Mount Pleasant news - Workers' Fight bulletin

[anna]

I am posting this bulletin for anybody who may be interested. It has been coming out fortnightly at Mount Pleasant for 10 years or so and I am involved in producing it. It tries to be an workers' voice plus take up the need for an independent policy for defending the workforce - independent from the union's officially bankrupt one, that is...

This issue is dated Tuesday, October 22nd:

YES, FOR A FIGHT!

A 78.29% "yes" vote for strike, means... "yes" for strike, doesn't it? Not for the CWU leaders tho', who already told RM that the "yes vote" is just to prove they really represent us, a bargaining chip, and they don't want to strike.... So how can RM bosses feel afraid now, of our justified refusal of their joke 3-year deal, below inflation pay rise, pension cuts, more big job cuts + no strike deal? And for that matter, our refusal of the privatisation?

WHAT WE DIDN'T VOTE FOR

It's obvious. Only a real fight will scare RM and the government. Not all out for one day on the 4th November, but all out indefinitely for as long as it takes. Sure, it'll also mean not allowing union officials like Ward to do their deals behind our backs. Because whatever they may think, we didn't vote "yes" for that.

IT CAN BE DONE

By the way, if Hovis workers on the minimum wage, and zero-hours contracts (no strike pay!) could go out for 2 week-long strikes and win - then why can't we at least do the same?

AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

Why were we only told the day before that Ward was coming here to address us last Tuesday? And why did he come on the final day of the ballot (and first day of roaring share trading)? He hasn't yet explained why the CWU allowed the privatisation horse to bolt.

ONE WORKFORCE

Managers should tell the truth about the shares or lack of them for Romec engineers and cleaners and Quadrant workers. We're all part of this workforce. And RM's still bit-owner of these companies even if they were among the first sell-offs it got away with!

CALL 911 TO GET YOUR SHARE MONEY

That said, what are shares worth if you can't sell them now - when their price is high? We heard that "if you have an emergency" you can sell before the 3 years are up. Well, that should be fine then - we've got an emergency every day!

IF MOYA GOES THERE'LL JUST BE ANOTHER MOYA

Overpaid Moya Greede (had to pay back £250,000 housing allowance) says RM is a dead letter and has to be sized down appropriately for the declining traffic we have to process. Its already too sized down. But what about sizing down her £1.1m paypacket? And how come we never get overpaid?

RM REALLY DOES WANT 100% PART-TIMERS

Part-timers here are still waiting for the special retirement and severance packages we should be entitled to, like every other worker here. Why are we still being discriminated against?

FLOTATION DOWN THE TOILET

How many managers/how many months does it take to fix a toilet? They're still all closed on the ground floor! And now if you enter the new loos wearing a hi-viz, it sets off all the automatic toilets and taps! Yes, in a place where everyone wears one! We thought it was a joke when we saw that sign "remove your hi-viz", but no, flashing causes flushing - or is it the other way round?? Anyway the resultant flood will soon make everything float at MP...

OUR NEW UNIFORM: RUBBER SUITS?

Talking about that, in the basement the lumps (oops, parcels) may soon be submerged, let alone floated! There are leaks everywhere and we wonder what will happen once the heaters - which look like catering size toasters - are connected? Fireworks before firework night?

DUMBO-JUMBO'S MINDER

Bobless head or headless bob? Well he's sure running around like a chicken every night... He will need new shoes unless he slows down. Seems here's another one for the WC-M. Needs flushing.

STILL "OUR" UNION?

What about future terms and conditions for Quadrant and Romec? The CWU's silent on this. Talk about unity - they didn't even ballot Parcelforce which is part of RM Group and also thus gets the flotation treatment. We're used to bosses dividing our ranks but can't accept this from the union.

WE LIKE DRESSING UP

Dress down day was a chance for some to dress up - like one manager who floated in wearing his full mayoral regalia. Great show mate - you made yourself even more popular.

UNITE, YES!

