Bullying and Harrassment

[fishtank]

BULLYING AND HARRASSMENT - Dave Chapple
http://www.cwu.org/assets/_files/docume ... ch_mag.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am a postman and CWU rep at Bridgwater Delivery Office. In the last few weeks, CWU members there have witnessed a 50-year old man and 20-year old woman openly crying in the middle of the Sorting Office.
They had been bullied by their line manager. Can this be Royal Mail: one of the largest and oldest established employers in the country? I’m afraid so.

Bullying and harassment is endemic throughout British industry, and is certainly on the increase again in Royal Mail. This is why the CWU has sent out B & H Survey Forms to every member: please do fill in and return them.

What can we do right now to stop workplace bullying? You can, like Newquay in Cornwall, hold an official strike to remove a bullying Delivery Office Manager, or, like Bridgwater currently, threaten a strike ballot if Royal Mail doesn’t remove the worst bully pretty quickly.
You can ask your workplace CWU rep to take out a formal disagreement against management behaviour that clearly breaches their own guidelines. Individuals can be encouraged and
supported by their CWU reo to take out grievance or B&H cases against their line managers. There is no reason, if several CWU members have been badly treated, why collective grievance or B&H claims cannot be made.

Unfortunately, despite the advice above, your CWU Branch officers cannot honestly say we have any confidence in these Royal Mail grievance procedures. Far too often, the designated Case Manager is well-known to the bully. Far too often, the manager Royal Mail choose to handle the case displays more interest in threatening our members with disciplinary action for a “vexatious claim” than sympathy with our member as victim.

Many cases are simply forgotten about, as managers are swapped around between offices in a bizarre merry-go-round.
Royal Mail bullying is not caused by these bullying managers. It is caused by changes in Royal Mail procedures which are driven nationally by economic and, in the final analysis, political considerations. What I mean is that increased bullying is part of the drive towards privatisation.
Royal Mail will only be privatised if it can show that it has tamed the CWU, cowed thousands of experienced postal workers into submission and made huge profits as a result.
For example: Royal Mail are making extra millions because, between World Class Mails and the infamous ATOS Origin, they are making more and more accidents at work blameworthy, and therefore potentially sackable. Royal Mail are making further extra millions by forcing CWU members to give up their day off in order to attend hospital appointments in their own time.
Furthermore, if our Bristol & District CWU Branch is to be honest with members it cannot exclude our union and its national officers from a share in the blame. We have “progressive” and very experienced national officers, but, over the last 10 years, they have allowed 40,000 equivalent full-time jobs to disappear, surrendered our final salary pension, introduced massive and unwanted changes in working methods, with only a measly 1 hour off the working week and a lump sum to show for it. Worst of all, they are, right now,continuing to give the green light to mail centre closures.
It would be something if our leaders now realised the futility of calling for “partnership agreements” with Royal Mail, a “spirit of co-operation” with Royal Mail, and, here’s the latest piece of jargon to beware of: “a mutual interest culture”! This kind of stuff is not just intellectually bankrupt, but also strategically suicidal.

The CWU in Royal Mail has only one way forward: to go back to our best traditions of fighting to negotiate decent wages and conditions and a decent future in public ownership. That is why strike ballots in Bristol South-East and Bridgwater, and the fighting spirit shown by Bristol Branch delegates at this year’s Conferences should be supported by all of us

[tommyrep]

BULLYING AND HARRASSMENT - Dave Chapple
http://www.cwu.org/assets/_files/docume ... ch_mag.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Quote snipped for brevity

An excellent summary of facts, that our union MUST take action on and challenge RM, to have this dispicable treatment of staff stopped and stopped now !. We are gradually being driven into the ground and future oblivion unless our leadership take heed, back the bullied membership and let RM know that with staff morale so low, enough is enough ! If as a union we do not make a firm stand NOW, RM are going to continue in the vane so well listed. It is an insult to the membership that weak leadership by our union has allowed things to get into this situation, time to stand up and fight for the members who are now beyond breaking point.

