Postal workers say they're ready to strike

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 01 May 2019, 13:34

https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/48282 ... +to+strike" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Postal workers have said they could ballot for national strikes over management bullying and attacks on terms and conditions.

Members of the CWU union voted at their annual postal industry conference this week for a motion that said they could ballot for industrial action.

It comes as top bosses at Royal Mail try to push through changes that will lead to job cuts.

One delegate told the conference that “Royal Mail are preparing for a battle—we have to be prepared to fight back.”

The motion said that there is a “growing toxic workplace culture” in Royal Mail offices.

An agreement between the CWU and Royal Mail signed early in 2018—the Four Pillars agreement—had promised a “change in culture” to deal with bullying.

Instead Royal Mail workers felt that in many cases the bullying had got worse—leading to walkouts across the country.

Walkouts

Amarjite Singh from South East Wales Amal branch said in his area there had been “five unofficial walkouts—in offices where there had never been one before.”

Rob Wotherspoon from Bristol and District Amal said, “There’s no doubt that there’s been an increased number of walkouts and strike ballots.”

Much of the motion also dealt with attempts by Royal Mail bosses to make changes to parcel deliveries that could cause job losses.

The Four Pillars agreement was meant to allow for changes that dealt with falling letter volumes and increased parcel volumes while protecting jobs and conditions. Yet bosses now want workers to deliver larger parcels separately to normal deliveries.

This could allow them to cut deliveries, extend delivery routes and change delivery times—threatening job loss and increased pressure.

Ralph Ferrett from Plymouth and East Cornwall Amal said, “The plan is that our members do more work for less. We’re going to have to fight to stop that. We might be looking at a war situation again.”

Whysoslowyehcfc · Post by **Whysoslowyehcfc** » 01 May 2019, 16:02

Royal Mail will never change, you can have as many agreements as you like (Terry Pullinger), they will rip up so called agreements in the bat of an eyelid, until this membership do something about it nationally, they will carry on
We had our foot on their throat and once again let them off, by backing down...all they done was get rid of moira and sue and then said, "there's no agreements with us, that regime has gone, we're in charge now"

Post by **fb1969** » 01 May 2019, 17:09

I don't know why the CWU don't go fully public on what RM is like and the way the company is going. Then again they had massive backing for industrial action and peed it up the wall in return for an unacheivable hour off the working week that pretty much no one asked for! The only outcome of the sww was an increase in the toxic atmosphere that they just seem to have noticed!

scoobydo79 · Post by **scoobydo79** » 01 May 2019, 18:09

Yeah just like we were ready to strike last time over Royal Mail proposals All the proposals that materialised and We are now doing and didn’t want..

Yamr1 · Post by **Yamr1** » 01 May 2019, 19:51

It's a sad day in my office guy 35 years service says he crys thinking of coming in to work with this culture or management

My works morale is so low its terrible

Been out on strike nothings changed

Our work place doesn't know where to turn to

Let down with cwu

Sad sad sad days in royalmail

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » 01 May 2019, 20:05

Chin up lads, get organised, have meetings, debate your office culture and the managers in it, get some sort of unity going with everyone involved. RM like nothing more than demoralised staff cos that's when they've got you.

Yamr1 · Post by **Yamr1** » 01 May 2019, 20:51

Defo phantom

tommyrep · Post by **tommyrep** » 01 May 2019, 22:26

Phantom wrote:Chin up lads, get organised, have meetings, debate your office culture and the managers in it, get some sort of unity going with everyone involved. RM like nothing more than demoralised staff cos that's when they've got you.

If it was only that simple!
RM hold all the aces, they utilise a split workforce to their own advantage at every opportunity.
The union have a huge battle on their hands to get its own members, far less the many non members, too unite as one in any stance against a bullying management. RM know their own weak willed employees much better than the CWU.
Staff are demoralised and the CWU need to accept a lot of responsibility for that, and your right in saying that is exactly the problem when you state “ that’s when they’ve got you”. They have got us lock stock n barrel and HAVE for a long time now.
I do not believe there is much inclination within many members for any fight, they have already capitulated in many units and that is why you read on this blog of the huge varieties of stories that expose how much RM get away with such horrible B&H treatment of staff for example. Offices accept enforced lapsing, managers bank hours, members fear for their jobs under pressure to start early to appease DOMs, not claim proper OT worked etc, in an effort to any avoid conflict.
Talk is cheap at conference, action and support from the CWU is sadly lacking in most Units. Grass root members have been treated poorly by the Union while they continue to be bullied and intimidated by a RM management regime that is immune to any accountability for their evil deeds. We have heard about the Union pressing the 4 pillars etc, looking seriously at the much needed culture changes, but nothing is ever done to deal with it. So B&H and intimidation continues unabated, wildcat strikes are as common as ever nationwide. Too much water has run under the bridge now and I fear “Armageddon” is on our doorstep and the Union are as much to blame as RM because for too long they have sat back well aware of what was really happening and never dealt with any very basic problems that their members suffer daily with NO real support!

