07/01/26 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Happy New Year! Here's the Mount Pleasant bulletin of 7 January. The pdf attached also includes two front page editorials - one of which is about the world situation. We welcome your comments, as usual.

SUPER-NONSENSE
The Processing "Mount Pleasant Local News"
leaflet from the union officials distributed before
the New Year tells us that there is "almost no one"
left who's "supernumerary"... but even one of us
would be one too many! And all the more so, at a
time when management's busy trying to make us
each work 2-3 jobs to clear the Xmas mess
they've created!

STUBBORN AS ASSES
And by the way, this "supernumerary" nonsense
has dragged on for over a year because some of
us rightly refused to cut our contracted hours and
managers still pretend we're "surplus to
requirements"... Yes, at a time when casuals are
brought in and workmates are retiring!

HEADLESS CHICKENS IN MORE THAN ONE WAY?
Managers have had to extend some of the
casuals' stay in Mount Un-Pleasant, thanks to the
shortage of hands. The logical thing would be to
offer them decent permanent jobs, but
management has not done the logical thing for a
long time, if ever. It's going to be down to us to
drill some sense into their heads...

COLLECTIVE REFUSAL
We do agree with the union's leaflet when it says
that "H&S has entirely gone out of the window".
Managers try to cover their backs, showing us
Work Time Sleeping H&S videos so that if
someone gets hurt, they can try to wash their
hands of any blame... Another reason for refusing
to lift/drag any of these too-heavy parcels.

THEY CAN HURT THEMSELVES
And some of us, particularly casuals, might feel
we can't refuse to lift heavy parcels. Casuals on
their own might not feel they can say "no" to
managers - but if we all do, there's nothing
managers can do about it... other than to lift the
parcels themselves and dislocate their own
shoulders, elbows and wrists.

BIG RED REMOVALS
So we're long-distance porters now? Because
we've noticed that people (presumably students)
are using RM's parcel collection service (at RM's
invitation!) to move their luggage door-to-door. So
now we're meant to struggle with their huge
suitcases? Apparently this is what managers
meant when they talked of "expanding the role" of
postal workers?

BACK-DOOR WAGE CUTS
Managers are at it again, telling us that we will
have to work weekend duties. As for us parttimers,
they've said that the only way to get more
contracted hours is to accept weekend work on
flat rate. Of course, when we work this as
overtime, they have to pay that slightly higher
rate...

RESIGN BOYCOTT
The rumour is that the announced August
resign/realignment/revision (we call them job-cutexercises)
might happen earlier this year. So
management's in a hurry to make us sign-up for
weekend duties and cut more jobs? We aren't
having it - time to organise a resign boycott?

WHAT NEXT?
We have a new Processing area deputy rep.
(Welcome and congrats). So now the question is,
when are we all going to meet together to decide
how to implement our 2026 resolutions?
Management has their list of attacks; so we need
to plan our counter-attacks!

TAKE A LONG BREAK!
Everybody knows that King Etcetera had an
unfortunate encounter with a bus, and we were all
terribly sorry to hear it. And unlike what he would
say to us, that is, "get back to work asap", we
insist that he really takes his time to get better, in
every sense...

OR SIMPLY FLY-SPRAY?
Can anyone suggest an intensive course for M&S
and fellow managers to learn some manners? Or
should we set up a jar for him and the rest to pay
into whenever their buzzing gets too loud?

DPD, EVRI, AMAZON, RM WORKERS
- ALL IN IT TOGETHER!
Union officials are telling us, including in that local
leaflet, that "the new owners, alongside the CWU,
are determined to grow the company and take on
our competitors"... Yes, they're repeating the line of
the top CWU leaders, who have no shame about
helping to "amazonise" our Ts&Cs. Just as well
those of us on the ground aren't about to fall for any
of this!

[Tman]

Always worth a good laugh especially on a cold Winter's day.