What's happened since Unite's letter to managers(3 Oct) threatening a strike ballot on pay and a consultative ballot on pensions? It protests at how managers were used to make propaganda for the sell-off and urges them "not to undertake the work ...of those who are on strike", in the event of CWU action, but says "come to work". In other words, show some solidarity, but not too much!

IDENTITY CRISIS

Even Courier is being asked on the letter page, why we can't get replacement IDs when they expire. It answers: there's a backlog; phone the helpline (it's working, they say) and if you get thru, it'll tell you... "there's a backlog"..!

SHAMEFUL COMPARISON

How can the CWU LDC tell RM not to quibble over our "yes" vote, for the reason that RM happily accepted an even smaller yes vote for "Business Transformation 2010 and Beyond" - whose revisions we're still fighting today! It was shameful for the CWU to recommend BT2010 at the time, which is why it barely scraped in. They compare like with unlike and remind us of a defeat they dressed up as victory.

COLLEAGUE AS IN "COLLEAGUE SHARE"?

So now the union addresses us as "dear colleague"? Didn't we used to take the pee out of Lay-it-on-Leighton for doing that? We know "dear comrades" is out for these guys, but what's wrong with "dear brothers and sisters"?

SELECTIVE BLINDNESS

Courier's big headline is "British Public says don't strike". Funny, but RM totally ignored the British Public when it said "don't sell!"

[Postaltony]

I like its. Could do with stuff like this rounds the DO's rather than the CWU/RM waffle.

[anna]

Hi to all! This is the latest Workers' Fight bulletin at Mount Pleasant. Enjoy!

This issue is dated Tuesday, November 5th:

STOP SQUEAKING!
Why was the strike called-off? If we want the best of our Ts&Cs to remain - and many improvements, since the last 3-year deal was so bad - how else can we strengthen our hand? But before anything concrete is there (5 years paper guarantee and "reviews", what's that?) these guys at the top call off the strike! The CWU leadership is playing cat and mouse with us... as if we don't have enough mice in this place already!

NOTICES NOT ENOUGH
The meetings to organise the strike turned into meetings to disorganise it - or at least to try to explain the cancellation without having the facts yet... But most of us didn't even know about them. Word of mouth works, so why not just come downstairs and talk to us...

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN
OK the strike cancellation was predictable. Ward always said the vote was to be used as a bargaining chip. And we heard Moya didn't even bother to go along to the initial negotiations. Was it all a foregone conclusion..? Need we ask?

BORN YESTERDAY?
Yet again Dave Ward told reps at the Monday briefing that the fight against privatisation was dumped because the top Labour leaders had "disappointed"! As if any workers' fight ever depended on Labour Party support! Pathetic.

ALL OUT!
There's no guarantee we'll have 5 unchanged years. Not just because anything signed can be ripped up later by the bosses, or re-legislated by whichever government. Eg., RM's Universal Service Obligation - even if extended beyond 2015, is likely to be terminated, as more TNTs take over the "final mile" and the race for the lowest wages/worst terms, speeds up. No, we have to fight if we want to win anything - and we'll have to keep fighting...

CROWN CEO VENNELS
Crown Post Office workers' strike was also called off - the 13th in 9 months of being strung along! The £697,000/pa boss who gave out £3.4m in bonuses to top bosses last year, froze their pay, threatensn1,500 jobs and 75 out of the remaining 372 Crown Offices (like the one here at MP). The possible joint action with us, which would have helped them (and us), is off the table, so what's on it?? We're waiting to hear...

ALL YOU NEED IS LUMPS
Have you seen the new RM's TV ad? With the Beatles song, "All you need is love", ending with "We love parcels"! Advertising managers should come here for a reality check ... Anyway, all we need is fight!!

HE'S GOT IT RIGHT!
"Dear Granny Smith" postman, Roy Mayall, wrote a review of this ad on his blog "Going Postal" and makes the point that soon RM won't be delivering the mail to anyone, let alone all these very untypical TV-ad people - it will only be delivering to shareholders.

