Mount Pleasant bulletin 18 June 2014

[anna]

ALREADY WIELDING HIS SCISSORS
We’re told that new boss Flowery Shirt is already saying he wants cuts. But it’s managers first, apparently... Starting with several positions on nights... We suspect it won’t come to that - but if it does, his “friends” will be looked after, as per usual in this crooked RM...

WE DON’T WANT YOU TO GO!
On the other hand the plan to reduce workers’ numbers on EC and Processing nights is still being implemented.
So yet more mates are leaving on EVR - and we’ll be very sad to see them go. But we also think that if there is indeed “less” work, then why not keep the same number of workers employed and share the “less” work out amongst us?

TO BEE OR NOT TO BOB
Of course we’re against job cuts, even for managers... But if they did want us to recommend any manager for a “transfer” we could suggest B the Bee for them to buzz him off to somewhere “better”... (But please not MP Earlies...)

TOO BAD, HEY?
Yes the EVR of a couple of the managers and the consequent musical chairs is going to make for some unhappy managers’ faces. Just who will be left standing when the music stops? The suspense is bad for their nerves...

OUR AFFAIRS ARE OUR AFFAIR!
Why is it that when we want to know details of RM’s affairs, especially to do with the plans for the workforce, that we’re told these are “secret”... But worse, the union officials at the top tell us the same thing! They say that their dealings with the bosses above our heads are “confidential”!

SOLIDARITY WITH OUR WORKMATE!
This has happened recently over the case of a suspended workmate. But how can we show her support , help her, or, moreover, go on strike for her, if we don’t know how her “case” is progressing? Or is that the point?

CAGED!
There’s one place where, even if you want to go, you get stuck! Yes, it’s popular PSA! In fact there’s no “priority” to train people up to replace us, either. But surely, even if this job isn’t popular it could be opened to part-timers who want full time, for instance, or advertised outside?

JV6.5s RISE UP!
Apparently some acting managers who were put back in uniform, want to register a collective grievance over their pay cut. They’re right. Nobody should ever take a pay cut. That’s an old, hard-won trade union principle. Of course, if they went on strike it might be more effective... and we’d be more than happy to join in... for the same pay rate!

ACTION, NO REACTION
When we complained about Romec’s cleaning “action plans” and said we want bosses to come talk to us face to face, the local manager told us “don’t blame me, I’m only following orders”... Now where have we heard that before?

MEET THE NEW GOLDEN TEAM
We’d like the smiling mugshots of the new Romec bosses stuck up on the wall, with subtitles, please, so we can know who they are and who to target.

SHOVELLING GOLD
Oh and we’ve got another golden action plan for these golden managers: we want supplies of golden hands, golden non-irritating chemicals, goggles and masks, and golden lightweight equipment. And we say shove(l) their gold plan until our’s is implemented...

CONTINUOUS CON
We hear we’re having a WC-M audit, so of course, everyone will be on their best behaviour, the floor will be clean and then, after a couple of days (or less) normal chaos will resume... Can managers explain what the point is?

SUCH HYPOCRISY!
So there we were on TV’s Celebrity MasterChef with people promoting healthy and good eating. And we all know it’s needed, but how can the Quadrant chefs do anything close to this with the cuts in subsidy (by 15%!), cuts in staff, and cuts in resources?

UNFORTUNATELY THEY’RE INEDIBLE
We’ve noticed that lobsters have arrived! But don’t start getting hungry: they’re nothing to do with Master Chef and aren’t in the restaurant, but in the early prep areas... Watch your toes.

HOW TO CREATE TURBULENCE
It’s a been a comedy of errors on packets - with so many managers instructing us at cross-purposes that it made us fall over laughing... And this was meant to be the big push to get the work “flowing”!

**************************************
If you don’t have the June WF newspaper it’s still available (30p).

E-mail at contact@w-fight.org

[SpacePhoenix]

ALREADY WIELDING HIS SCISSORS
We’re told that new boss Flowery Shirt is already saying he wants cuts. But it’s managers first, apparently... Starting with several positions on nights... We suspect it won’t come to that - but if it does, his “friends” will be looked after, as per usual in this crooked RM...

AFAIK managers could be made by RM to work at any RM office in the UK, so they could end up anywhere

WE DON’T WANT YOU TO GO!
On the other hand the plan to reduce workers’ numbers on EC and Processing nights is still being implemented.
So yet more mates are leaving on EVR - and we’ll be very sad to see them go. But we also think that if there is indeed “less” work, then why not keep the same number of workers employed and share the “less” work out amongst us?

No way that's going to happen, no company would keep the same number of emplyees with less work to do

CAGED!
There’s one place where, even if you want to go, you get stuck! Yes, it’s popular PSA! In fact there’s no “priority” to train people up to replace us, either. But surely, even if this job isn’t popular it could be opened to part-timers who want full time, for instance, or advertised outside?

Prority lockers don't really need to be filled all with full timers, just a couple of full timers to cover the first half of a shift, the rest filled with part timers for the second half of the shift. The amount of specials has dropped a lot over the last few years.

JV6.5s RISE UP!
Apparently some acting managers who were put back in uniform, want to register a collective grievance over their pay cut. They’re right. Nobody should ever take a pay cut. That’s an old, hard-won trade union principle. Of course, if they went on strike it might be more effective... and we’d be more than happy to join in... for the same pay rate!

They were only acting so why would they get the higher pay-rate when they're not covering a managers duty?

[baldrick]

JV6.5s RISE UP!
Apparently some acting managers who were put back in uniform, want to register a collective grievance over their pay cut. They’re right. Nobody should ever take a pay cut. That’s an old, hard-won trade union principle. Of course, if they went on strike it might be more effective... and we’d be more than happy to join in... for the same pay rate!

They were only acting so why would they get the higher pay-rate when they're not covering a managers duty?

They won't get any sympathy from the vast majority of frontline opgs either, as they were some of the most unpleasant bullying managers when they were acting. And I expect they will be some of the most useless and lazy opgs now they are back in uniform. As for going on strike, that is not going to happen as they are also a bunch of strike breakers.

[anna]

Re JV6.5s, Nobody seriously thinks they will strike or anything. So most are horrible, but this was meant as a joke.
And the idea of sharing work, so that everyone can be in a job is an "old" socialist idea which is maybe worth taking out of the cupboard. These are aims to have, to fight for, for the future, maybe unrealizable under this system, but does that mean we must forget about them? I am ever-optimistic.

[dvbuk55]

I am ever-optimistic.

Me too I buy a lottery ticket every week but when it comes to RM......................

[baldrick]

And the idea of sharing work, so that everyone can be in a job is an "old" socialist idea which is maybe worth taking out of the cupboard. These are aims to have, to fight for, for the future, maybe unrealizable under this system, but does that mean we must forget about them? I am ever-optimistic.

Well that's why there is no overtime in Mount Pleasant. Because management say the office has a staff surplus the choice is to cut jobs or overtime, ie share the remaining hourage among existing staff. They have got to the bottom of the barrel with EVR/VRs, so there is no overtime. But a lot of staff aren't happy about that either.