[Silly Sarah]

Yet another disgraceful example of what we are expected to endure. Like I said on another thread we have to be more pro-active to address these issues. Stop moaning and groaning but ultimately do nothing. The grievance procedure is a joke. We have to make the B&H issues more widely known outside RM and CWU. I suggest email your MP, try Jo Swinson MP and Ian Murray MP too. Write to your local paper. Shout it from the rooftops. Just do something instead of the usual bowing your head and accepting the pain. It is not acceptable... so don't!

[hantsman]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... onths.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don`t put this link up lightly and its been on my mind for sometime, 3 deaths in one delivery office in as many months needs looking into. I doubt RM will be open about it. .

[hans solo]

I think u will find the union are telling people not to put B+H charges in....... Otherwise it would be through the roof.... They are telling opgs that Royal Mail will turn it round on them if they do..... Will any body second me on this????

if you try to put in a grievence or b&h complaint you are still threatened by mgmt
make sure you understand the consequenses of your action is their fav threat

[tommyrep]

I think u will find the union are telling people not to put B+H charges in....... Otherwise it would be through the roof.... They are telling opgs that Royal Mail will turn it round on them if they do..... Will any body second me on this????

if you try to put in a grievence or b&h complaint you are still threatened by mgmt
make sure you understand the consequenses of your action is their fav threat

So the B&H grievance procedure/system that RM operate is flawed, with them conducting their own in house investigations !! RM turn table on complainants, and reverse phychology is applied - I am aware of this first hand - they bully and intimidate even at the fact finding stage. As I have already said their behaviour is dispicable and our union leaders are very well aware of their actions, and that being applied upon their members. This should not prevent the Union from taking a much more pro-active interest ( dare I say deal with this problem face on, take a more robust stance ? ) in what ultimately is one of the most rife complaints associated with DO staff, it is relentless and our leaders should take up the mantle and challenge RM senior management ruthlessly .
We desperately need strong leadership and guidance to assist DO staff at grass root level. For too long we have been left isolated at the hands of bullying local management who are literally running amock while our union at area and national level appear to take NO notice, they have to " wake up and smell the coffee " once they can lift their heads out of the sand.

[kingofmcr]

SHAME ON THE MANAGERS WHO USE THE ACTIONS .THINK ABOUT IF YOU WERE ON THE RECIEVING END HMMMM..AND FOR THE LOUDMOUTHS ON HERE WHO SAY STAND UP TO THEM ..ITS NOT THAT EASY..NOT EVERYONE IS BRASH AND CONFIDENT .

[wookie]

-Denying them from coming in early-

That is a joke right?

[parcelboy]

however I do think overplaying it is dangerous as well.

Why?

North West Management will be delighted at them stats.Its incredible to think these Morons were paid by RM bonuses Rewards for all there efforts .Maybe a medal or 2 so they can wear them round there necks and extra leave .The list goes on.Hopefully the four idiots that were moved after my dismissal will get there special awards shortly there secret has been leaked .Looking into Criminal investigation .Chris Huhne has paved the way .

[Budfrog]

Write to:

jo.swinson.mp@parliament.uk - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment relations, consumer and postal affairs (She is also a junior Equalities Minister).

Then copy you're local MP in.

Not saying it will move mountains but it's 5 minutes of your time which certainly won't do any harm.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

however I do think overplaying it is dangerous as well.

Why?

I say this in the hope that no one takes offence.

The Membership - It can't be overplayed - it is the most important issue and it is holding back Royal Mail and the Union. However beyond a certain level within both organisations they can't see the effect on members/employees so either don't recognise the damage its doing - or don't want to (more so one organisation than the other).

The Union as an Organistion/CWU Leaders In a political sense it can be overplayed. If the CWU go in all guns blazing but are either ignored by Royal Mail, or seen to be complicit by the membership in a poor resolution then it could be very damaging indeed - its high risk both ways. For the leadership there could also be the worry that the B&H issue may overshadow the Privatisation campaign which they seem to be investing so much in.

I firmly believe though that the B&H issue is far more important to the membership than ANY other issue and I hope that the leadership recognise this.

