CWU Postal Executive formally rejects Royal Mail Group surrender document

[theotherone]

CWU Postal Executive formally rejects Royal Mail Group surrender document

The Postal Executive met today and unanimously rejected Royal Mail Group’s latest proposals and at the same time endorsed a CWU counter proposal, which also includes an alternative business strategy to secure the future of both our members jobs and the company.

The proposal Royal Mail Group sent to us yesterday were not in line with the discussions we have been having and were a deliberate move to harden their position following their unilateral preference exercise. The CWU counter proposal will be sent to Royal Mail Group tomorrow and will be shared with our representatives and members.

Unlike Royal Mail Group, who presented their proposal as a take it or leave it option, the CWU remain committed to reaching an agreement and will make clear to the company that we are willing to engage further in serious negotiations on all aspects of pay and change.

We will also use National Gate Meeting Day to ask CWU members, by a show of hands to support the rejection of the Royal Mail Group position and endorse the unions paper.

The documents sent by Royal Mail Group yesterday are bound by ACAS confidentiality rules so we will not share it today, but we will be doing so as soon as we are able to because as a union we believe in complete transparency. We also know when you see the document it will make support for strike action stronger than ever.

A summary of the rejected proposal and its impact on your futures is below. We need this everywhere and we need every CWU member to realise that backing the forthcoming strike action is not only the right thing to do but it is the only thing to do.

We will of course use every possible moment ahead of Thursday to reach agreement, but we need every branch, representative and member to create a huge wave of pressure from the ground up. Every single one of us must become the union.

Dave Ward General Secretary
Andy Furey Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

SUMMARY OF ROYAL MAIL GROUP SURRENDER DOCUMENT
• It is clear they want to turn the Royal Mail Group into a gig economy style parcel courier, resourced over time through a self-employed model.
• Royal Mail Group have refused to put in place any commitments whatsoever on job security and we believe they will now move ahead with compulsory redundancies.
• The pay offer remains inadequate and the 3.5% is not backdated.
• Pay for Parcelforce – Nil.
• Pay for Fleet – 3% - not backdated, alongside a demand to outsource Fleet work, leading to compulsory redundancies.
• Royal Mail Group is demanding the CWU withdraws support for members who have submitted employment tribunals for unlawful pay deductions during recent periods of strike action.
• Royal Mail Group is demanding that local representatives and members must fully accept their revision proposals without any opportunity for these to be negotiated at local level.
• Royal Mail Group is demanding the CWU be removed from the workplace and will only recognise us in the future as a company union – there only to help introduce their plans.
• Ill health and sick pay slashed.
• Allowances slashed.
• Removal of Sunday premium payment.
• A combined proposal on flexibility and seasonal variations that means the company will be in total control of when you work and when you don’t.
• Later start and finishing times that will see the company abandoning the AM delivery period, forever denying growth opportunities and new products and services being developed.
• Technology being used to bare down on and monitor postal workers every minute of the day

[derekm]

So were are the good things that Thompson said are in the new agreement

[1560loopsayear]

Croq of sh*t - I'd rather take receipt of a P45 than agree to those insulting proposals. May as well just sum it up as we are your masters and we'll make you jump through any hoop we decide you need jumping through.

[LaggyBand]

How can compulsory redundancies be a thing when they take on so many agency workers? Doesn’t seem to fulfill the requirement to show the job is redundant does it?

[toonshola]

I’m sorry but this whole thing is getting ridiculous. Tell them we’re out indefinitely from 5th December until they give a serious offer. I realise lots(probably myself included)can’t afford to strike for more than a week but I still think there is a good 70% of the workforce who would stay out until a reasonable deal is offered. Imagine 60 to 70% of the workforce not there during December, the network would collapse it would be carnage.

[ninja22]

I'm more worried about ' RMG demanding the CWU be removed from the workplace'

[aiden01]

I'm more worried about ' RMG demanding the CWU be removed from the workplace'

Yep leave us totally fuked.

[broughts]

What’s this demanding rubbish where’s the team now ST shows his true colours finally not that we didn’t already know what they were

[walthmstowman]

I'm more worried about ' RMG demanding the CWU be removed from the workplace'

This is what I call a complete surrender document . It's designed to be unacceptable . It's looking like our Christmas strikes will need to go ahead .

[postmanpmh]

I’m stunned that after these so called intense negotiations and a “good offer” that this is where we are at.

If this is what we’re going to get then VR looks like the way forward.

[Weetrogg2]

Well better get the thermals out, it’s going to be a cold winter on the picket line.

[ninja22]

I know people have said this on here before but at least now we know 100% that right from the beginning RM had no intention of ever agreeing a deal. Their plan was always to shut down the CWU so that they could do whatever they wanted to their employees, not just with these changes but worse will follow in the future.

[FilthyBloke]

What’s worrying is that ST will have known these conditions will be rejected.
And that the Christmas strikes will go ahead now.
But after that? The leverage the CWU might have right now is that christmas strikes will hit the company hard. But after January offers no leverage at all. So what then?

Is this literally the last hoorah? One final roll of the dice?

ST is aware of this and I have been concerned for some time that he has been willing to sacrifice this Christmas to get what he wants. Plus a lot of posties won’t be able to afford indefinite strikes. The cost of living ain’t coming down.

[theotherone]

What’s worrying is that ST will have known these conditions will be rejected.
And that the Christmas strikes will go ahead now.
But after that? The leverage the CWU might have right now is that christmas strikes will hit the company hard. But after January offers no leverage at all. So what then?

Is this literally the last hoorah? One final roll of the dice?

ST is aware of this and I have been concerned for some time that he has been willing to sacrifice this Christmas to get what he wants. Plus a lot of posties won’t be able to afford indefinite strikes. The cost of living ain’t coming down.

Strikes going ahead gives him ammo for more Job losses.There will be more.

[Cucumber]

Of course the union can't agree to those terms.

One thing though, and i've seen this pop up a few times - why is it deemed so important to maintain local negotiations of changes etc?