RMCtv : Simon Thompson : Worrying comments from Dave Ward on a picket line today, where he talks about striking until next Christmas.

[chickenwittle]

I’m convinced we have managers on here , it’s always the same few posters that post their negative drivel and scaremongering on a daily basis.

[walthmstowman]

I’m convinced we have managers on here , it’s always the same few posters that post their negative drivel and scaremongering on a daily basis.

Of course we have . They have made themselves too obvious .

[sindba]

I’m convinced we have managers on here , it’s always the same few posters that post their negative drivel and scaremongering on a daily basis.

Of course we have . They have made themselves too obvious .

Yep. 4 posts. Joined Oct/ Nov.

Posts along the same lines "more and more are going into work....we're well paid.....can't afford to strike....need to modernise....CWU messed up.." etc etc etc

[postslippete]

Tesco, British Gas as well as P&O have all sucessfully used it once they justified the economic survival of the business was at stake.

Simon Thompson continually saying losing a million a day are not just soundbites but carefully worded

Those soundbites have been worded by Royal Mail before and they are used for the company's benefit


Lets run through some of your examples....


For British Gas around 7,000 of the company’s engineers carried out the industrial action in protest at the firm’s so-called “fire and rehire” tactics. GMB said that 500 workers lost their jobs as a result of refusing to sign up for the previous deal that British Gas was offering. However, they eventually struck a new deal that allowed those who left British Gas to return. Plus their new deal offered improvements to overtime rates and unsocial hours payments and see limits placed on the amount of unsocial working undertaken. the new agreement was cited as a way forward by the Union after 43 days of strike action.

Last year the pre Xmas strike action at four Tesco distribution centres were suspended after an improved pay offer. Previously tensions rose as workers were sent a letter by one of Tesco's directors warning employees that they would be in breach of contract if they opted to strike. In particular, mentioning that "If strike action continues for 12 weeks, we may decide to terminate your employment with the company as outlined in the ballot paper you will receive.” However, Tesco eventually improved their 2.5 % and final 4% pay offer to a minimum of a 5.5% pay increase backdated to July 2021 and an additional 0.5% from February this year. Not a great increase considering that inflation rose as much as it did this year however Unite at the time were happy to to agree the pay deal with Tesco, even though some of them members felt that they were sold out by the union.

However, what happened at P&O Ferries was scandalous because they didn't even consult with the Unions mainly because they knew they would never agree. The fact that P&O will also not face criminal proceedings over its mass sacking of almost 800 workers without notice has sparked calls for a change in the law. However, the company were legally able to replace staff on £5.50 an hour, well below the UK's minimum wage, because the crew worked offshore. P&O then went on to make record profits but they cite that this was due to their cargo business, not ferries. For Royal Mail they would need to pay staff at least the UK legal minimum wage which is currently £10.90 in the UK and £11.95 in London. I'm sure I saw an advert somewhere that Royal Mail were offering £11.69 an hour for a post person but please don't quote me on this

Obviously, I don't wish to get ahead of myself with certain things that Dave Ward has mentioned, particularly when it comes to recruiting staff on lower pay, terms and conditions so that Royal Mail can then use that in future to attack us as part of a levelling down agenda or whatever. The weird thing is that even if push came to shove and employees whose previous contracts are terminated could still bring claims for unfair dismissal - even if they have accepted the new contract. Something many employers and some lawyers tend to overlook and there are quite a lot of reasons for claiming unfair dismissal. Like one of the P&O ferries staff who recently received a very healthy 5 figure from the business because he put in a claim for unfair dismissal.

[rambo1]

Absolutely no chance CWU would get support to strike much after this Christmas let alone through to next. That's a ridiculous comment if Ward made it IMHO.

Would you rather ward said all strikes stop after Xmas ? Whether ward meant it or not , he has to be seen to be in it for the long haul to force some kind of breakthrough.

wheres the honesty and transparency there?

[grchpo]

Striking thru to next Christmas ? 2 days a week= £200, 52weeks a year = £10,000. Who can afford to lose that amount of money, I can't ( before you say it I'm not a manager )

[k979aaa]

Striking thru to next Christmas ? 2 days a week= £200, 52weeks a year = £10,000. Who can afford to lose that amount of money, I can't ( before you say it I'm not a manager )

Do you really think it is a set aim to do so? LET's win the war NOW and get it over by christmas not saying it will but we need to attack now so we don't have to latter thus shorting the war and its dynamics!

[jagger]

Northampton Mail Centre is an illusion as it deals with thousands of mail order returns with NDC.

Not to mention the majority will be outward mail that will take little time to sort throgh the PSM.

Please explain.
Don’t all mail centres deal with mail order returns?
Do you work there, do you work near there?
You seem very informed about what is going on. I’ve asked before, what do YOU think we (or the CWU) should be doing?
Put up or shut up.

[kazardaimenu]

Northampton Mail Centre is an illusion as it deals with thousands of mail order returns with NDC.

Not to mention the majority will be outward mail that will take little time to sort throgh the PSM.

Well we were delivering last Thursday's mail on Tuesday so thing's aren't exactly running smoothly right now. Bring on the Christmas cards!

[SpacePhoenix]

Northampton Mail Centre is an illusion as it deals with thousands of mail order returns with NDC.

Not to mention the majority will be outward mail that will take little time to sort throgh the PSM.

Well we were delivering last Thursday's mail on Tuesday so thing's aren't exactly running smoothly right now. Bring on the Christmas cards!

Xmas cards are already coming through. Well over half the mech trays we put through the machines Tuesday night had Xmas cards in, some of the trays were just about all Xmas cards. Hardly any manual Xmas cards through yet, which makes me think they're caught in a backlog somewhere, most likely one of the RDCs

[kazardaimenu]

Exciting. Managers will be sweating bullets!

[guardianangel]

Im with Dave ,im ready for it,id rather be made compulsory redundant than except Thompson's offer,they need to get rid of him as he will be the man who overseen the biggest postal collapse the world has ever seen.

[norris9]

Striking thru to next Christmas ? 2 days a week= £200, 52weeks a year = £10,000. Who can afford to lose that amount of money, I can't ( before you say it I'm not a manager )

You're getting paid £100 a day?

wtf.

[Schiff]

Striking thru to next Christmas ? 2 days a week= £200, 52weeks a year = £10,000. Who can afford to lose that amount of money, I can't ( before you say it I'm not a manager )

You're getting paid £100 a day?

wtf.

About £35,000 a year on top to come out with £100 a day. No idea what that job is with RM, but if they can't afford to strike then they couldn't afford to be a postman.

[milly]

Striking thru to next Christmas ? 2 days a week= £200, 52weeks a year = £10,000. Who can afford to lose that amount of money, I can't ( before you say it I'm not a manager )

You're getting paid £100 a day?

wtf.

It depends what allowances you receive, many Postal Workers will be earning £100 a day before tax.