The Poll!

[dids620]

In my late 40's and workload is taking its toll on my body (bad back,feet etc). Address workload and B&H first. I would rather have a long and healthy retirement than money. Fast forward 30 years to my pension age. I'm really gonna enjoy the pension that may or may not materialize dependent on government and "risks". Previous post referring to what the nurses are getting. Stop looking at those worse off than you. Nurses have their own union to fight their battles. Don't justify this joke of an agreement by saying its better than what was offered at the beginning. RM were obviously not gonna get what they proposed. Simples.

Unfortunately not many will see past pay rise instead of RM smashing our pension with our unions backing and getting us working to 67 seriously considering saving my weekly £3.56 towards my pension.

Was thinking the same thing, if they are not addressing workload issues, why waste my money.

£3.56 a week for job security, a descent pension and ( ultimately ) a 35 Hour Week. It's a no-brainier for some of us educated postmen Withdawal from trade union membership is not the answer. . . What were they offering (or imposing) on us prior to Union intervention ? ? ?

Decent pension and 35 hour week. Fine. What about the negatives? You forgot to mention below inflation "wage rise",new working methods (for RM benefit not ours) and later starts. You say educated. I say blinkered. Leaving the union won't solve anything agreed. That's what RM want. Divide and conquer. The union should address workload and B&H which affects workers every working day as a starting point if this vote is a "NO" IMO

[SW17]

I had to vote no as I couldn't possibly vote yes on the pension proposal, although concerned with the rest of the agreement I think the cwu have done fairly well to get to where we are and believe the pension should have been decoupled from this agreement as there is too much uncertainty, then I would have been more inclined to vote yes.
The wait for goverment aproval? personal illustrations? is there a pension protection scheme? NRA up to 67 years unless we a pay an extra 1%, yes we are living longer but not doing this job.
And based on the last 20 years the proposed pension will perform well, thats fine but the next 20 years can be totally different and should not be used as a guide for the future, we deserve something solid guaranteed and fair, this doesn't sound like it to me.
Why are we not being kept in our current plans untill this new scheme has been sorted?
In all my previous pension illustrations there has always been growth in the pension plans assets so it would have been interesting to have seen if those assets did start to decline first, might have been an easier sell then.
Maybe I just don't get it but I feel like I'm being mugged, that's just my gut feeling.

[forest280]

I would think she has one but your the biggest one for a comment like that.

[dundee]

Voted no,to many ifs and buts for me tbh,If it’s a yes vote,when will backdated pay be paid?

[grumpy]

It’s a huge NO from big mail centre....union come on what are you doing..deal is full of speculation under review here everywhere....as for the pension your having a laugh no way in God’s green earth is the government gonna make new legislation. Deal is hysterical....

[Jamesneil402015]

It’s a big No from me.

[dazer0070]

Ok time to upset people, a definte yes from me and the majority of my DO, what we have to remember is we are not brain surgeons we are to all effect gloyrified paper boys ( for those who remember what they were)we are in the main unskilled and very well paid for what we do.
The main problem I have is the amount of people who have never worked any where else apart from RM and who are caught up in this us and them culture, I have worked in all sorts of industries and hand on my heart this is the easiest job I have ever had,try carrying a hod six days a week and if bad weather kicked in no pay,shot blasting plant machines in order to get ready for export and god help you if they wernt ready that was not an option no such thing as "work to my time", I'm 62 and still going strong and intend to work as long as I can, I will not amass a great pension from RM as I have only been here 20 years but what I get I will have to get by on it.
How many other industries are getting pay rises ?
Bullying and harassment ffs cant you stand up for yourselves
Really people need to see whats going on outside RM and realise what a good job you have
Ok now the insults will start to fly

Well I have worked in RM all my working life, 29 years nearly since I was 16 and can I agree with all of this!!
While I accept the job has changed a lot, for better and worse. The bottom line is RM doesn’t owe us anything and compared to the vast majority of the UK’s workforce, I think the union has done a grand job.
The amount of negativity on this forum is unbelievable, some is justified but come on!! Some of you really need to wake up and smell the coffee.......quite simply, if you aren’t happy in this job, just leave and let someone else have a crack.

[Interested-seeker]

It’s a NO from me I’m afraid.

There’s a complete lack of rules in this agreement.

I want clear, simple rules we can all rely on. For example, something preventing managers from pressing people to do overtime when they’ve already said no.

All that time and effort and they couldn’t bang that in there?

It’s getting very trendy to do this whole, “let’s just agree to come up with some rules in the future” thing.

Prefer rules first.

This is how I feel. I read the agreement and it was wishy washy. I want something more concrete. Also, they should have made it more concise and clear for everyone.