HUNGRY RATS
Now we see how the market works... to keep shares high, the government/RM just needs to announce redundancies or... the CWU has to call off strikes! The shares jumped again. And as they go up (530p now) more rats are boarding the ship...

ALL WE NEED IS RELOCATION
We see the markings for the packets area on the ground floor are being made. We hope this means we'll soon be emerging from the basement... before the frost sets in.

GET PAYROLL SORTED IN ADVANCE!
So Xmas SA starts 2nd Dec (it gets later and later). But when will the Xmas casuals come? And who'll be employing them? The wages fiasco of past years better not repeat itself, especially when everyone's feeling such a pinch - even those of us in permanent full-time jobs, let alone part-timers and temps!

SQUEEZE IS THE SAME IN ALL LANGUAGES
After squeezing French workers with high energy bills, we see that French gas company GDF is using some of its profits to buy the 49% of Romec presently owned by Balfour Beatty. What will that mean for us? Another squeeze?

WE'RE CALLING SOS!
Some of us Romec cleaners/Quadrant canteen staff with long service still have Royal Mail Ts&Cs. Since 51% of Romec and Quadrant is still owned by RM, does that mean that 51% of Quadrant and Romec was floated? And what share for us? We'd like to know, because at the moment we're the ones at sea.

BEHIND THE COVER-UP
The new Romec mag features the cover line "Customer satisfaction at Mount Pleasant". Maybe the customer is satisfied, but the workers aren't. Several of our workmates recently decided to leave. We understand why, but we're sorry to see them go.

WE NEED DJANGO
Yes, things are pretty rough. In the Impressions Romec mag, manager JJ, chief of a cleaning patrol for spotting dirt and marks, says you need to "have a keen eye for detail". Is a keen memory also needed? This is a problem for An-other boss, who forgets what's said and then sends us for counselling! Apparently they're not so keen when it comes to the details of our working conditions.

AERO FLOOR: REDOING THE REDONE
The endless re-doing floor job is apparently over. But it's still bubbling, even if we are not. Perhaps JJ should come along and see to it, with her keen eye.

[anna]

Hi to all! This is the latest Workers' Fight bulletin at Mount Pleasant. Enjoy!

This issue is dated Tuesday, November 19th:

WHAT’S THAT SNORING NOISE?
They say no news is good news, but RM bosses and CWU top officials seem to be talking for a very long time without telling us a thing, and it sounds like they’re snugly in bed together... We hear that “significant progress” has been made and that “both sides have agreed” to extend the strike mandate until 27th November. Well, if they can agree that, “together”, they can agree anything... Can our minds boggle any more than they have already boggled?

DISCUSSING OUR WALKS?
Deliveries is hoping that the long talks mean that park and loop and the 4-5 hour walks are being discussed. Because these are some of the unresolved issues from the Beyond Belief agreement. But we won’t put money on it...

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED - IF ONLY
Yes and in the meantime, letters, but especially packets are piling up like mad in all the delivery offices. Bringing to mind Moya’s latest “lovely” ad - as a mate on the Royalmailchat put it: “we love parcels so much in our office we leave them in for a few days when people cut off so we can love them even more.”

UNSOLICITED “GIFT”
The RM bosses pretended to care about workers by giving us shares. But they didn’t give them to all employees, did they? Now it’s official - no shares for those workers whose company is only half-owned by RM. So we say, ok, RM can stick these shares where the sun don’t shine - and give us something real and right now to compensate us for all these years of public work. And maybe everyone should demand this - because nobody asked for the shares in the first place. And who knows where they will be in 3 years time.

WORLD CLASS SHARES?
For those of us who got the shares, we’re told we have to get a registration number. First problem is that you have get one online - and if you don’t have internet, then what? Once online, you can’t get the “shares welcome page” if you search with “google”. You have to try something else. And then it says the registration number will expire after a certain period, but it doesn’t say when!! This share allocation is already a headache!

