New strike threat is looming for Royal Mail

[johnnyp]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 471502.ece

Royal Mail faces a fresh wave of industrial action, only months after the end of one of the biggest strikes to hit the postal service in years.

The Times has learnt that unions have rejected the postal group's plan to overhaul its pensions scheme and are poised to ballot nearly 150,000 members over whether they back the plan or not. Last year, postal services were crippled by several days of national strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and working practices.

Royal Mail said a year ago that it intended to close its final-salary scheme to new employees and to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65. It then proposed ending the final-salary scheme for all employees and creating a career average plan, which would be linked to the retail prices index.

When last year's dispute over pay was settled, Royal Mail agreed to continue talks with the unions over pensions, but they have failed to make progress after nearly four months.

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The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers, and Unite, which represents postal managers, will start to ballot their members shortly. If, as officials believe, the pension plans are rejected in the ballots, a subsequent strike vote would be virtually certain. The unions are recommending rejection of Royal Mail's plans.

The threat of fresh strike action comes as Royal Mail is under increasing attack over the shutting of 2,500 post offices. The closures, which are being rolled out regionally, have hit London, sparking growing complaints that profitable, popular offices are being shut. There are also complaints over the consultation period, which lasts only six weeks.

Postal union members are likely to feel aggrieved that they are facing a deterioration in their retirement benefits while the pensions of other public sector workers have been protected by the Government.

If postal workers and managers strike, Royal Mail would find it difficult to offer any service. In previous disputes, it has relied on managers to keep some operations running.

Results of the ballots will be declared days before Royal Mail plans to implement the pensions changes at the start of April.

Businesses and households will be furious if there is fresh disruption. A large number of companies switched to rivals or paperless billing during the last dispute. Royal Mail said that the dispute had cost it £10 million in revenue but that the real cost would not be known until it became clear how customers had changed their postal habits.

The group has said that its pension deficit stands at £5 billion, which it is trying to pay off over 17 years. Its pension costs have risen by £193 million a year to £722 million. Royal Mail operates one of the largest pension schemes in the country, with more than 450,000 retired and working members.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said that the CWU had agreed last autumn to support changes to the pension plan “as part of a wider agreement on pay, modernisation and pension reform. And these changes, which we have told our people about, are in line with those agreed with the CWU last autumn, and are necessary if we are to achieve the best possible pension plan that the company can afford.â€

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories ... -20338877/

EXCLUSIVE
By Clinton Manning 3/03/2008


Royal Mail could face a fresh wave of strikes over plans to slash the pensions of 165,000 workers.

Closing the group's final salary fund would force posties to work up to five years longer or see annual pensions cut by £2,000.

The proposals, designed to save £130million a year, were branded "totally unacceptable" by unions.

The Communication Workers Union wants its members to reject the changes in a ballot starting next Monday, according to leaked documents.
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Unite, which represents 10,000 managers, is also urging rejection, which would put the unions on a collision course with chief executive Adam Crozier.

The moves, due on April 1, affect Royal Mail, Post Office and Parcelforce staff.

A senior CWU source said: "The proposals are remarkably similar to the plans exposed by the Daily Mirror last summer."

Royal Mail claimed at that time that it had scrapped the changes.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... A&refer=uk

By Kari Lundgren

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Mail Group Plc's plan to restructure its pension plan has been rejected by the executive of two postal unions, the London-based Times reported, without saying where it got its information.

The Communication Workers Union and Unite are planning to survey their members, totaling almost 150,000, on the plan, the newspaper said. If the members oppose the plan, it's likely the unions will then hold a strike vote, the Times said.

Royal Mail operates one of the largest pension plans in the U.K., covering more than 450,000 retired and working members, the Times said. The pension changes are due to be implemented in April, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kari Lundgren in London at klundgren2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 2, 2008 19:37 EST

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Oh no! Not another bloody strike! That unshaven Mars Bar selling plank appearing on the box night after night refering to us as 'our people', the nugget who was drummed out of the Football Association trying to keep his head down and stepping in at the last minute to ruin a potential settlement, Billy looking and sounding as though he's just fallen out of The Crown on Lime Street and Dave Ward looking like an 80s alternative comedian. Despite that, I'm game!

[dvbuk55]

Oh no! Not another bloody strike! That unshaven Mars Bar selling plank appearing on the box night after night refering to us as 'our people', the nugget who was drummed out of the Football Association trying to keep his head down and stepping in at the last minute to ruin a potential settlement, Billy looking and sounding as though he's just fallen out of The Crown on Lime Street and Dave Ward looking like an 80s alternative comedian. Despite that, I'm game!