[britwrit]

BIG RED REMOVALS
So we're long-distance porters now? Because
we've noticed that people (presumably students)
are using RM's parcel collection service (at RM's
invitation!) to move their luggage door-to-door. So
now we're meant to struggle with their huge
suitcases? Apparently this is what managers
meant when they talked of "expanding the role" of
postal workers?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who do this - London is full of folks with too much cash on their hands - but I cannot imagine how much this would cost.

[yellowbelly]

BIG RED REMOVALS
So we're long-distance porters now? Because
we've noticed that people (presumably students)
are using RM's parcel collection service (at RM's
invitation!) to move their luggage door-to-door. So
now we're meant to struggle with their huge
suitcases? Apparently this is what managers
meant when they talked of "expanding the role" of
postal workers?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who do this - London is full of folks with too much cash on their hands - but I cannot imagine how much this would cost.

If you think about going on holiday up to 20 kg suitcase. Then according to RM the cheapest Express 48 is about 17.10 for up to 20 kg. So if it's a student who would otherwise need to be driven a long way by a parent and they can travel with a Young Persons Railcard on the train without the suitcase (or it might be an extra suitcase) it might be worthwhile financially.

[Deadly]

BIG RED REMOVALS
So we're long-distance porters now? Because
we've noticed that people (presumably students)
are using RM's parcel collection service (at RM's
invitation!) to move their luggage door-to-door. So
now we're meant to struggle with their huge
suitcases? Apparently this is what managers
meant when they talked of "expanding the role" of
postal workers?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who do this - London is full of folks with too much cash on their hands - but I cannot imagine how much this would cost.

Sending suitcases with Royal Mail has always happened, the difference is that they weren't collected on deliveries.

[abuch1980]

I picked up a fancy large suitcase during Xmas peak pressure. Took up a quarter of my van space ! Nonsense sending via postie when Parcelforce have the van size needed for this task!
I can't imagine the suitcase arrived at it's destination without some scrapes on it also.! Nonsense all of it.

[yellowbelly]

I picked up a fancy large suitcase during Xmas peak pressure. Took up a quarter of my van space ! Nonsense sending via postie when Parcelforce have the van size needed for this task!
I can't imagine the suitcase arrived at it's destination without some scrapes on it also.! Nonsense all of it.

If that's the case (pardon the pun) you should have contacted your manager to say you couldn't deal with it and for them to arrange an alternative pick up as per the SOP.

[britwrit]

BIG RED REMOVALS
So we're long-distance porters now? Because
we've noticed that people (presumably students)
are using RM's parcel collection service (at RM's
invitation!) to move their luggage door-to-door. So
now we're meant to struggle with their huge
suitcases? Apparently this is what managers
meant when they talked of "expanding the role" of
postal workers?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who do this - London is full of folks with too much cash on their hands - but I cannot imagine how much this would cost.

Sending suitcases with Royal Mail has always happened, the difference is that they weren't collected on deliveries.

Wow. I never knew that. Pretty interesting. So the folks who ran Royal Mail decades ago were able to spot a chance to make some money - government owned and all - and were able to pounce on it.

[baldrick]

BIG RED REMOVALS
So we're long-distance porters now? Because
we've noticed that people (presumably students)
are using RM's parcel collection service (at RM's
invitation!) to move their luggage door-to-door. So
now we're meant to struggle with their huge
suitcases? Apparently this is what managers
meant when they talked of "expanding the role" of
postal workers?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who do this - London is full of folks with too much cash on their hands - but I cannot imagine how much this would cost.

Sending suitcases with Royal Mail has always happened, the difference is that they weren't collected on deliveries.

I never saw a suitcase being sent through Royal Mail in over 32 years working in MC and PO counters in London.

[Deadly]

I never saw a suitcase being sent through Royal Mail in over 32 years working in MC and PO counters in London.

I can't speak for London but over the years where I work it isn't unusual to see suitcases and large holdalls. More recently we get the vaccuum packed large bags full of clothes too.