18/07/2018 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Hi, here's the bulletin of the 18th of July and the entire bulletin attached, comments welcome as usual... The bulletin takes its annual break now and will be back in September!

CDC: THEY TAKE MICK, WE TAKE RISK
So finally the Work and Pensions Committee reported on
CDC pensions, urging the government to now consider
making the necessary regulatory provisions. Yes, it’s still up
in the air!
Of course, they insist on promoting the CDC as different
from DC schemes. But they have to admit it isn’t, really:
“the risk and uncertainty” in the CDC scheme is still there -
it’s just that instead of being borne by the individual worker,
it’s shared... that’s all.

EVEN IF IT MATERIALISES...
But of course a CDC pension, just like any DC pension,
doesn’t promise a defined regular payment. The amount
may be a surprise or a disappointment... But one thing’s for
sure - the “employer” is not disappointed and bears no risk
nor uncertainty. And that was the whole point.

BTW: worth an anxious gaze: point 37 of the report: “The
Minister told us that Royal Mail and CWU ‘seem to be on
the same page absolutely and as joined up as any employer
and union organisation that we have seen for a very, very,
long time’.”
They said it! But of course for “CWU” we say “union
leadership”. Here on the ground, no way are union activists
“joined up” with management!

A PAY OFFER WE CAN SAY “NO” TO!
We’re not sure why PFS cleaners/engineers are already
being balloted on a pay deal, when “we’re not 100% happy”
with it... But anyway, we know what to vote!
They offer 2.5%, (but RPI inflation is 3.4%!) a lump sum
of £120 (not enough, if they want to put us on monthly pay)
but they restore some night and OT premiums. And
shouldn't we be insisting on more permanent recruits?

THE WAY WE WANT IT
We did tell managers how Late shift full-timers want to work
on the PPI and POCL conveyor belts: and we even had a
vote during WTS. There was a majority for doing no more
than a half-shift on this job, as before. Was the message
not clear enough?

POUND SIGNS IN THEIR EYES
But of course, some managers would like to chuck us on the
conveyors for a full shift to by-pass primaries and clear the
work faster! So they play dumb, blind or deaf - or all 3 at the
same time… to get their bonuses on our backs? If they
keep up this game of theirs, they might just end up without
any shift at all..!

THEY PLAN TO CUT THE BONES, TOO?!
This can't be true! We hear rumours that another wave of
EVRs is coming after the resign - which has to be Sept-Oct
before the “rush” starts in November. Yes, RM would love a
re-sign. But they want to work out the absolute minimum
number of us they can manage with at different times
beforehand. And then the plan is trim us to the bare bones,
and then what? Take on casuals from Xmas onwards to fill
the gaps?

LESS DOOR-TO-DUSTBIN
On EC, we already felt the weight slipping from off our
backs - when we read that the government's new data
privacy laws will result in less junk mail! That's unexpected
good news! But of course, RM has better not to touch our
decrease as well is our walks and workload, not our pay!

WHERE'S THE OJ GONE?
The temperature is off the chart! Which reminds us… when
was the last time we anyone came round with a trolley
loaded with glasses of fruit squash to rehydrate us? As for
the water coolers - the one near the front door doesn’t even
have cups! In any case, we need our drinks... so if the juice
doesn’t come to us, we'll have to go to the juice…

HEATWAVE’S A HEALTH HAZARD!
As for us drivers stuck in our vans and trucks which have no
air-con... it’s fine when we’re able to cruise at 20mph+
because then we can get a breeze through our open
windows. But it’s definitely not fine when we’re stuck in a
London-Summer-Special Traffic-Jam! We wheeze, we
cough and we nearly expire from the heat! Air-con should
surely be mandatory - and profitable RM can well afford to
replace these wrecks we’re driving!

SURE, WE CLEANERS CAN DO WITHOUT THEM
Oh dear, we do worry about the Elephant and his junior
partner - both squished into a tiny room more like a
detention cell than an office, with no window or ventilation!
Couldn’t they be given long parole until new cells can be
found for each of them?

WHO'S BRINGING THE POPCORN?
Maybe not all of us at HMP noticed, but the Postal Museum
projected a short film on the wall of 185 a couple of weeks
ago… It seemed interesting, including a clip on 2
Suffragettes who “posted” themselves to Downing Street in
1909, during their campaign for women’s votes! Next time
(if and when) we need to pass the word, so we can go out
and enjoy the show!

Read the full bulletin...

WF-MP-18 July 2018.pdf