Postal strikes to go ahead as union workers raise funds for

[Geezer]

Postal strikes to go ahead as union workers raise funds for long haul

Postal strikes will cripple the mail for the rest of this week, after Royal Mail and union leaders failed to negotiate a settlement to their bitter dispute.


Harry Wallop and James Kirkup
Published: 5:30PM GMT 28 Oct 2009

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -haul.html

The three days of strikes, starting on Thursday at 4am, takes the national dispute into its second week with signs that both sides are preparing for a long haul. Business leaders described the second wave of strikes as "madness" and implored both sides to go back to the negotiating table.

The Communication Workers Union has started a fighting fund, with money donated from other trade unions. The money will be used to help postmen in financial difficulty.

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Each day they strike they lose a day's pay. Though the union calls out different parts of the post network on strike on different days – to minimise the loss of pay – by Saturday most workers will have stopped work for 48 hours.

Unions including Unite, the country's largest, and Unison, the public sector union, have been organising "solidarity" payments to striking members of the Communications Workers Union.

They have paid thousands of pounds into a CWU fund to sustain postal workers through several more days without work. The fund is modelled on the hardship funds that prolonged the miners' strike in the 1980s.

The London branch of the CWU is distributing a formal appeal for funds to other trade union branches in the capital, urging them to pay to help the strike "go from strength to strength."

The Royal Mail, meanwhile, has highlighted how successful its temporary workers have been at sorting through the backlog of delayed post. The company says there are just two million items of post, compared with a normal daily mail bag of 75 million, that remain to be sorted. This success has been achieved with 8,000 of the 30,000 temporary workers that will eventually be hired.

The second wave of strikes will go ahead despite the negotiating teams from the Royal Mail and the CWU talking up until midnight on Tuesday and continuing their negotiations on Wednesday morning at the TUC headquarters.

It is understood some progress was made, with the CWU withdrawing, for now, the threat of a third wave of strikes to hit next week. Both sides said they were still talking to each other by telephone and, in theory, more talks at the TUC could take place.

However, the two sides still cannot agree on the key changes to working practices, including a clamp down on overtime, that the Royal Mail wants to implement.

Royal Mail has blamed hard-core elements within the London branch of the CWU for the breakdown in the talks.

Mark Higson, the managing director of Royal Mail letters, said: "Yesterday we were once again on the verge of a sensible agreement that would have allowed us to enter into in-depth discussions with the union over the future of Royal Mail in an atmosphere of calm – but just like last week the CWU leadership has failed to carry its own Postal Executive Committee, which appears to be split with London members at odds with the rest of the country and unable to reach any decision."

Dave Ward, the deputy general secretary of the CWU, admitted that both sides negotiating had agreed to a proposal, but its own executive was unwilling to sign it off.

He said: "This series of strikes and future strikes can still be avoided and we remain available for discussions at any time, including tonight. We remain committed to reaching an agreed resolution."

This week's three 24-hour strikes will involve 43,700 staff across the UK in mail centres, delivery units in mail centres, network logistic drivers and garage staff on Thursday; 400 workers in Plymouth, Stockport and Stoke who deal with poorly-addressed mail, on Friday; and 77,000 delivery and collection workers on Saturday.

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce said: “This madness is set to continue. No one is benefiting from ongoing industrial action and hard-pressed businesses are the innocent victims. With the country still in recession, this really is a poorly timed strike. Companies simply cannot rely on the postal service, and Royal Mail is paying for it in lost contracts and revenue.”

[mucker]

Mark Higson, the managing director of Royal Mail letters, said: "Yesterday we were once again on the verge of a sensible agreement that would have allowed us to enter into in-depth discussions with the union over the future of Royal Mail in an atmosphere of calm – but just like last week the CWU leadership has failed to carry its own Postal Executive Committee, which appears to be split with London members at odds with the rest of the country and unable to reach any decision."

[DirtyHarry]

Mark Higson, the managing director of Royal Mail letters, said: "Yesterday we were once again on the verge of a sensible agreement that would have allowed us to enter into in-depth discussions with the union over the future of Royal Mail in an atmosphere of calm – but just like last week the CWU leadership has failed to carry its own Postal Executive Committee, which appears to be split with London members at odds with the rest of the country and unable to reach any decision."

He is a clown, that rat Higson, 'aint he. So, with the aid of his magic powder, he was able to transport himself to Wimbledon, and see the dastardly Londoners browbeat their regional colleagues into not giving the "union buster" his sought after victory.
w*****s like Higson, and they quite possibly do, will only prolong this strike, not shorten it.

[barkersboy]

ark Higson, the managing director of Royal Mail letters, said: "Yesterday we were once again on the verge of a sensible agreement that would have allowed us to enter into in-depth discussions with the union over the future of Royal Mail in an atmosphere of calm – but just like last week the CWU leadership has failed to carry its own Postal Executive Committee, which appears to be split with London members at odds with the rest of the country and unable to reach any decision."

Someone has got to get the message out that London have their issues and the other areas of the workfoce have their issues. The issues may be different but they have still caused a national dispute.

Every member I talk to say they will not accept a deal like the 2007 agreement. We do not work anywhere like London.