Striking post worker: There's no north/south divide

[topgeezer]

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=19138

Bertie, a striking postal worker from the north east of England, begins his weekly diary about the dispute in Royal Mail.

What a pathetic, spineless bunch our managers are.

At a weekly information session at Teesside mail centre last week they made clear they want a no vote in the national strike ballot, which was no surprise.

One of them read out a pre-written spiel about how the strike is nothing to do with anyone outside of London.

Apparently, if we go for national action it will only be to protect outdated practices in London, where Royal Mail says terms and conditions date back to the Dark Ages.

What utter nonsense.

This strike is about preventing the company steamrollering our union and them wanting to turn us into casualised and part-time robots.

And we’ve had enough experience of this locally to know the truth.

We walked out unofficially two weeks ago after being provoked by hordes of managers from the outside who’d come to lay down the law after we’d taken a day of official strike action.

The processing staff, who did two or three hours work before joining their colleagues on deliveries outside the building, had a whole day’s pay taken from them.

When asked at the information session whether Middlesbrough will see another 192 managers drafted in from all over the country – including six from Belfast – to break this week’s strike, the manager’s reply was less than informative.

“Not all of them were managers,” was the best he could come up with.

It is obvious that the company is gearing up for a show of strength.

The same company that takes pay from the struggling postman and woman is more than happy to pay out thousands in hotel fees, overtime, travelling and subsistence to those who will break a strike.

What a way to run a once-proud public service.

This strike isn’t going to be about a north/south divide – it’s about forcing Royal Mail to treat us like human beings.