínský, with backing from the Labour government and the CWU bureaucracy.
A media narrative built on inversion and deceit
A recent British headline claims that Royal Mail faces a £200 million “sickness bill,” illustrating how Britain’s corporate media often serves as a tool for big business interests. The headline portrays sickness absence as a cost imposed by employees, neglecting to recognise it as a consequence of restructuring that harms workers’ health and well-being. The article on 1st Class Chat suggests that postal workers are irresponsibly draining resources. Still, in reality, the sickness figure highlights the human toll of a harsh restructuring that damages workers’ health.[1]
This inversion—depicting victims of exploitation as the cause—is intentional. It serves as a calculated ideological strategy to sway public opinion and pave the way for more assaults on the workforce.
The real cause of sickness: impossible workloads and unsafe conditions
The WSWS and the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC) have thoroughly documented the conditions that have led to rising sickness rates across Royal Mail. Owned by billionaire Daniel Křetínský’s EP Group—and approved by the Starmer Labour government—Royal Mail is increasingly becoming a low-wage parcel courier similar to Amazon.
The main focus of this change is the Optimised Delivery Model (ODM), which was first trialled at 35 delivery offices and is now being implemented nationwide. The document states that ODM imposes “impossible productivity targets, removes safety protocols like bag weight limits, and has used heart monitors to gauge how much delivery workers can be pushed.” Workers describe experiencing extreme exhaustion that makes completing shifts physically impossible; chronic understaffing caused by management’s bans on overtime; rising injuries, burnout, and stress; and such high turnover that offices remain in a constant state of crisis.
A worker at Sheffield’s Woodseats office told the WSWS: “The daily workload is impossible to complete within the shift … High staff turnover and sickness are common.” These aren’t isolated cases but are expected outcomes of a restructuring approach aimed at maximising labour from a declining workforce.
The sickness bill is a cost of exploitation, not worker malingering.
The £200 million sickness figure is not a cost workers have imposed on management; rather, it’s a cost management has imposed on workers due to health issues, chronic stress, and physical exhaustion. The document clearly states: “The £200 million figure is not a bill that workers have handed to management—it is a bill that management has handed to workers, in the form of The cost of Křetínský’s efforts to reduce expenses by £425 million includes destroyed health, chronic stress, and physical breakdown. This approach involves weakening the Universal Service Obligation and establishing a two-tier workforce in which new employees earn just above the minimum wage. The media remains eerily silent when workers die; for example, four deaths over two years at a USPS facility in Palmetto, Georgia, went unreported. However, when workers suffer from severe illnesses caused by unmanageable workloads, the media quickly responds—yet often places blame on the victims.
The CWU bureaucracy: indispensable partners in the restructuring
The leadership of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), led by Dave Ward and Martin Walsh, isn’t opposing this restructuring; instead, they are facilitating it. The document clearly states that the CWU signed the December 2024 Framework Agreement, which launched the restructuring process. They also approved the ODM pilots and enforced a pay deal that is below inflation. Furthermore, they have targeted workers who organise independently through the PWRFC. The CWU’s “Heavy and Light” model is revealed to be deceptive: it is not an alternative to ODM but a rebranding that entails a further 15 per cent increase in workloads. The union leadership serves as a labour-management partner whose primary function is to suppress opposition and align the workforce with corporate interests.
The political context: Starmer’s Labour government and the corporate oligarchy
The reorganisation of Royal Mail cannot be separated from the wider political context. The Starmer government, backed by the financial oligarchy, approved Křetínský’s takeover and has indicated support for additional “modernisation” measures, which mainly mean job cuts, increased speeds, and the elimination of remaining protections.
The media’s portrayal that illness is caused by workers supports this agenda. It sets the stage for increased demands for “flexibility,” heavier workloads, stricter attendance policies, reduced sick pay, and the spread of Amazon-like conditions throughout the postal industry. This isn’t an impartial discussion about efficiency; it’s an attack on working-class interests.
The way forward: independent rank‑and‑file committees
The solution is not to accept this framing but to establish independent rank-and-file committees that assume control of working conditions away from both management and the CWU bureaucracy.”
This is the only feasible way forward. Rank-and-file committees must assert democratic control over workloads, staffing, and safety. They should expose the collaboration of CWU leadership, unify postal workers across delivery offices and regions, and connect their struggle with workers internationally facing similar restructuring efforts. Additionally, they need to oppose the Labour government’s pro-corporate policies. The confrontation at Royal Mail is not just a local industrial dispute but part of a global fight between the working class and a capitalist system that values human health as expendable.
Conclusion
The media’s depiction of Royal Mail’s sickness absence bill as a worker-created crisis is false. The actual crisis stems from the health decline caused by a restructuring regime pushed by billionaire investors, supported by the CWU bureaucracy, and approved by the Labour government. Postal workers need to reject the narrative that blames them for their own exploitation to protect their lives and livelihoods. The way forward is to establish independent rank-and-file committees and to organise a united political fight against the corporate oligarchy and its political allies.
[1] Royal Mail hit by £200m Staff Sickness-1st Class Chat
A Trumpet of Sedition 