JOMEC SAYS BOLLOCKS?
The special training days for Romec cleaners are hilarious. Tuesday focuses on “behaviours” (yes, with an “s”) and includes telling us to say “hello” and be “enthusiastic” and “calm”! If it wasn’t so ridiculous, we might feel insulted. And what about the “class” division between posh “185 Farringdon Rd” (gold standard and level 1 behaviours) and unposh MP (silver standard and... unmentionable behaviours?). We look forward to JJ (Jomec?) revealing her passionate cleaning technique next week... Could prove steamy...

SPOT THE WORKER!
We’re always rushing around the processing floor to get everything done, but whenever we trip and then look to see what we fell over, it’s always a manager. There are so many of them that the only purpose they seem to have anymore, is to get under our feet. Could a special pod be set aside for them, to stow them out of the way?

MANAGER NEEDS ROASTING
So yet again, the big boss refused Xmas party time for the workforce. We get a card and stamps, but not even a mince pie! No matter, we’ll do our own parties. And we have some innovative ideas for the menu.

CALL POIROT!
We see yellow tape - as if a murder has been committed - across the door of the gents’ toilet on the top floor... It’s been like that for 2 weeks. So, who dunnit?

DOWN IN THE DUMP
Will the casuals be down in the basement - where the dust goes up as the leaks go down? They’re warned to wear “warm clothes”... as they may be in “warehouse type conditions”!! Not good enough. Let management make sure that it’s got proper heating by the time they come next week!

PILLARS OF BABYLON
We’re stumped by the World Class Mail. The CWU said don’t touch it. But we see some union reps themselves well in there with the WC bosses pushing this kaizen so-called continuous improvement. Continuous improvement in working conditions is fine, but continuous cuts certainly aren’t. So what’s the deal?

BETTER, BETTER ONE, PLUS W1
How come our Romec mates in “posh 185", (no longer part of MP?) get a bonus which the rest of us don’t? We suspect it’s not due to the deluxe office, but down to the W1 union reps - so, can we please all join W1? And then get all these bonuses integrated into everyone’s normal pay!?

[anna]

Hi to all! This is the latest Workers' Fight bulletin at Mount Pleasant. Enjoy!

This issue is dated Tuesday, December 17th:

THEIR “TIMELY” DEAL
So the CWU leaders finally produced an “agreement”, but in due respect for RM’s systematic B&H, B-S., etc., and respect to rich shareholders, they want to allow all the Xmas post to be delivered before asking us to pass sentence on it. So the ballot only starts 15thth January..

AND NO 5-YEAR GUARANTEES
In fact this “agreement’s” not even clear about 5 years “guaranteed” protection for Ts&Cs, for which, in exchange, the CWU officials have offered a virtual “no strike deal”! (All “legally binding” of course!!) A review in 2019 will take place, which can change Ts&Cs - but there’s a list of things which can allow changes before then. This isn’t mentioned in that yellow-page summary we got.

3% ISN’T A REAL RISE
And the pay rise is dressed up as a big deal, 9.06% over 3 years. When in fact all they’ve budged since our strike vote is 0.4%... (cf. 8.6% over 3 years before) Oh, but don’t forget the £200 Xmas bonus! As for the other changes to conditions - more of the WC-toilet-worthy rubbish on protections and “guarantees” - indeed, the fight is not over.

HOPELESS AND CONFUSED
That CWU leaders put their names to this isn’t surprising, given what’s they’ve signed up to before (Way Backward, BS2010 etc.,). But this latest “partnership with the bosses” almost merges them into one! Yes, helping cuts - sorry, efficiencies - in order to make lots more profits (“growing the business”). Funny tho’, the words “profit” and “share price” are (deliberately?) missing from the 36 pages of sweetness and light... Yup, they wouldn’t want us to get the wrong idea...

VOTING NO TO THE DEAL AND YES TO STRIKE
But never mind, despite the bad timing of the ballot we can still make a “no” vote count. There are many ways of scaring the bosses and scaring share prices - in addition to stopping the mail...

