05/06/2019 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Hi, find below the Mount Pleasant bulletin of the 5th of June. The entire back and front pages are also attached - Comments welcome!

PIE IN THE SKY...
Where will the new £1.8bn investment into RM
go, we wonder? According to Richie Rico, it's to
fund the plans for a second parcel delivery...
Which include “new fully-automated parcel hubs”.
Gee! Wouldn't that be amazing – machines that
sort without any help at all! When pigs fly...

...FEET ON THE GROUND
Back here on planet Earth... we know that much
of this “investment” will find its way into the
bosses' wallets sooner or later! So we won't
shed tears over the big shareholders and the cut
to their dividends.

THE REAL MONEY-SPINNER
And once again, RM bosses go on about their
plans to “increase productivity and efficiency”.
We know what this means: cutting our numbers
and shuffling us around from duty to duty. All the
more profitable for the bosses! So what are our
plans?

A RIGHT ROYAL MESS
Remember when we were told how “great”
privatisation would be for us? We were
supposed to be living the high life off our lucrative
dividends, just like the bosses... We never fell for
that – renationalising RM has always been on our
agenda.

NICE TRY, BUT NO CIGAR
Calling all P/T Night-owls... The offer for the new
33hr shift means turning nocturnal one night a
week! This “option” means doing a 12hr shift –
we weren't even asked about alternative
arrangements.
As for the fortnightly Saturday 8hr shift option,
what will be the premium for working these
unsocial hours..?

WE'RE NOT FALLING FOR IT
On top of it all, this offer of more hours for us
P/Ters is meant to be temporary! And why?
Apparently because the EVRs aren't finished,
and this would result in a “surplus” of staff! And
yet, there are more casual mates around than
ever before. Management think we can't see
what's going on in front of our eyes.

LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT?
And managers seem to have a long, long list of
excuses for bringing in casuals every day on
Lates and Nights – that there were not enough of
us due to Easter, and now they're saying it's
down to workmates not doing OT because they're
fasting for Ramadan. What's next, Diwali?

KEEP OUT!
Also, do managers think we need them to get
their hands dirty sorting? They're pushing their
luck by getting in our way like this. FYI, we can
do perfectly fine without their “help” – the jobs
need to be covered by new mates, and we'd
happily welcome them.

WE WANT GUARDS
Obviously it's safer to have two of us in the van
on Nights Distribution. But the manager is at it
again asking us to drive on our own. It's the
middle of the night after all, and we want to have
a mate by our side in case something goes
wrong. Wasn't there a time when we drivers
would always be accompanied by a guard?

WHAT HAPPENED TO NAP-TIME?
So what's going on with our Work Time Sleeping
– did RM give up trying to brainwash us? Some
of us in HMP have not had one session for the
past two months – the excuse being that
managers have been busy(?) with the re-sign
shenanigans... Or is it that their re-sign is such a
mess that managers don't want to distract us
from the piling workload?

SOLIDARITY WITH OUR MATES
We're not the only ones fed up with the pressure
from RM managers. Last week there was an
unofficial strike at Peterborough mail centre
(PE4). And a strike ballot is to go ahead at
Shirley DO (Birmingham, SO15) over a workmate
sacked for taking time off sick. Our mates know
that voting with our feet is the only thing RM
bosses understand!

THEIR TARGETS, NOT OURS
It's no surprise to us that RM have missed the 1st
class mail target this year, considering all their
job cuts! But dear oh dear, how “disappointed”
the director of “quality and customers” was! He
blabbered on about the commitment to
“delivering high standards of service”... As if!
Profits are all that count to these lot. If all this
is meant to pressure us into meeting their
targets, they'd better think again.