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 01 May 2019, 22:30

As soon as I saw this post in the news index the abbreviation SWP came to mind.......

Nevertheless I fully agree that Rico Black and the union are both leading the RM in the wrong direction. The LAT hub idea has not worked as initially intended with not enough business attracted resulted in work from the main business being moved to them to compensate. The LAT involves driving long distances for delivering single or small numbers of parcels which clearly makes no sense economically.
Equally the SWW does not work either as I see it. To enable more SWW there has to be more time savings to enable it. If RM does manage to find any significant time savings they will want more hours out of budgets and won't want to use those savings to enable further SWW. Existing SWW has not largely come with time savings to enable it and certainly some walks are running over duty time as a direct result.
We have to make a stand and I will fully support it but I don't see the situation ending well for us.

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 04 May 2019, 16:46

Celgar wrote:As soon as I saw this post in the news index the abbreviation SWP came to mind.......

Nevertheless I fully agree that Rico Black and the union are both leading the RM in the wrong direction. The LAT hub idea has not worked as initially intended with not enough business attracted resulted in work from the main business being moved to them to compensate. The LAT involves driving long distances for delivering single or small numbers of parcels which clearly makes no sense economically.
Equally the SWW does not work either as I see it. To enable more SWW there has to be more time savings to enable it. If RM does manage to find any significant time savings they will want more hours out of budgets and won't want to use those savings to enable further SWW. Existing SWW has not largely come with time savings to enable it and certainly some walks are running over duty time as a direct result.
We have to make a stand and I will fully support it but I don't see the situation ending well for us.

The very problem you suggest is that the SWW (Shorter Working Week) will not work as most managers will point out lot's of time will be lost indoor work and with one wave of mail of the CSS will result in different start times more in line with the pipe line hence the ability of reduced attendance hours or you could if you like work 12 minutes over your time every day!

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 04 May 2019, 17:29

k979aaa wrote:
Celgar wrote:As soon as I saw this post in the news index the abbreviation SWP came to mind.......

Nevertheless I fully agree that Rico Black and the union are both leading the RM in the wrong direction. The LAT hub idea has not worked as initially intended with not enough business attracted resulted in work from the main business being moved to them to compensate. The LAT involves driving long distances for delivering single or small numbers of parcels which clearly makes no sense economically.
Equally the SWW does not work either as I see it. To enable more SWW there has to be more time savings to enable it. If RM does manage to find any significant time savings they will want more hours out of budgets and won't want to use those savings to enable further SWW. Existing SWW has not largely come with time savings to enable it and certainly some walks are running over duty time as a direct result.
We have to make a stand and I will fully support it but I don't see the situation ending well for us.
The very problem you suggest is that the SWW (Shorter Working Week) will not work as most managers will point out lot's of time will be lost indoor work and with one wave of mail of the CSS will result in different start times more in line with the pipe line hence the ability of reduced attendance hours or you could if you like work 12 minutes over your time every day!

One wave only of CSS will be wave 1 sequenced and what's currently wave 2 probably going as manual or walk sorted at most

wallan · Post by **wallan** » 05 May 2019, 09:13

You could also be looking at one class of mail , what is now 2nd class ,

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 05 May 2019, 23:33

wallan wrote:You could also be looking at one class of mail , what is now 2nd class ,

So will it all be 1st class or just 2 Class or Uni-class for want of a better word!

wallan · Post by **wallan** » 06 May 2019, 07:29

Enhanced 2nd CL , Next day delivery with in the M/C Collection Area (Day B ), Distant Mail Day After (Day C as now ), Dispatches timed to arrive in the Inward M/C no later than Mdt , you would not getting 1st Class Mail arriving Hard Up against the Inward M/C,s Day B LAT ,which is i presume is what is dispatched on Wave 2

Marshamp11 · Post by **Marshamp11** » 06 May 2019, 07:34

I send everything 2nd class anyway. 9 times out 10 it gets to its destination next day. If it takes 2 or 3 so be it, if it is that important I send next day SD. But it is not often that something you send is that important.

ROYALMAILCHAT