[Lincox]

TBT, I do not know the reasons for the 3 suicides in Enfield and do not wish to make a supposition as to why three such events should occur in one DO. However if you are saying that senior managers and senior cwu people are oblivious to the outcomes and distress that this bullying and harassment is causing, then I would suggest that they take off their blinkers and look at the evidence that is in front of their eyes.

[Martin Walsh]

First and foremost I think everyone should tread carefully when people are mentioning the indivduals at Enfield who tragically took their lifes. I am unaware and know people from that office any suggestion it was linked to bullying.

Now Fish and Lincox , the reason I said what I did was that contrary to some on here who have been saying it has taken two years for the union to attempt to confront the issue of bullying. It has been raised countless of times and Royal Mail have said that the evidence is anecdotal and that the union must bring in clear cases.

The union then wrote to members as well as produce the e buletin and speak to both area reps and local reps at meetings asking for clear cases where bullying has taken place. Over 700 people have come forward and some have come forward with caution , some members are clearly nervous and some are fearful. To trivalise those indivduals strength in coming forward with the response that bullying is happening every where when we all know that it is not.

I do recognise it is occuring to more that the 700 odd members some who maybe too frighten to come forward and some who are unaware of the union`s request.

The union has to enusre we tackle the bullying and harrassment of our members who have come forward in order for others to come forward and ensure that the bullying they are seeing are stopped.

Unlike a lot of you I visit a number of office both inside and outside of the divison I work in and you know that postal workers are not shy in coming up to you and telling you when they are being bullied. In addition those of us in reps jobs will recieve telephone calls from members or from head office to contact members who have phoned HQ.

The evidnece of bullying is unacceptable and believe me the union has broken down the offices where people have come forward and it is clear that some are from the same unit or the same management area.

This is not the issue to fall out on and I am given you more detail then you have seen on this issue. I like you want to remove bullying from any office which is occuring but to genearlise that every office is being run by bullies is not factual and we will get further by singling out those managers or policies which are attacking our members.

Oh and the union has just agreed a new improved bullying and harrassment procedure which is not going forward until this issue has been resolved.

[dvbuk55]

Oh and the union has just agreed a new improved bullying and harrassment procedure which is not going forward until this issue has been resolved.

It's not designed to stop it then just improve the procedure........can we then expect a "joint statement" do you think. Personally I would have thought the resolution of the issue WAS to stop it.

However, unlike me to agree with dingo BUT the whole issue can be overplayed - who doesn't remember the same case brought out which culminated in the Diversity fiasco which nobody took seriously. As for the case of three people from the same place committing suicide, although very sad, rather clouds the issue as it occurred in 2010 and as a stand alone statement does nothing to support the case against consistent and widespread managerial bullying. I know it may sound banal but some people may not consider they are being bullied - if a new starter on a 25 hour contract is asked to do overtime but cannot and is quietly taken to one side and it's suggested that his contract may not be extended or that overtime may no longer be available - that is a form of bullying but I'll wager there's a ton of cases like that not reported.

[fishtank]

like you want to remove bullying from any office which is occuring but to genearlise that every office is being run by bullies is not factual and we will get further by singling out those managers or policies which are attacking our members..

I don't recall anyone saying that every office was run by bullies,you are diverting the argument,refuted a proposition that no-one proposed in order to deflect from the real fact that B&H is reaching epidemic proportions in Royal Mail and your idea that a piecemeal attempt to address the situation by targeting individual managers and units is just a cop out that will give Royal Mail an out by doing the sideways shuffle with a few individuals and give the union an out without having to actually face down the employer.

The bullying culture and it is culture now comes from the boardroom dingo,it's driven by a cost cutting at any cost environment that feeds down through Directors to DSMs to Doms and ultimately to the members.
If the union were to go down this route it will simply be moving the problem elsewhere and managers who have not been "flagged up" or don't make it onto your wanted list will feel as if their behaviour has been justified.
This is a once in a lifetime chance to affect the behaviour of management throughout the business and probably do more for the day to day working conditions of the membership in delivery than the union has done in 20 years.
It would be a shame if the union blows it because they don't have the bottle to see it through or because some don't want to upset Royal Mail's top table.
Just a few "rogue" managers.
Where have i heard that before?