An overtime ban may cause a minor inconvenience for our unit managers, but it isn't them we are aiming at. Some managers are okay and indeed there must be a percentage that sympathise or even quietly support our position. Under expected (lol) summer conditions an overtime ban may not even be noticed and where there is a confrontation over walk finishing times may lead to avoidable disciplinary action
A full national absence however - even for a day, and with a percentage crossing the picket will not get the mail out other than Special Delivery and will get an immediate response from media and pressure on RM from customers.
Plotting the days if it comes to that will be an important issue to ensure that the same strikers are not caught out each time by the " rolling rota day off" system wherein the same person has their day off fall on the strike day each time and never suffers financially whilst colleagues do.
So much to think about here that will influence the next few weeks, but I think that an essential ingredient will be humour and a preparedness to accommodate views without flying off into rhetoric and insults - that is what we expect of the opposition.
My office was calm and confident this morning but the boss normally was obviously looking for opportunities to assert authority - we came off the IPS at about 07:40 after having fewer on the sorting than were prepping overtime and part time walks, and staff who were leaving the office at around 10:00 were being challenged over their expected extended delivery claims (we have to estimate in advance and have it approved now.
Add to that the fact that Security have so far interviewed 6 of our lads on their deliveries in the last week to make sure we are working "by the book" in terms of mail security and we get the feeling that we are going to be pressured at every opportunity.
We can cope with this - our boss has no room for any more fleas in his ear and by the time I went in to claim he just glanced up and agreed the time.
