018/10/17 Mount Pleasant Bulletin from Anna and Jim

[jimallen]

Hi there, here's the Mount Pleasant bulletin of the 18th of October... a bit late, sorry. Comments are always welcome!

MORE THAN ANGRY!
Yes, we're angry at the court injunction against the strike
last week - but we're hardly surprised! How could it be
otherwise? The 2013 agreement signed on our backs
was in fact a no-strike deal, even if we were told it wasn't!
But who cares if it is all down to simple-minded union
officials, or their downright betrayal? We've never
expected a court's permission to fight the bosses' attacks!

DOUBLE STANDARDS
Yes, why should our fights depend on the say-so of a
judge? He says the union broke the agreement by calling
a strike without trying external mediation first… as if it
would have made a difference! (By the way, it’s not going
to now, either!) But in fact, the agreement has been
broken by RM bosses hundreds of times already - for
instance, by introducing casuals! Justice is blind only
when it is convenient for the bosses…

NO FURTHER TALKS!
We've heard the CWU is having a national meeting (on
Thursday?) to decide what to do next… but is there any
question about it? We need to fight this attack on us
without delay, not next month, not in December, but
NOW! Mates in several DOs around the country have
reminded us that unofficial action is the only way to get
results. That hasn't changed!

UNOFFICIAL ACTION'S ALWAYS BEEN OUR WAY
So yes, we better count on our own muscles and go
above the heads of the bosses, their courts and the
spineless union officials. There isn't time to waste on
fruitless talks conducted above our heads and out of our
control. And remember, we'll be told they are
"confidential" so the officials won't even disclose what's
being said. Never mind it's our livelihoods/pensions at
stake!! They say let's stay "united" but when they're in
secret talks where's their "unity"?

WAS THIS A SPOOF?
Hilarious! RM gives us a leaflet apologising for their
injunction! "It was with regret that we invoked the dispute
resolution procedures...". They say "reaching an
agreement" will take close to Xmas... and "maybe longer".
But CWU officials say 5 weeks talks + 2 weeks strike
notice brings us to mid-December... When we could then
strike? Hah. We all know what happens when strikes are
threatened at Xmas .. the CWU HQ "party" hires reindeer,
plays Santa and tells us to work, while the Xmas casuals
starve because Angard "forgets" to pay them...

THIS AIN'T RIGHT
It's not at all okay that doorkeeper numbers where finally
cut to 9; it's still 4 jobs to go, when the numbers should
have been kept steady or in fact increased! After all,
mates need jobs! But then there was the way it was
done... First union officials even agreed to allow
managers to allocate this reduced number of main-door
jobs to those on light duties instead of according to
seniority! In the end they did respect seniority, but we
were so fed up that some of our mates just took EVR!

KEEPING THE DOORS - AND ALL THEIR KEEPERS!
Now, we would like to know what's going to happen with
the subcontracted doorkeepers… These fellow workers
have been here a while. We hear they will go to 185
Farringdon Road but they shouldn't suffer any detriment
because of this. As for the light duty workers who would
need easier jobs - well, why shouldn't RM create such
jobs? Don't they pay hosts of managers for "light duties"
all the time?

THE APP THAT MAKE US LAUGH
So now we've got the little glossy fold-out to install the
Traffic Mobility App on the PDAs - the latest managers'
tech "improvement"… supposed to read what work is
coming through, check our location and count what we've
processed. They say it'll improve the flow of processing -
we think that it will allow them to keep an eye on us. And
if RM wants to improve flow, instead of new silly Apps,
what about new hands?

WE'LL PLAY BY OUR RULES
This was good to hear! In a group huddle called by
managers, some of our mates told them we all had
enough with jobs piling up on our backs after so many
EVRs! If the amount of work doesn't decrease, how the
hell are we supposed to keep up with fewer hands?! In
short, we won't!

WHEN IS THE PARTY?
Yes, after Xmas we're going to see many of our mates
going for good. But we want to have as many welcome
parties as farewell parties!

WORK IS GOOD FOR HEALTH…
So we've seen the changes in the basement, with a new
Gym, the new locker rooms and the uniform duty office…
Nice, but we can't help wondering where the casuals will
work over Xmas? Maybe RM will ask them to sort on the
gym's treadmills?

CHAOS IS IN THE AIR!
Oh dear, we can see it coming! When RM gets rid of the
big lorry parking lot, it's going to be bloody chaos! The
vans piling in the basement, the lorries' gate moved over
185 entrance… if managers continue squeezing the
workspace, we'll end up sorting in the street!

IGNORING THE CHARGE
Cleaners are so very short of hands... We hear
complaints over the cleanliness of locker-rooms,
especially Monday mornings. But we're just 2 for the
whole place on weekend/nights. When will we get new
permanent full-time cleaners?