10/03/21 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Find below the Mount Pleasant bulletin of 10 March and attached the complete bulletin (with the front page editorial). Comments are welcome!

MAKING THINGS WORSE
Can someone confiscate King Etcetera's phone,
please? He's been calling us when we're self-isolating
to get us to come back to work! Honestly, just hearing
his voice makes us feel so ill that we need to stay
home a few extra weeks, at least!

YOU GET THEM EVERYWHERE
And by the way, we've heard workmates in other
offices describing the same ignorant behaviour from
managers... Like for instance asking workers to ignore
self-isolation messages from the NHS Test and Trace.
They tell mates to reset their app! Surely, HMP
managers wouldn't be so stupid, would they? But then
again, they've always suffered from the ignorance
virus...

SPECIAL SELF-ISOLATION REQUEST
We wish the deliveries' book-room workmate who's off
with Covid a prompt recovery! As for the EC and W1
managers who were obviously in contact with our
mate, we grant them indefinite self-isolation, regardless
of their test results...
PS: And by the way, with typical managerial
"foresight", these geniuses put up a plexi-glass screen
to protect book room workmates... 2 weeks ago! Yup,
it took them an entire year to come up with this.

THE BEST TIME TO HIRE WAS 15 YEARS AGO...
We’re doing the work of 2 or 3 people - in most areas.
In PSA there used to be 30% more of us, but still
they're getting rid of mates! Can anyone remember
when the last permanent hire was made here? If our
memory serves us correctly it was… 2005! Us
“youths” are now all getting older - and there aren't
enough of us to do the work of the next set of retirees...

...THE SECOND BEST TIME IS NOW!
Yes we can't believe our ears that yet more EVRs are
being offered. So this situation is only going to get
even more impossible. If they don't start hiring again
(15 years later) everything will just grind to a halt!

NEVER ENOUGH HANDS ON DECK
Case in point: Tracked failed last week… big time. On
nights we had about 40 full yorks left! Of course busy
times come in waves... but when they hit, we need
enough hands to deal with them.

AND BEST SUPPORTING ROLE GOES TO...
So now the JV6½ on Nights is asking others to "act" on
her behalf? We were supposed to discuss the frankly
too fast pace at which we're sorting parcels, but we
didn't hear her saying much during our "team huddle"...
Maybe she had stage fright? Well, she might as well
stay in the wings - since everything we say goes in one
ear and out the other.
PS: no huddles or hugs during lockdowns, please.

A FEW MONTHS, AT MOST...
It was about time the staircases were repaired. Yup,
management got the cheapest contractor to do the job,
so no wonder they became a hazard again so quickly.
We’ll see how long this round of repairs lasts - any
bets?
PS: As for the limited access to toilets, etc., while the
repairs are done, there’s no two ways about it: we'll
have to take our time, when we have to go...

STRINGS ATTACHED?
On the ground floor, we’ve spotted some new cables
attached to the roof… Could it be for the parcel
Sorting Machine which was meant to be installed? We
were doubting that it ever existed, given how long
we’ve been hearing rumours of it’s arrival. But the
ILSM is apparently being thrown out on March 26. So
maybe this is it?

JUST WHAT WE ALWAYS WANTED...
Something else new… uniforms! We’re not too excited
however, seeing what our mates are saying on
RoyalMailChat… “I know RM are more focussed on us
being a dedicated parcel courier but do we (they) really
have to copy DPD's uniform?" Here's another: "If
Ricky McAuley ...had worked more closely with us, as
he told the Daily Star, we'd not end up looking like
clowns or the crew from Startrek V..."

TEST KITS T24? YES, SURE...
Oh dear, now we hear that RM's got an extra contract
for collection/deliveries of home PCR test kits... which
means we're going to see more of these little Covidloaded
boxes coming our way. Surely it's time we
refused?

NOT A VICTORY...
Ok, so the Collective Defined Contribution pension
scheme has got "Royal assent", and not just from the
Queen. Royal Mail bosses gave their "assent" from the
beginning and so did union officials, since it lets them
off the hook! They still don't have to guarantee us a
defined income in retirement... So no, the CDC doesn't
have our "assent".

DEADLY HYPOCRISY
We see Royal Mail has come up with new Covid safety
posters which begin by saying "sadly, we have lost
colleagues to the Coronavirus" and "we must all take
greater personal responsibility of our own health and
that of our colleagues and friends"!
Yes, these same managers who tell us to ignore
self-isolation, throw social distancing out the window
and who don't provide on-site testing dare to imply that
the high infection rate and tragic deaths of our
workmates is down to us being irresponsible?

[RobertT]

NOT A VICTORY...
Ok, so the Collective Defined Contribution pension
scheme has got "Royal assent", and not just from the
Queen. Royal Mail bosses gave their "assent" from the
beginning and so did union officials, since it lets them
off the hook! They still don't have to guarantee us a
defined income in retirement... So no, the CDC doesn't
have our "assent".

CDC was part of the 4 Pillars agreement, which got a resounding yes vote in 2018.

It's not perfect by any means, but the majority of the CWU membership(or at least those who voted) did give their assent to it, whether they actually realised it at the time or not.