VIDEO: Victimised Royal Mail delivery worker Des Beach exposes anatomy of a management frame-up

[stage3]

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024 ... -n01.html


VIDEO: Victimised Royal Mail delivery worker Des Beach exposes anatomy of a management frame-up
Our correspondent

In this video, Des Beach, a Royal Mail delivery worker from County Durham, England with 31-years’ service, speaks about his unfair dismissal with Tony Robson from the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).


An earlier interview with Des, published by WSWS on October 17, received a large readership among Royal Mail workers, with many posting messages of solidarity on social media. Postal workers who contacted WSWS emphasised this was not an isolated case. Many shared similar experiences of management bullying to enforce unachievable workloads, and the refusal of Communication Workers Union (CWU) officials to take up their defence.


In his latest interview outside the Chester-Le-Street delivery office where he worked, Des exposes the anatomy of a frame-up by Royal Mail managers, based on manufactured charges of “intentional delay of mail”. The CWU refused to defend him.

Des says the current wave of victimisations are the result of last year’s sellout national agreement co-authored by the Postal Executive led by Dave Ward. This has produced a two-tier workforce, providing the company an incentive to drive out long-serving postal workers and replace them with new entrants on inferior pay and conditions.

The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC) is calling for a campaign against management intimidation. Postal workers must not be scapegoated for the company’s deliberate run-down of the mail service! Rank-and-file committees should be established at every workplace to ensure the collective defence of all those being bullied, victimised and framed-up by management.


The CWU has backed Royal Mail’s drive to offload the Universal Service Obligation and speed up the transition to an Amazon-style parcel courier service. It is working hand-in-glove with the Labour government to facilitate the takeover by Daniel Kretinsky’s private equity group, in return for pledges that Kretinsky will work with officials at the boardroom table. Ward describes this as a “new ownership model”.

A greenlight for the company’s hostile regime against Royal Mail workers was given by the union-backed Falconer Review. Of 400 reps and workers sacked or suspended in connection with the 2022-3 national dispute, only around half were deemed eligible for Falconer’s rigged process. In return for reinstatement, they had to accept a reduced disciplinary charge remaining on their employment records and waive their right to the Employment Tribunal. Royal Mail was thereby exonerated for the largest mass frame-ups in an industrial dispute since the miners’ strike of 1984-5.

We appeal to our fellow postal workers to share this video interview with Des, and contact us about similar cases. Help break the wall of silence erected by Royal Mail’s business partners in the CWU bureaucracy.

[Basildon Bond]

For context this latest article (which includes a video interview with Des) comes off the thread...

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=114382

I posted on that thread. An extract...

...Perhaps, if these articles are published, then there needs to be checkable facts and photos that back up the written text? In this article there is a photo of a guy with "Des" written underneath. Surely if "Des" has been sacked he can "go on the record" now without any fear of comeback from RM? Maybe show a photo of him holding his old ID card outside of the office he used to work at? And/or maybe show a photo of a termination letter (slightly redacted without a full home address) to prove the point? Possibly get a couple of his old workmates to provide a quotable character reference? Or would that get them sacked too for merely speaking about an ex-postie?

And...

...I think the people publishing this articles should consider ways to improve the situation. I think the onus is on them to take steps to improve the articles as they are the ones broadcasting the information. Without a change the articles, and the people publishing and promoting them will sure have - and expect to have - their credibility questioned.

And stage3 referenced my post. An extract...

...References to "Des" in quotation marks (shocking no surname) who supplied his photograph, cited his delivery office and went through a clear time line of his victimisation and that of his colleague. That is not "going on the record" apparently, you need to produce an old ID card, stand outside your office or provide a character reference.

Credit where credit is due. The video names Des Beach; the video was shot on location at Chester-Le-Street County Durham Delivery Office; and the video showed Des holding a letter of termination.

I have to say that that video is 1000x more powerful as a message. Thank you.

[stage3]

Thanks.

On the subject of the power of the video with Des exposing his frame-up Facebook has imposed a blanket ban on anyone seeing it removing the video from personal accounts and other sites used by postal workers, including Royal Mail Chat and Postal Workers Say No. This blatant act of censorship was conducted in a matter of minutes.

