Postal deliveries threat as Royal Mail managers vote to strike

Post by **POSTMAN** » 21 Apr 2016, 16:44

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Postal deliveries to 27 million homes across the UK could face severe disruption, after 4,900 Royal Mail managers voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over pay.

The managers, members of Unite, the country’s largest union, voted by 78 per cent to take strike action and by 93 per cent for industrial action short of a strike.

This follows managers overwhelmingly rejecting the ‘paltry’ 1.3 per cent pay offer for the year starting September 2015 in a consultative ballot.

Today (Thursday 21 April) Unite called for urgent and constructive talks with Royal Mail’s management.

However, Unite has said that the pay dispute is part of a much wider set of problems engulfing the now privately-owned Royal Mail, which include the possible failure to meet its Universal Service Obligation (USO) to deliver letters six days-a-week to 27 million address; massive cost-cutting and redundancies; and the decision of a top fund manager to sell his stake in the company.

Unite officer for Royal Mail members Brian Scott said: “Our members have been disgusted by the abject failure of Royal Mail to take the issue of pay seriously - and this is reflected in the very strong vote for industrial action.

“We are already consulting our Royal Mail reps to decide what form the industrial action could take. We could be talking about an all-out strike which would cause severe disruption to deliveries to 27 million addresses, but, in the first instance, we are likely to call upon our members to work to rule.

“Any action would have a detrimental impact on business and commerce.

“Unite repeats its offer for constructive talks with management at any time, any place to seek a fair settlement to this long-running dispute.

“This dispute has to be taken in context. Royal Mail has made a commitment to City investors to cut costs by £500 million and it is Unite members that are bearing the brunt of that.

“Had it not been for Unite members going out on daily deliveries - a role they are not employed for - the Royal Mail will have failed its USO and been dragged in front of the regulatory body, Ofcom, and very probably fined millions of pounds.

“This was simply because Royal Mail refused to fill vacancies at the right time – a failure of its own doing.

“Unite members are also facing continuing threats of compulsory redundancy - there have already been more than 530 redundancies across the organisation this year.”

The sale of the Royal Mail, after five centuries of state ownership stretching back to 1516, has been dogged with controversy since 60 per cent of the Royal Mail was sold off by the then coalition’s business secretary Vince Cable in 2013, amid accusations that the shares were under-priced and the taxpayer short-changed.

Earlier this year, the highly-respected Neil Woodford, who heads up Woodford Investment Management, was reported as selling his entire Royal Mail stake because of regulatory concerns.

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 21 Apr 2016, 17:23

what are they moaning about 1.3% was more than they offered the actual grafters for the company , the reason they go out and mop deliverys is because they haven't got the balls to tell the powers above it cant be done , and as for work to rule that's even funnier

so lets see if they have the balls to walk out and strike

, anyway it wont be a massive loss,

Whysoslowyehcfc · Post by **Whysoslowyehcfc** » 21 Apr 2016, 17:26

Managers won't go on strike,, they haven't got the guts to do it...
RM should call their bluff, anyway, they won't be missed, postman can run the offices themselves

Stormproof · Post by **Stormproof** » 21 Apr 2016, 17:36

We are already consulting our Royal Mail reps to decide what form the industrial action could take.

That'll be boycotting any vending machines then.

They don't need all managers to be in the office Full Time anyway. Make 9/10 part time and they can fund their own payrise! Or lapse some of their jobs, after all there are less staff to manage now.

They won't strike anyway, no balls and scared that RM will realise they don't need them.

swindonandy · Post by **swindonandy** » 21 Apr 2016, 19:35

What is the threat, that the country will realise how well the service runs when the incompetents are away?

Post by **aposter** » 21 Apr 2016, 19:37

Au contraire if managers go on strike whos going to deliver all that lapsing mail thats left in the building

ziggy · Post by **ziggy** » 21 Apr 2016, 20:12

If the managers go on strike and the posties go to work as normal then RM will realise how little we actually need managers . . . . Most offices will run like clockwork without them

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 21 Apr 2016, 20:30

“Had it not been for Unite members going out on daily deliveries - a role they are not employed for - the Royal Mail will have failed its USO and been dragged in front of the regulatory body, Ofcom, and very probably fined millions of pounds.

Surely it's "a reasonable request" if they've had the necessary training rather than a "role they are not employed for".

No time though for

Pompey Boy · Post by **Pompey Boy** » 21 Apr 2016, 20:39

How will RM canteens up and down the country cope when there are no guvnors queuing up for when they open at 4pm

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 21 Apr 2016, 20:45

Lounge Lizard wrote: “Had it not been for Unite members going out on daily deliveries - a role they are not employed for - the Royal Mail will have failed its USO and been dragged in front of the regulatory body, Ofcom, and very probably fined millions of pounds.
Surely it's "a reasonable request" if they've had the necessary training rather than a "role they are not employed for".
No time though for

its funny to read though the public must be shitting themselves if they hit the cobbles ,

borgpicard · Post by **borgpicard** » 21 Apr 2016, 21:54

Wont be missed, they do f**k all anyway.

Post by **milly** » 21 Apr 2016, 22:06

They are making a huge error if they hit the cobbles,it will backfire on them big time.
Most people have been waiting for something like this for years and will bust a gut to make them look bad.

steve1873 · Post by **steve1873** » 22 Apr 2016, 17:35

“This dispute has to be taken in context. Royal Mail has made a commitment to City investors to cut costs by £500 million and it is Unite members that are bearing the brunt of that."

Utter nonsense!!!

postslippete · Post by **postslippete** » 22 Apr 2016, 18:42

The managers will be shooting themselves in the foot if they strike

Managers would often say to me "Well Ive got nobody to do it" when we ask them to take some work off us - and the answer was staring right back at them in the face. I think some of them were even expecting Jeremy Beadle to come in the office and tell them it was a wind-up! But it is no laughing matter. Royal Mail is a business and whilst it is true that good managers do don't anything, that they are there to manage people and motivate them to do the work effectively; there are just too many layers of management in Royal Mail for this to be efficient.

What I don't see in my office are managers going back to become postmen and women like they were before, so is their job really that stressful? Their strike probably won't impact us now but it will in future, after all, they are not the only ones that Royal Mail are targeting with less indoor work and more outdoor hours….

Darren Bent · Post by **Darren Bent** » 22 Apr 2016, 19:17

i can see the future when single wave delivery come it will make most of managers redundant as we won't need them too much. So if an office have say 6 managers I can see it dropping to 2.