Stop! I nearly wet my keks thinking of Dave Ward as a latter day Mike Reid. Not to worry though we won't be subject to media coverage of spot the buffoon, any sort of ballot will be wasted money IMO.

[L Tommo]

Ohhh do i have to start RANTING AGAIN???

ok... ALLL FOOOKING OOOOOOT!!


BASTARDS!!!

:lfo :cfo THESE TWO I BLAME... BUT Is there any body out there who dont???

[jemima]

This potential strike is big news because the managers could well be on the picket line with us. Should be an interesting team-building activity.

[L Tommo]

feck the cma and feck the screws.... I dont think so......!!!

If they grow a backbone ??? Then they might have a few.... very little... not many.. a couple...

Join a picket...

If they do for the RIGHT reasons and not just to grass and spot posties then ok...


BUT im still not happy and i wont talk to them... strike breakers AND SCREWS. = The workers enemy...

[F0zziebear]

Jon Millidge has taken over as interim HR Director. He was amongst many roles previously the main Industrial Relations Manager. He has a long negotiating history with Dave Ward and Billy Davies.

Millidge is a trusted person by Adam Crozier, probably one of his most trusted advisors.

Millidge is also a long serving employee of RM. It will be interesting to see what approach is taken now that Tony McCarthy (former HR Director) and Tom Melvin (former Operations Director) have both left the company in recent times.

It is also worth mentioning that in the last couple of years the entire Executive Board has changed; Finance Directory, Ops Director, HR Director, CIO, Procurement, Strategy. The only consistent member has and still is Crozier and Leighton.

I am not entirely sure if I am making a point here, but rather an observation.

Wonder what others make of this, and whether it will have any bearing on potential negotiations and strike options over the pension issue

[Vulcan]

I think all previous senior management leaving is probably to do with Leighton & Crozier's 'Business Plan', they probably disagreed with it and were given the option to go quietly and get 'golden handshakes'. Might have been against their 'ethics' (the Business Plan) but didn't have the moral backbone to make their views public and risk losing the 'golden handshakes'. If Millidge has been with RM a long time & been part of the negotiating team, I don't think he will rock the Alan & Adam boat, got too much invested in RM (years of service). Plus if he's been with RM that long he's part of the problem.

Alan & Adam have now got 'yes' sycophants in all senior management positions, so their loyalty will be to them (Alan & Adam) NOT RM, so watch out workers!

[Budfrog]

Manager here ... just voted NO on my ballot, also prepared for IA if necessary.

I am loathe to say it but I have little faith in the resolve of the managerial grades although there is a great deal of resentment over the planned changes. If we ALL strike then at least the Govt will see that just about every employee (aside from the senior grades) have no faith in Leighton and Crozier. My only worry is that the Govt are happy to let the 2 clowns do their own dirty work for them ... so much for a Socialist Govt.

Wonder how many M&S vouchers Crozier an Co. will offer this time ???

[anini]

once bitten twice shy

[anini]

before i go out on strike again i wanna hear from the big boys how far they are willing to let it go on

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Manager here ... just voted NO on my ballot, also prepared for IA if necessary.

I am loathe to say it but I have little faith in the resolve of the managerial grades although there is a great deal of resentment over the planned changes. If we ALL strike then at least the Govt will see that just about every employee (aside from the senior grades) have no faith in Leighton and Crozier. My only worry is that the Govt are happy to let the 2 clowns do their own dirty work for them ... so much for a Socialist Govt.

Wonder how many M&S vouchers Crozier an Co. will offer this time ???

Man the barricades! The CMA are on the march! Better get on to Billy Bragg so as he can write a song about it. I know! Ken Loach could make a film about it. 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'? More like 'The Farts in a Space Suit'. "If we ALL strike?" Where were you last summer pal?

[k979aaa]

Manager here ... just voted NO on my ballot, also prepared for IA if necessary.

I am loathe to say it but I have little faith in the resolve of the managerial grades although there is a great deal of resentment over the planned changes. If we ALL strike then at least the Govt will see that just about every employee (aside from the senior grades) have no faith in Leighton and Crozier. My only worry is that the Govt are happy to let the 2 clowns do their own dirty work for them ... so much for a Socialist Govt.

Wonder how many M&S vouchers Crozier an Co. will offer this time ???

Man the barricades! The CMA are on the march! Better get on to Billy Bragg so as he can write a song about it. I know! Ken Loach could make a film about it. 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'? More like 'The Farts in a Space Suit'. "If we ALL strike?" Where were you last summer pal?

What manager's go on strike oh how do we do that will come the reply for they haven't a clue!. And as for soildarity from them backstabbing bas*ard's they have all the stickability of a dose of diarrhoea!.