LESS FOR THOSE WHO NEED MORE
What about Romec cleaners and engineers, already contracted out so long ago? The CWU is recommending we accept a 2.5% pay increase - and is balloting us straightaway. But 2.5%’s not acceptable at all. Isn’t it just typical of this rotten system that those like the cleaners, on the lowest pay, get offered the least? Well, we can also vote no...

THIS AGREEMENT’S CROCODILE TIERS
Going back to the RM/CWU deal - it claims that RM won’t bring in a 2-tier workforce. But some of us would say there’s already one: what are part-timers if not a 2nd tier? And in fact we’re the majority on the late shift, which let’s face it, does most of the work! And how many times do we have to say it? The New Year Resolution should be: offer all existing part-timers full time contracts, (we don’t just want “extra hours”) and also equal rights to redundancy/EVR - and full bonuses!!

36 SHEET, OR SH*T?
A 36 pages long deal and nothing in it for Deliveries... The DO visits and deadline for working parties/strands to be set up by mid-Jan 2014 are incredible. The “negotiators” don’t have a clue! They use “ground-breaking” to describe their long-winded “agenda”. All the better to bury it.

MATHS LESSON
For casuals who have never been in this place before, learning the job may take a little time... but what about using our new skills to teach managers a bit of maths? Apparently they think a break of 30 min is a good substitute for the 2 breaks of 20 min which we’re entitled to. They left school a while ago - let’s send them back.

WE COULD DO WITH A HAND OR TWO
It may be a bit quieter on processing than previous years, but in some areas like the machines, we’re really short of hands. So much for the supposedly “ongoing surplus”! And there are much, much, fewer casuals this year to help. Are more coming? And what about (F-T!) permanents?

COACH THEM AWAY
We already have “workplace coaches” here and by our experience of these “do-nothings”, we dread to think what it’ll be like having more of them everywhere! To “coach” managers perhaps? This might be a little useful, because the hardest thing these stand-and-watchers do, is flick elastic bands at each other.

TOO MUCH BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
The cleaning job here is too much for us - yet it’s not considered as “Xmas pressure” - not like before. Now it’s no extra hands, no extra equipment, just extra hot air from the inflated managers. Pity they don’t float away...

UNPLEASANT WHISPERS
Are we going to get off early on Xmas Eve? We heard the rumour that this year there would be no concession - not even one hour before our usual time! Impossible!

NO XMAS SPIRIT(S)!
We got 2 sittings for Xmas dinner - this last Friday and next Friday - but we’re asked to pay and we’ll not even have wine (or hot rum)! No Xmas tree, nor decoration were to be seen in the whole canteen last week and not even the teeniest sound of music. Is this what they call the “winter period”? We will add: yes, winter of our discontent...

AVOIDING THE JOKE
ILSM workers got sweeties from the night manager - when we hit the jackpot. Well, we suppose he didn’t want to give us peanuts... Now he’s leaving - so we will wish him a very sweet goodbye.

[rainbowwarrior72]

Is that the Shift manager? If so wheres he going?

[anna]

yes it was one of the night shift managers on the ILSM who took EVR - but he'd been there long - like 37 years or something. Actually quite well-liked, unlike some others, I am told. So there was a retirement party...

[anna]

Hi to all! This is the latest Workers' Fight bulletin at Mount Pleasant.

This issue is dated Tuesday, 12 January 2014 :

LET’S GIVE THEM A BIG SHOCK
First the strike mandate kept being extended so “agreement” between the RM bosses and union negotiators could be reached - now they’re delaying our vote on this deal - because of course, it’s not valid, unless we say so! So we get to vote between 21st January and 5th February... plenty of time to set a worker’s cat among the bosses’ pigeons then - not least because the City press thinks it’s all a done deal already! Just think about the shock to the wheeler-dealers and their share price if we vote “NO”...!!

