CWU official having a melt down on SM.

[Barnacle]

I don't know him personally. I have to rely on the impression he gives off. This is not a good look.

Maybe its just like on here when people lose the plot at some of the posters.

Though I suppose the difference is we're not full time paid officials of a union. Paid for by its membership that deserves more. This man works for us. He should not be talking to people this way. It's unprofessional and only further diminishes the unions standing and thus ability and effectiveness.

What was the question or comment he was responding to?

"Ralph Ferrett, stop saying the company has no money. Nobody believes that"

This was the comment to which he replied.

Oh right. Well any sensible person knows that’s bunkum.

[Basildon Bond]

I still don't understand why, if the companies apparently on the verge of going under, would DK spend £3B of his own money buying IDS, why not wait until it went under and then buy if for a £1 like Poundland etc?

Royal Mail would probably have to rack up massive debts (way more that it has ever racked up in the past) for a nominal sale (£1 sale) to take place. It has too many assets that could be used by its owners as collateral. If we believe DK to be a smart business man then he truly believes he can make his money back and more in the future. That may be medium or long though.

Problem is how DK plans to make his money back. He (and his advisors) could fiddle with the running of the company - pressing random buttons at the top level and make us all jump left and right and still lose money. He could eventually just make his money back on the assets. I doubt it in the medium term, but it's always there.

Say a company with multiple factories is losing money and looks like it is in a right mess - especially on paper. Let's say you're in the business of buying other businesses so you have a crack team who only has one job: to run the numbers and value loads of companies from all angles - to value the company down to the copper wiring in the walls. The company goes up for sale or you approach the company to buy it. If everyone on the current board of the factory is fed up of the daily mess, wants a change, AND is going to get a nice big cheque in the next few months if they agree to sell then the current board could be swayed to sell and tell everyone around them it's for the best. Note: The factories could be losing money and there doesn't have to be any false (and therefore illegal) reporting on the annual report etc. And the factories may have a large cash overflow (money in and out), but no profit. A company needs profit to splash the cash at upgrades and employees.

For me I believe RM is losing money. However, I'd really like to know where it all goes because apart from some new electric vans at some offices, the paint is peeling badly in all offices I have bounced around to. It's like living in the 1980s at some of them and I wonder if that's lead paint on the window frame and asbestos lagging around those overhead pipes. I'm seriously considering learning how to sew because several pouches I have now have large holes in the bottom of them. I haven't seen a new and crisp mail pouch since...er...hmmm.

[jessicarabbit]

There's plenty of money for wrapping frames with blue yellow and pink tape.

[jessicarabbit]

Plus managers bonuses were paid in June....

The spare cash is being sucked out the business left and right and centre if you know where to look.

Investment in staff and tools to do the job on a daily basis are very low on the spend list

[jessicarabbit]

In the South West a project team has been on pause since February as they can't try any new things until new owner decides what he wants to spend his money on. 10 managers on a minimum of 50k a year and a senior one on 100k have literally been sat twiddling their thumbs at home and sending important emails to each other and doing conference calls once a week. Multiply that across the country it's not hard to see why we are where we are.

[postslippete]

It's a message some need to hear. How many on here suggested they were lying about the finances? Cooking the books ect ect. That would be illegal and plainly wasn't true.

What you are saying is a bit of a straw man. Creative accounting is not illegal and companies do this all the time to influence the public or its workforce and strengthen their case for cost-cutting. Things like impairment charges, deferred tax assets, restricting costs etc etc are all perfectly legal ways for a company to shape their own financial narrative; but that doesn't mean that it represents the true picture of the overall accounts.

[Barnacle]

Plus managers bonuses were paid in June....

The spare cash is being sucked out the business left and right and centre if you know where to look.

Investment in staff and tools to do the job on a daily basis are very low on the spend list

That’s exactly it. It’s a bit like funding the NHS or free school meals being a political decision that successive governments decide to either adequately fund or underfund because they’d rather fund a white elephant instead.

The sad bit is that the union have bought into this game and are repeating the company’s tale of why they can’t pay us a decent pay rise back at us. The company doesn’t value us and is choosing to fund something else instead.

[TopperGas]

Plus managers bonuses were paid in June....

The spare cash is being sucked out the business left and right and centre if you know where to look.

Investment in staff and tools to do the job on a daily basis are very low on the spend list

That’s exactly it. It’s a bit like funding the NHS or free school meals being a political decision that successive governments decide to either adequately fund or underfund because they’d rather fund a white elephant instead.

The sad bit is that the union have bought into this game and are repeating the company’s tale of why they can’t pay us a decent pay rise back at us. The company doesn’t value us and is choosing to fund something else instead.

Which is their right to do but I don't see why the CWU have to keep rolling out the line they can only afford a 4.3% pay rise, all they need to say is this is all they give us without resorting to IA and it's up to it's members to decide if they want to ever go down that route again.

[postslippete]

Royal Mail would probably have to rack up massive debts (way more that it has ever racked up in the past) for a nominal sale (£1 sale) to take place. It has too many assets that could be used by its owners as collateral. If we believe DK to be a smart business man then he truly believes he can make his money back and more in the future. That may be medium or long though.

