The UK government, sole shareholder in Royal Mail, has rejected the postal operator’s plan to handover 20% of its stock to employees.
Trade secretary Alistair Darling told MPs, however, that he was working with Royal Mail on ascheme to offer “phantom shares”, which would track the performance of the group without conferringownership rights. The tradeable phantom stock would be worth up to GBP 5,000 per worker.
Royal Mail’s share plan, previously criticised by the UK parliament’s trade and industrycommittee, was widely considered to be the first step to privatising the group, though the postaloperator’s executives maintained the proposals were simply a motivational tool to improve workforceproductivity.
Darling told the committee yesterday that the government had “decided not to go down the roadof an employee share ownership scheme”, but that it wanted a scheme that would bring “equivalentbenefit”.
The scheme proposed by the Royal Mail would have also needed “primary” legislation, said thetrade secretary, which would have taken 18 months or more to draft and pass through parliament.
The Communications Workers’ Union, representing Royal Mail employees, had opposed the shareplan as a first step towards privatisation.
CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said the government’s decision was “great news”, addingthat the union should be involved in any negotiations and agreement on employee incentives.
