Royal Mail Managers To Vote On Strike Over Pay

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Royal Mail faces a possible strike by 4,900 of its managers in a pay dispute which could threaten deliveries to 27 million homes across the UK.

Ballot papers for industrial action started dropping on the doormats of the managers, members of Unite, the country's largest union on Monday April 4.

The ballot closes on Thursday April 21.

Trade union Unite said the pay dispute is part of a much wider set of problems engulfing the now privately-owned Royal Mail, which include the possible failure to meet its Universal Service Obligation (USO) to deliver letters six days-a-week to 27 million address; massive cost-cutting and redundancies; and the decision of a top fund manager to sell his stake in the company.

The managers will be asked to vote on taking strike action and/or industrial action short of a strike after they overwhelmingly rejected a 'paltry' 1.3% pay offer for the year starting September 2015 in a consultative ballot.

The union said the sale of the Royal Mail, after five centuries of state ownership stretching back to 1516, has been dogged with controversy since 60% of the Royal Mail was sold off by the then coalition's business secretary Vince Cable in 2013, amid accusations that the shares were under-priced and the taxpayer short-changed.

Unite officer for Royal Mail members Brian Scott said: "Our members are disgusted and upset by the abject failure of Royal Mail to take the issue of pay seriously. It is adopting a high handed attitude.

"The company's final pay offer has already been rejected by 95% of Unite members, but the management remains unwilling to sit down and find a way through this difficulty.

"The dispute is about the 1.3% pay offer for some employees, with a non-consolidated lump sum for others. There has been no increase in overtime or allowances.

"But there are a number of other serious factors that are of great concern to Unite members.

"Royal Mail has made a commitment to City investors to cut costs by £500 million and it is Unite members who are bearing the brunt of that."

Mr Scott added: "Had it not been for Unite members going out on daily deliveries - a role they are not employed for - the Royal Mail will have failed its USO and been dragged in front of the regulatory body, Ofcom, and very probably fined millions of pounds.

"This was simply because Royal Mail refused to fill vacancies at the right time – a failure of its own doing.

"Unite members are also facing threats of compulsory redundancy - there have already been more than 530 redundancies across the organisation this year.

"There are enough jobs for our members who are at risk of redundancy but the company refuses to take positive action. Instead the company is penny pinching to reduce headcount before the end of the financial year in an effort to hoodwink its shareholders that it has reduced the number of employees.

"There is a solution to this and Unite is available to meet at any time to reach an agreement. We are also willing to go to Acas, but the company is not.

"If bosses don't get around the table and industrial action goes ahead, it will hit the delivery of mail and parcels. Mail will arrive late in delivery offices which will mean the next day service will fail, breaching the USO agreement."

Earlier this year, the highly-respected Neil Woodford, who heads up Woodford Investment Management, was reported as selling his entire Royal Mail stake because of regulatory concerns.

[houseoflords]

They won't go on strike, no back bone plus I won't be supporting them, when have they ever supported US?

[clashcityrocker]

I won't be supporting them, when have they ever supported US?

Incredibly childish post.
One trade unionist should support another trade unionist.
That's what makes us all stronger.

[tiredm]

Even if you know that trade unionist will stab you in the back when the tables are turned?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Even if you know that trade unionist will stab you in the back when the tables are turned?

If we attack them for failing to stick to their principles or agreements, are we in any better if we cross their picket lines.

To be honest, I don't think there will be many pickets to cross, but my conscience wouldn't allow me to cross anyones, even theirs.

[tiredm]

These people for the most part are RM thugs. I won't spare a second thought for them as i cross their picket lines.A manager once told me that they view us as the enemy. Well he was right about that, we are enemies.

[korky]

double edged sword this, don't think i could cross any picket line regardless of if you thought they right or wrong.
but how do you support someone when they constantly crossed ours over the years and have been making the job unbearable
they could be b&h someone one day then thankful they supported them the next, though i'm not sure the management have the gonads to take on those above

[Tman]

Plenty of high moralistic ideals floating around, but the reality is many posties cross their own picket lines, let alone when it's the "mangers" (sic) and they're viewed as the "enemy".
Bound to be plenty of (costly) High Court injunctions all prepared and ready to drop onto the CWU if there's any large scale secondary action.

[jaxx]

RM Managers are not Trade Unionists. If anything they are actually anti-trade unionists.

[teesdale]

I'm still going in if they go on strike. Full time managers work only 4 hours a day anyway in mail centres. Half of them are just wardens employed to just stare at you. I process the mail for the public and businesses, the managers role has always been unclear.

[SpacePhoenix]

Won't we legally have to go in anyway and cross their picket lines, as the CWU won't be (afaik) in dispute with RM, so could anyone who doesn't cross a management picket line be deemed to be on an un-offical strike?

[SHug5]

If the mangers go on strike can we still legally work? I had heard that under H & S rules we couldn't.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Won't we legally have to go in any way and cross their picket lines, as the CWU won't be (afaik) in dispute with RM, so could anyone who doesn't cross a management picket line be deemed to be on an un-official strike?

There is an argument both ways on this and I am waiting for clarification. The other argument is that if the CMA were on Official Strike, would we as non-members of their Union be treated and considered the same way as non-members are when we go on strike - In other words in a legal strike are we covered it we refuse to cross their picket line.

[Tman]

Won't we legally have to go in any way and cross their picket lines, as the CWU won't be (afaik) in dispute with RM, so could anyone who doesn't cross a management picket line be deemed to be on an un-official strike?

There is an argument both ways on this and I am waiting for clarification. The other argument is that if the CMA were on Official Strike, would we as non-members of their Union be treated and considered the same way as non-members are when we go on strike - In other words in a legal strike are we covered it we refuse to cross their picket line.

But we aren't "non-members" of the CMA; the CMA doesn't represent uniform grades in RM any more than it represents road sweepers, surgeons or bus drivers, so that's an invalid argument.
To not cross the picket line would be deemed as sympathy action by RM and they'd act accordingly.
Clearly the mail etc would still be delivered without the presence of a few thousand mangers, but if the CWU-represented staff were also "out" then nothing would get done, and RM won't wear that easily.

[Acca Dacca]

What if there was no one to pick up the phone when people phone in sick?