The notice from Facebook claimed the video was in breach of Facebook’s Community Guidelines on spam, citing efforts to obtain views “in a misleading way”. This is clearly indefensible and a fundamental attack on the democratic rights of Royal Mail workers.

The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee has protested Facebook’s actions and is encouraging everyone to share the video via SMS, WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms.

[Hyrrokkin]

I am assuming that certain posters on the original thread will be apologizing for calling the OP of that thread a liar !

Or do they just come out when they think they have an easy target so they can sound oh so 'right on' and smug.

[datasaint]

Years gone by this sort of thing wouldn't have happened as the whole office would have walked out in solidarity, thus preventing RM for trying this sort of thing on.

We really need to look at the role of the union in the workplace as a whole, if we aren't going to stick together any one of us could be a target.

[postslippete]

I did mention on the original article by the wsws that they often have a grain of truth within them and those guys who said it was all made up really need to give their heads a wobble. I'm aware that these articles often have a strong element of extreme Marxist ideology behind them and appear very anti-Union which turns people off but the fact is that posties have been sacked for wilful delay.

A lot of what was said in that video appears to be true and we need to be aware that it can and does happen. Personally, I think it is a shocking indictment of the way that Des was treated on this occasion and the manager/s involved should be brought to justice and sacked by the company. Bullying and harassment in workplaces is more common than you think and I imagine that Des posed a bit of a problem because he wasn't prepared to work overtime to clear his duty. Obviously, he forgot to ring his manager and have that conversation over what they were bringing back while they were out on delivery, but come on, expecting to clear an extended delivery which wasn't cleared from the day before - were the managers having a f**ing laugh?? He did inform them before he left the office that he wasn't going to clear and what really should have happened is for reasonable adjustments to have been made before they went out i.e. take some loops or parcels off. Instead they made it awkward by forcing them out of the door with an excessive workload which the managers knew wouldn't be completed. That is really not good management if it needed to be completed on the day.

As for solidarity, it's becoming every man or postwoman for themselves. Even the Union should hang its heads in shame over this as they are the ones who regularly preach to us that we should use the equipment provided i.e. the trolleys, that we should start and finish on time, not rush round and that overtime is NOT compulsory. It makes me so angry and annoyed that some Union reps are turning their backs on their own members preferring to support RM managers for their own ends and it is one of the main reasons why I have often considered giving up my Union membership.

[Basildon Bond]

But what fixes the situation? Or at least moves towards a defined set of goals? What are the goals? What five or ten step plan can people do? No one can pull in the same direction if the direction is not made very clear (and agreed upon).

If I was to start a list if things one should do: I would initially suggest that all communication to a manager is via a text message or written/recorded so that it can be recalled. I would suggest you actually do use your OWN mobile (for works purposes) so there is a record YOU control. The reason being that it is a powerful weapon when there is doubt about who said what and when. Verbal calls and "he said/she said" probably does not cut it when you are facing dismissal.

I feel sorry for Des. What lessons can we all learn from that chain of events?

I don't want to get angry at a situation - waving my fist at an injustice gets nobody anywhere. I want to arm myself against it happening again - to me and my fellow posties.

Next steps?

[BELIAL]

Get a union.
Not a sham management tool.

[datasaint]

As for solidarity, it's becoming every man or postwoman for themselves. Even the Union should hang its heads in shame over this as they are the ones who regularly preach to us that we should use the equipment provided i.e. the trolleys, that we should start and finish on time, not rush round and that overtime is NOT compulsory. It makes me so angry and annoyed that some Union reps are turning their backs on their own members preferring to support RM managers for their own ends and it is one of the main reasons why I have often considered giving up my Union membership.

It doesn't help when you have CWU HQ preaching solidarity and not allowing a race to the bottom, then looking the other way when the company created a two tier work force.

The two tier working only furthers division in the work place, and plays into RMs hands perfectly. The last dispute handed so much power to the employer it's unreal.

As per the postie in question, Des, I don't follow how it can be intentional delay when records should show whether the frame went out in the days before. If there was 2+ days of mail how could you reasonably be expected to deliver it in the time alloted. The time of leaving the office should also support that argument, if he was delayed by a request to put D2Ds into the frame. As well as the verbal conversation with the DOM they didn't think they would complete.

The conduct code shouldn't be used for genuine mistakes also, him not phoning at 1pm, due to miscommunication with his van share partner or a lapse in concentration following procedure.

