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From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Postal workers discussion forum. Discuss the day to day life in a Blue Shirt.
bustedflush
EX ROYAL MAIL
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From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by bustedflush »

Well, us temps in our office are due to be told after our revision this week that we are being cut from 32.5 to 24 hours a week, So, from 17k to 13k (equating to minimum wage) in the blink of an eye. £60 net a week worse off.
Permanent contracts for temps retained after the revision that the Union asked for? Pah! This makes the difference between living and existing. I have always run my finances with my missus so that we could afford (just) to pay our mortgage, eat and heat, drive a car to work if we were both for any reason reduced to MW.
Yes, I have to work less hours to get MW than many, but it's the bottom line that pays bills and gives you some 'living'. So after being led to believe that those kept would be made permanent and retain the same conditions, we still have more temp contract worker blackmail to endure, but with a massive reduction in wages to boot. Feels like a hard kick in the nuts. I could hardly speak to my colleague today on my round, so upset was I.
Looks like I'll be next in the food bank queue with the other 'working poor'. :nervous

P.S. Shall I e-mail Moya and beg a few quid of her bonus?
Bahia Feliz
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by Bahia Feliz »

I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
bustedflush
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by bustedflush »

Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
That's not the point. On a 24-hour contract my pension benefits are reduced, as is my holiday pay because rest assured if I averaged 30 hours a week to earn the weeks leave, it'd be paid at 24 as the OT is non-contractual. I'll have to leave the Union as the 14 quid subs will be needed and maybe opt out of the pension auto-enrolment.
aiden01
MAIL CENTRES/PROCESSING
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by aiden01 »

Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
probably will happen still a big drop in pay though.14 quid subs how many union subs are you paying :hmmmm
Lounge Lizard
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by Lounge Lizard »

Ask to take the van home each afternoon and then you can make a big saving by not having to "drive a car to work". :nana
bustedflush
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by bustedflush »

aiden01 wrote:
Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
probably will happen still a big drop in pay though.14 quid subs how many union subs are you paying :hmmmm
Per month. If you genuinely didn't work it out.
aiden01
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by aiden01 »

bustedflush wrote:
aiden01 wrote:
Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
probably will happen still a big drop in pay though.14 quid subs how many union subs are you paying :hmmmm
Per month. If you genuinely didn't work it out.
apologies
Lounge Lizard
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by Lounge Lizard »

bustedflush wrote:
Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
That's not the point. On a 24-hour contract my pension benefits are reduced, as is my holiday pay because rest assured if I averaged 30 hours a week to earn the weeks leave, it'd be paid at 24 as the OT is non-contractual. I'll have to leave the Union as the 14 quid subs will be needed and maybe opt out of the pension auto-enrolment.
But if your pension benefits are reduced then surely so too are your pension contributions. :Very Happy
And, on the same every-cloud-silver-lining theme, part time jobs take up only part of your time allowing time to take on another part time job too, and there are plenty of part time opportunities out there including barman, pizza delivery and taxi driving. :Very Happy
korky
Posts: 797
Joined: 30 Dec 2007, 09:28

Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by korky »

Lounge Lizard wrote:
bustedflush wrote:
Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
That's not the point. On a 24-hour contract my pension benefits are reduced, as is my holiday pay because rest assured if I averaged 30 hours a week to earn the weeks leave, it'd be paid at 24 as the OT is non-contractual. I'll have to leave the Union as the 14 quid subs will be needed and maybe opt out of the pension auto-enrolment.
But if your pension benefits are reduced then surely so too are your pension contributions. :Very Happy
And, on the same every-cloud-silver-lining theme, part time jobs take up only part of your time allowing time to take on another part time job too, and there are plenty of part time opportunities out there including barman, pizza delivery and taxi driving. :Very Happy
assume the point made is that they want to be able to maintain a standard of living without a 2nd job,
would also guess that 30+ hrs would still be available to work regular, quite a few at ours have to work a day or 2 during their holidays because their pay nearly halves.
simple but not ideal answer as above is to get a 2nd job and refuse to more than 24 hrs for RM, but principles don't pay the bills.
be sure if you decide to throw out of the onion, we all moan about them but could be essential if you got in a spot of bother.
just book all the 5 or 10 mins you may run over a few times a week and its paid for.
arnold cheshire
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by arnold cheshire »

surely this would suggest a buy down
arnold cheshire
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by arnold cheshire »

bringon4dayweeks wrote:surely this would suggest a buy down
if temporary has you said im sure there will be overtime :thumbup
bustedflush
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by bustedflush »

bringon4dayweeks wrote:surely this would suggest a buy down
OK I'll look for a second job with hours between 7.30 and 9.10 AM (my throwing off/bundling time.) :roll:

What is a buy-down? I don't think a buy-down would apply as we are mostly all on expired contracts and are just turning up weekly and doing our jobs and being paid as normal with no contract at the moment. Therefore by reducing our hours RM haven't breached a contract because there isn't one...

Yes, pension contributions will reduce pro-rata, but so will RM's who pay the majority of the weekly total. This low-hours contract scam ONLY serves to lower fixed costs for RM and is yet again a loophole they've wormed through under the CWU's radar.

Terrible for RM = 100% full-time 39hrs. workers with maximum weekly RM costs.
GREAT for RM = 50% low-hours contracts with minimum weekly costs who then work 39 hours.

BUT......I heard from the DOM that at least this is PERMANENT poverty and not temporary...

Also by doing this and not terminating any contracts, this means those who aren't happy can't cash their shares in and look for another job which they could if forced to go. Very clever RM.
hampshireman
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by hampshireman »

Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
Only if you are a favourite
arnold cheshire
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by arnold cheshire »

has much has i have sympathy for you busted it was only temp what hours a week did you start on ?
PHARRY
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Re: From Living Wage to Poverty at the Stroke of a Pen

Post by PHARRY »

bustedflush wrote:
Bahia Feliz wrote:I shouldn't worry too much I'm sure they will beg you to do overtime most days :nana
That's not the point. On a 24-hour contract my pension benefits are reduced, as is my holiday pay because rest assured if I averaged 30 hours a week to earn the weeks leave, it'd be paid at 24 as the OT is non-contractual. I'll have to leave the Union as the 14 quid subs will be needed and maybe opt out of the pension auto-enrolment.
Don't worry about it your panicking relax