Kretinsky is a billionaire investor whose business model is built on acquiring undervalued assets either with long-term upside or break-up value. There are two likely scenarios that could play out imho:

1. He slims down the business and positions Royal Mail as a leaner, Amazon-competitive parcel company. This would probably take 5 years or so and would require tough negotiations, cost-cutting and a gradual shift in the workforce structure and delivery model.

2. If that doesn’t work out, then he can fall back on selling off the property, subcontracting operations, splitting off GLS, or even selling the whole thing in parts to the highest bidder.


As a hedge it is a nice even-way bet because he wins if Royal Mail grows or he wins if it dies slowly and is broken up. Either way, DK main goal is profit rather than preservation.

[postslippete]

https://imgur.com/a/uRezfPP



Just resorting to swearing at people now. I believe he is the South Wales/South West Div Rep.

Just do as you're told OPG. How dare you question the party.

As a formerly public listed company RM/IDS are legally required to publish full annual accounts and half-year results but the bulls*t detector went off with claims to "know every single thing about their finances" based on these alone. The public reports don't reveal the internal cost allocations, cross-subsidisation, the GLS to RMG transfers or the strategic assets movements and so what you end up with is a story that the company chooses to tell. They are not lying but are being very economical with the truth. It is called creative accounting.

[Mr Rush]

I still don't understand why, if the companies apparently on the verge of going under, would DK spend £3B of his own money buying IDS, why not wait until it went under and then buy if for a £1 like Poundland etc?

It's not his money.....he's borrowed most of it in the same way the Americans buy football clubs. Load it up with debt pay the interest payments while creaming off a nice return. Sell some big assets. Run it down into the ground. Walk away
It's a proven game plan.

Yes; and it was EP Group that bought it, not Dan. He's the Debbie Harry to her rest of the band, apparently.

[derekm]

In the South West a project team has been on pause since February as they can't try any new things until new owner decides what he wants to spend his money on. 10 managers on a minimum of 50k a year and a senior one on 100k have literally been sat twiddling their thumbs at home and sending important emails to each other and doing conference calls once a week. Multiply that across the country it's not hard to see why we are where we are.

I remember quite a while back someone posted about the staffing levels at head office in London I think & the amount of jobs there and probable wages they were on was pretty unbelievable.

[tramssirhc]

"Ralph Ferrett, stop saying the company has no money. Nobody believes that"

This was the comment to which he replied.

Lets give this some context. The trade union movement is a clique. Like all exclusive clubs it's has a system which you have to navigate to get on. Some trade unionists get into this club by being elected by workers. Others get in by being a favourite of whichever clique operates a branch or someone who is a favourite of the representatives above them, for example the General Secretary of a Union thinks having supporters around them is useful.

When this is mixed with the power that comes with positions like divisional representatives, such as full time release, secret meetings, making decisions about workers lives, it becomes intoxicating. Throw into that mix paternalism, arrogance, fear, corruption, survival, the back stabbing and you can understand why some simply lose the plot. Others simply see it as their right to be the one who knows it all and decides it all.

David Peace's GB84 writes about the exclusive world of trade union officials and what goes on in that world. Its not pretty and you need to be made of strong stuff to survive. The alcoholism, adultery and seediness is all too real. The trade union cliques really are that rotten.

Workers don't believe what the CWU say and no amounts of f***s from the likes of Ralph will change that. The CWU is broken. Leave. Start a new union.

[Barnacle]

"Ralph Ferrett, stop saying the company has no money. Nobody believes that"

This was the comment to which he replied.

Lets give this some context. The trade union movement is a clique. Like all exclusive clubs it's has a system which you have to navigate to get on. Some trade unionists get into this club by being elected by workers. Others get in by being a favourite of whichever clique operates a branch or someone who is a favourite of the representatives above them, for example the General Secretary of a Union thinks having supporters around them is useful.

When this is mixed with the power that comes with positions like divisional representatives, such as full time release, secret meetings, making decisions about workers lives, it becomes intoxicating. Throw into that mix paternalism, arrogance, fear, corruption, survival, the back stabbing and you can understand why some simply lose the plot. Others simply see it as their right to be the one who knows it all and decides it all.

David Peace's GB84 writes about the exclusive world of trade union officials and what goes on in that world. Its not pretty and you need to be made of strong stuff to survive. The alcoholism, adultery and seediness is all too real. The trade union cliques really are that rotten.

Workers don't believe what the CWU say and no amounts of f***s from the likes of Ralph will change that. The CWU is broken. Leave. Start a new union.

It’s when they step up a level to be on paid release that the problems start. Too many are then more concerned with maintaining their position than helping the office reps to get things done.

[tramssirhc]

It’s when they step up a level to be on paid release that the problems start. Too many are then more concerned with maintaining their position than helping the office reps to get things done.

If we look at the elections of the positions with full time release we see low turnout, unelected unopposed, no contest. That suggests the real concern is power. Being in the room with real decision makers. Entering the clique.

Maintaining their position is not difficult. Of course the system set up by the cliques means they can stay in these positions for life. Other unions prevent that by operating a system where these types of positions have to be given up for a period of time before you can stand for the position again.