[moon71]

Too many holes in the story, and a very selective representation of facts for my liking. All produced for the audience with a promotion for the PWRFC an bigotted portrayal of CWU.

So many clips of evidence that are missing. Proof of phonecall, txt mssg, duty logs. With these an appeal would be won.

Whilst strikes are on, I've seen some people, maybe more militant than others often lash out against there employer, maybe make questionable decisions, and this very selective evidence, clearly not all the evidence produced, paraded for the audience, people make a decision.

The proven bigotted nature of the PWRFC shows there very poisonous nature towards the CWU and RM, and still, in my opinion, has no place in the workplace. And if I'm wrong, what exactly do they offer? Absolutely nothing.

This latest advertisement, proves only how bigotted an desperate the PWRFC are.

Dear Boss, me an my friends of the PWRFC in our delivery office would like a meeting about how we make the money and should be treated better, reply, hahahahahahahahaha

[postslippete]

I don't want to get angry at a situation - waving my fist at an injustice gets nobody anywhere. I want to arm myself against it happening again - to me and my fellow posties.

Next steps?

An excellent point that the over-running procedure is not really fit for the 21st century and needs updating. And I agree with texting managers. It is the easiest way to state everything there and then and to cover yourself which is most important. They can't then turn round and say "well when we spoke on the phone we agreed this or you said that". If there is anything that needs to change in the current procedures, it's this. I know people may not wish to use their phone at work but they need to think about that when they do need to contact a manager for whatever reason - van breakdown, dog attack, assault on delivery etc etc.

As per the postie in question, Des, I don't follow how it can be intentional delay when records should show whether the frame went out in the days before. If there was 2+ days of mail how could you reasonably be expected to deliver it in the time alloted. The time of leaving the office should also support that argument, if he was delayed by a request to put D2Ds into the frame. As well as the verbal conversation with the DOM they didn't think they would complete.

The conduct code shouldn't be used for genuine mistakes also, him not phoning at 1pm, due to miscommunication with his van share partner or a lapse in concentration following procedure.

There was obviously a "work plan failure" that led to mail not being delivered on the previous day. Obviously, the volume of mail being delivered on the day would have had an impact on what was going to be delivered but also any reasons for leaving the office later along with the OPGs experience on that duty, whether they regularly work over their contracted hours or not to complete delivery and even their performance.

The conduct code would likely not have been used if Des followed all the correct procedures. Yes, he did say that he spoke to his manager a few times that he would have difficulty in completing the round, but once you leave the office it is generally expected that all mail must be delivered. You don't "forget" to make that call once you are out there and that is the only thing that Des didn't do. If you have a target on your back you don't give managers any ammunition for them to try and sack you.

[tramssirhc]

Too many holes in the story, and a very selective representation of facts for my liking. All produced for the audience with a promotion for the PWRFC an bigotted portrayal of CWU.

So many clips of evidence that are missing. Proof of phonecall, txt mssg, duty logs. With these an appeal would be won.

Whilst strikes are on, I've seen some people, maybe more militant than others often lash out against there employer, maybe make questionable decisions, and this very selective evidence, clearly not all the evidence produced, paraded for the audience, people make a decision.

The proven bigotted nature of the PWRFC shows there very poisonous nature towards the CWU and RM, and still, in my opinion, has no place in the workplace. And if I'm wrong, what exactly do they offer? Absolutely nothing.

This latest advertisement, proves only how bigotted an desperate the PWRFC are.

Dear Boss, me an my friends of the PWRFC in our delivery office would like a meeting about how we make the money and should be treated better, reply, hahahahahahahahaha

Before anyone takes this post too seriously, or indeed any post from this profile, take five minutes to have a look through the historic posts of moon71. For a profile that preaches bigotry it's no surprise. This is a profile that has encouraged attacks on workers with razorblades. How about the encouragement of support for fascist groups like the BNP. Then take a look at the racist attacks on workers.

How can this profile seriously say that the WSWS/PWRFC is anymore anti CWU than the very profile itself? Have a look at the attacks on Dave Ward by Moon71.

Moon71, if the profile is actually a real postal worker, cannot compare to the bravery of Des and his willingness to go on record. Anything moon71 says is completely flawed.