[dinosam]

Ok time to upset people, a definte yes from me and the majority of my DO, what we have to remember is we are not brain surgeons we are to all effect gloyrified paper boys ( for those who remember what they were)we are in the main unskilled and very well paid for what we do.
The main problem I have is the amount of people who have never worked any where else apart from RM and who are caught up in this us and them culture, I have worked in all sorts of industries and hand on my heart this is the easiest job I have ever had,try carrying a hod six days a week and if bad weather kicked in no pay,shot blasting plant machines in order to get ready for export and god help you if they wernt ready that was not an option no such thing as "work to my time", I'm 62 and still going strong and intend to work as long as I can, I will not amass a great pension from RM as I have only been here 20 years but what I get I will have to get by on it.
How many other industries are getting pay rises ?
Bullying and harassment ffs cant you stand up for yourselves
Really people need to see whats going on outside RM and realise what a good job you have
Ok now the insults will start to fly

Well I have worked in RM all my working life, 29 years nearly since I was 16 and can I agree with all of this!!
While I accept the job has changed a lot, for better and worse. The bottom line is RM doesn’t owe us anything and compared to the vast majority of the UK’s workforce, I think the union has done a grand job.
The amount of negativity on this forum is unbelievable, some is justified but come on!! Some of you really need to wake up and smell the coffee.......quite simply, if you aren’t happy in this job, just leave and let someone else have a crack.

Sounds like management union material . Yes good pay rise and reaffirming of previously agreed principles . I have worked in a lot of worse jobs but never worked in one where the union campaigned for their members working past 65.You also have to remember that RM have managed to close two pension schemes in the last 10 years.
I have no doubt this tory government will also see the grand job that the union has done and be all smiles passing required changes so their pals can close their company defined benefit schemes.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Just a reminder

Rules: Just because someone has a different viewpoint or political position to you, it does not mean that they are a 'Manager' or a 'Union fanatic', any posts making such assumptions or generalisations will be pulled or amended and the poster warned. This also applies to posts that are not aimed at individuals but at groups.


Although I cannot see the connection that just because someone has a different view they must be a manager/union fanatic, and even if they are does that stop them from being allowed to air their views.

[kookoo32]

Voted No. Thing is I'm always on the wrong side of the vote. I can't remember the last time I voted for/against something and the vote went my way

[wf]

I voted no ,but I think the vote will be yes and I will accept that .
I’m really not sure we should be voting on the pension along with a pay rise
But my main concern is the b n h culture
I note a comment above ,where the person said stand up for yourself just ,well that’s the answer of someone who’s maybe had a nice cushy life in their job
Others aren’t so fortunate ,and when you fall out with one manager it can be quite easy for others to follow suit .
When you’ve exhausted the procedures and the lying continues ,the victimisation ,local reps don’t want to know you because they don’t want to rock the boat too much.
Maybe it’s not going to be just a case of getting up and leaving a job you’ve done all your life ,something you devoted yourself too ,when you could of done other things while still young,but are past the age of learning new trades .
Cwu no fine well of what’s going on in some offices ,even if it was for talks sake a minority of offices ,which I don’t believe it is .
It still wouldn’t make it right to ignore .
How many of the 89 % ,voted because of the b n h
Only now to be told to tow the party line and vote on a pay agreement that could and will cause more of the same problem
We need the grievance and b n h process both looked at

[Dorset Plodder]

But my main concern is the b n h culture
I note a comment above ,where the person said stand up for yourself just ,well that’s the answer of someone who’s maybe had a nice cushy life in their job
Others aren’t so fortunate ,and when you fall out with one manager it can be quite easy for others to follow suit .
When you’ve exhausted the procedures and the lying continues ,the victimisation ,local reps don’t want to know you because they don’t want to rock the boat too much.
Maybe it’s not going to be just a case of getting up and leaving a job you’ve done all your life ,something you devoted yourself too ,when you could of done other things while still young,but are past he age of learning new trades .

You make a good point WF. It's easy for someone who may have their own duty in a well run DO, with a decent DOM, to assume every other DO, and Postie, is in the same boat. I've moved about a bit and can verify that no two D0s are the same. It really surprises me when you find Posties in your DO that have been on the same duty for 15 plus years! How they can appreciate the problems of a Part Time Reserve who gets messed about everyday is beyond me. Most of these types are part of "The Chosen Few" and basically don't give a damn about anyone else, provided they've got it easy.

I welcome the introduction of Data Capture and believe it'll go a long way to settle some of the problems with sharing out the workload fairly. There's certainly a few Posties in my DO already starting to "Work Properly" and even drag it out, because they're worried their duties are too small.

[wookie]

No. They are desperate for the PDA data.

[garyalanwebb]

Always extremely sceptical on issues such as this. However this new proposed deal, as regards the pension is head and shoulders above what Royal Mail originally issued with their very expensive glossy brochure some time back - so well done to all the Union lads for this- it really is a sea change on that pile of rubbish. The differentials have been greatly reduced and I fully expected a proposal of 'you put a pound in,we will put a pound in' - so 6% as against 13% greatly surprised me. However, there are no written in stone guarantees in all areas eg. target benefits and the inevitable phrase' investment performance' rears its ugly head. After much contemplation and after studying whats happening in other industries, I decided to vote yes.