NO AGREEMENT!
Currently we’re hearing about the “Roadshows” where the CWU leaders are presenting their agreement with Moya on this new “Agenda for growth and profits and big shareholders’ speculation” - which they recommend we vote “yes” for. We’ll duly get our turn to hear how this is the best deal we can get etc., etc... But is it? What about issues still outstanding from BS2010, or that Deliveries is facing yet more BS, or that in 3 years time when we all become “shareholders” (we aren’t allowed to gamble till then), who knows where RM will be on the FTSE index? Or whether some of us will be alive to sell the tale...?

BAD MEMORIES
Yup, the “roadshows” (for reps mainly) to get us to swallow the “new agenda” bring back unpleasant memories of BS-BT2010 which featured full-time officials like Bob Gibson the 2nd hand car salesman, selling us junk mail. Today he’s selling us compulsory arbitration (a de facto no-strike deal) and selling us all, but Deliveries even more, down the river. When did he ever pick up a mail sack? Think of it - aren’t maybe 80% of us now direct deliverers of mail? No agreement should be possible until those of us with our feet on the ground, in mail centres and deliveries, rewrite it... regardless of the ballot result.

SHARE SLUMP COMING... ?
RM shares are now in the top 100 traded - having hit the FTSE100 - with a (so far) high of £6.07 - having started at £3.30, as we remember! The Financial Times thinks all is well now: so who told it that we’d already “agreed” the so-called 9.1% pay rise and the £200 lump sum before we’d even received our postal ballot paper? Was it Moya? or Dave?

THAT’S THE ONLY WAY
90 DO workers at Shirley in Southampton stopped work when one of us was suspended for refusing to do extra-hours - and we got him back. It’s the only language the DUMs understand. Forget compulsory arbitration ...!

HOW’S THAT?
A horrible and divisive rumour is floating around MP. It’s about us part-timers, the majority of the workforce in Processing - and certainly so on lates. Anyway, we heard that over the period during which the shares were on offer, some part-timers did overtime - and it was on the basis of these (temporary) extra hours that their pro rata share allocation took place. Which meant that a few got more than the rest. If so, it can only be a fiddle. Which wouldn’t surprise us given the crooked buddy-buddy fiddles that go one here! So what’s the truth?

FLOODS OUTSIDE, TRICKLE INSIDE
It may have been quiet this week compared to the last when we were just inundated - over 500 yorkies in one go, one evening. But the mail generally comes later and later. Like 7pm. No wonder Lates stays later and no wonder EC nightshift is last to leave in the morning... It’s certainly not be cause we love “parcels”...

IT CAN ONLY GET WORSE
Speaking of which, we’ve noticed that more and more of the packets (and letters in cheap envelopes) are coming in torn and broken. But after the last round of job cuts, management saw fit to leave hardly anyone on the job to sort out these broken items. And as the crisis gets worse and the harder-up the punters get, the worse the packaging...

EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK!
Now that MP is “the Royal Mail Letters Head Office”, we’re told by Romec it’s a prestigious, silver standard, 24/7, building!! And we’re asked now to do a “preference exercise” on attendance + shift patterns. Yes, after Sunday pay has been only slightly enhanced by £3.61 for those with 10yrs+ service but by just £1.09 for those with less!! Not acceptable!! Equal pay for equal work is our principle! As for Sundays, if they want us to work them, they really should be made to pay for it - double time or nothing!

HEAVEN OPENS
Oh, we hear that Moya Greed is pleased to announce savings made in RM... on water consumption. If she wants savings like these, we suggest she puts buckets under the leaks in the basement and under the Platform! It’s like heaven is opening for MP - but its not pennies, but H20 that’s coming down!!

EVERY PENNY DOES HELP
There was no bonus for Romec or Quadrant workers. Even that petty £200 would have helped us. Despite the fact that it wouldn’t be enough to pay for very much - not even one month’s family food-shopping...

TO THE WEST MIDLANDS WITH HIM!
B the Builder is bound for day shift - just this week, so we hear, anyway. We on nights would like him to go for good, but we feel sorry for our day-shift brothers and sisters, so we guess we’ll have to have him back. In Coventry.
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