[postslippete]

Too many holes in the story, and a very selective representation of facts for my liking. All produced for the audience with a promotion for the PWRFC an bigotted portrayal of CWU.

So many clips of evidence that are missing. Proof of phonecall, txt mssg, duty logs. With these an appeal would be won.

Whilst strikes are on, I've seen some people, maybe more militant than others often lash out against there employer, maybe make questionable decisions, and this very selective evidence, clearly not all the evidence produced, paraded for the audience, people make a decision.

The proven bigotted nature of the PWRFC shows there very poisonous nature towards the CWU and RM, and still, in my opinion, has no place in the workplace. And if I'm wrong, what exactly do they offer? Absolutely nothing.

This latest advertisement, proves only how bigotted an desperate the PWRFC are.

Dear Boss, me an my friends of the PWRFC in our delivery office would like a meeting about how we make the money and should be treated better, reply, hahahahahahahahaha

You don't work on deliveries so am I right in thinking you don't really know what goes on in delivery offices? This postal worker was not sacked for lashing out against their employer while the strikes were on so it is just a moot point. And what evidence do you actually want? It doesn't take Miss Marple to work out that these managers have had time to get together and corroborate their stories to sack this postie for the 'intentional delay of mail' when in fact managers do this every single day but use "work plan failures" and "staff sickness"to cover their own backs. This is something that any decent postal Union should be campaigning against. We work for a company that has deliberately created double standards amongst managers and its own workforce.

I don't agree with a lot of the rhetoric that the wsws come out with, but some of their views on the CWU I actually agree with, especially as the Union are more interested in protected their own vested interests over that of the members that they are supposed to represent! The PWRFC or whatever they are called might not be able to change workplaces, in much the same way that you or I can, but incidents like this need to be highlighted so that the CWU and RM can review its own practices and become a better employer and Union in the future. Sometimes it's good to actually question some of the things that have taken place and be a little bit critical instead of just being a "bigot".

[Barnacle]

Why did the CWU ‘refuse to defend’, Des?

Was he even a member?

[moon71]

Too many holes in the story, and a very selective representation of facts for my liking. All produced for the audience with a promotion for the PWRFC an bigotted portrayal of CWU.

So many clips of evidence that are missing. Proof of phonecall, txt mssg, duty logs. With these an appeal would be won.

Whilst strikes are on, I've seen some people, maybe more militant than others often lash out against there employer, maybe make questionable decisions, and this very selective evidence, clearly not all the evidence produced, paraded for the audience, people make a decision.

The proven bigotted nature of the PWRFC shows there very poisonous nature towards the CWU and RM, and still, in my opinion, has no place in the workplace. And if I'm wrong, what exactly do they offer? Absolutely nothing.

This latest advertisement, proves only how bigotted an desperate the PWRFC are.

Dear Boss, me an my friends of the PWRFC in our delivery office would like a meeting about how we make the money and should be treated better, reply, hahahahahahahahaha

You don't work on deliveries so am I right in thinking you don't really know what goes on in delivery offices? This postal worker was not sacked for lashing out against their employer while the strikes were on so it is just a moot point. And what evidence do you actually want? It doesn't take Miss Marple to work out that these managers have had time to get together and corroborate their stories to sack this postie for the 'intentional delay of mail' when in fact managers do this every single day but use "work plan failures" and "staff sickness"to cover their own backs. This is something that any decent postal Union should be campaigning against. We work for a company that has deliberately created double standards amongst managers and its own workforce.

I don't agree with a lot of the rhetoric that the wsws come out with, but some of their views on the CWU I actually agree with, especially as the Union are more interested in protected their own vested interests over that of the members that they are supposed to represent! The PWRFC or whatever they are called might not be able to change workplaces, in much the same way that you or I can, but incidents like this need to be highlighted so that the CWU and RM can review its own practices and become a better employer and Union in the future. Sometimes it's good to actually question some of the things that have taken place and be a little bit critical instead of just being a "bigot".

Well.

I do work on deliveries, collections and processing. To state otherwise is wrong. To question whether I'm a postal worker is devious and dubious at best.

Blacken the opinion instead of dealing with the question.

Easy to attack a person who may of made some choices posts 10+ years back but life has changed.

All I point to is no one knows the true story of Des, only the propaganda machine of the PWRFC, which posts hatred much alike to pre war Germany.