Strike for service!

shaunman · Post by **shaunman** » 07 Dec 2008, 23:50

Why don't the cwu arrange a strike to change Royal(Important) Mail back into a service i.e. NHS, Police, Councils. Rather than a business!

Big Daz · Post by **Big Daz** » 08 Dec 2008, 05:14

Why cant we both? Surley in order to compete we need to be both?

andy2007 · Post by **andy2007** » 08 Dec 2008, 08:20

Big Daz wrote:Why cant we both? Surley in order to compete we need to be both?

Exactly! Unfortunately, at the moment, there is too much emphasis on making money. Obviously, we have to at least break even. And it's good to make some profit, so that we have the money to invest in the Business. But there is no longer enough emphasis on the SERVICE.

But it is quite possible to provide a profitable service, if we concentrate on improving the way things are done. Instead of the current strategy of simply decimating our resources!

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 08 Dec 2008, 14:40

shaunman wrote:Why don't the cwu arrange a strike to change Royal(Important) Mail back into a service i.e. NHS, Police, Councils. Rather than a business!

Last years strike was partially linked to this - well at least in my area we had banners and placards saying "Defend the Postal Service" and the CWU march in September also was partially aimed at that. Perhaps their tactics for "Defending the Postal Service" is along the same lines as protecting our pension.

Post by **dvbuk55** » 08 Dec 2008, 17:31

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:
shaunman wrote:Why don't the cwu arrange a strike to change Royal(Important) Mail back into a service i.e. NHS, Police, Councils. Rather than a business!

Last years strike was partially linked to this - well at least in my area we had banners and placards saying "Defend the Postal Service" and the CWU march in September also was partially aimed at that. Perhaps their tactics for "Defending the Postal Service" is along the same lines as protecting our pension.

You old cynic

BELIAL · Post by **BELIAL** » 08 Dec 2008, 19:20

Big Daz wrote:Why cant we both? Surley in order to compete we need to be both?

Who are RM competing with ?

andy2007 · Post by **andy2007** » 08 Dec 2008, 20:13

BELIAL wrote:
Big Daz wrote:Why cant we both? Surley in order to compete we need to be both?
Who are RM competing with ?

No-one yet. But once we are fully privatised, we will have genuine competition. Unfortunately. The way we are being run down, at the moment. We will be in no fit state to do so, by the time that happens.

BELIAL · Post by **BELIAL** » 08 Dec 2008, 21:54

andy2007 wrote:
BELIAL wrote:
Big Daz wrote:Why cant we both? Surley in order to compete we need to be both?
Who are RM competing with ?
No-one yet. But once we are fully privatised, we will have genuine competition. Unfortunately. The way we are being run down, at the moment. We will be in no fit state to do so, by the time that happens.

Are the Cybermen real?

Wild Cat · Post by **Wild Cat** » 08 Dec 2008, 22:34

The competition is being created by the government,who are allowing companies such as TNT to take money straight out of our wage packets,through the unrealistically low down stream access price.

The current agreement has been engineered by the likes of Rupert Murdoch,and they will only continue with their onslaught on the union,who they see as one of the last bastions of the Unionised male dominated Nationalised Industries.

They are currently weighing up the situation and will probably wait until after the general election to pounce as they assess whether we are man enough to stand up and fight,or if we will roll over and die after a week of not being to pay our Sky tv subscription(which no self respecting postman should be paying anyway).

Those who are buying the competition story should take a look at the industries where this has already materialised and the temporary contract/part time workforce this has created.

Guys if you have any pride in being able to support your families then be prepared for the fight,if not then be prepared to spend a life on Gordon Browns tax credits which will peg you to the same standard of living of welfare layabouts if not worse.

spilie · Post by **spilie** » 09 Dec 2008, 00:05

strikes are just what they want, they know that there are bills,mortgages, credit cards etc etc and most people dont have the stomach to do without in order to achieve the result we want. I have always said an overtime ban would cripple RM, nowadays the business relies nearly entirely on overtime from the army of 22 hour and below contracts so the solution is simple NO OVERTIME

BELIAL · Post by **BELIAL** » 09 Dec 2008, 00:14

spilie wrote:strikes are just what they want, they know that there are bills,mortgages, credit cards etc etc and most people dont have the stomach to do without in order to achieve the result we want.

Is that just opinion or do you have any empirical evidence to back it up?

Baited breath

andy2007 · Post by **andy2007** » 09 Dec 2008, 07:24

Wild Cat wrote:The competition is being created by the government,who are allowing companies such as TNT to take money straight out of our wage packets,through the unrealistically low down stream access price.
That's precisely my point! The pretend competition we have at the moment, is getting a free ride at our expense. And RM is recouping these costs, by selling off POs, merging MCs, etc.. So by the time the Government manages to trick the Public into believing that we should be fully privatised. The pretend competition, will be serious competition (due to the profits made at our expense), and we will no longer be in a position to compete effectively. Because we will have been crippled by all the cutbacks.

The current agreement has been engineered by the likes of Rupert Murdoch,and they will only continue with their onslaught on the union,who they see as one of the last bastions of the Unionised male dominated Nationalised Industries.
You're kidding right?
Male dominated?
We haven't been male dominated for years! The higher levels of Management are still male dominated (so they aren't IN the CWU). But there are plenty of women on the Shop Floor, and the lower levels of Management.

They are currently weighing up the situation and will probably wait until after the general election to pounce as they assess whether we are man enough to stand up and fight,or if we will roll over and die after a week of not being to pay our Sky tv subscription(which no self respecting postman should be paying anyway).
There are more important things in life, than avoiding temporary financial hardship.

Those who are buying the competition story should take a look at the industries where this has already materialised and the temporary contract/part time workforce this has created.
That's precisely what I'm worried about! With all these cutbacks, and selling services at below cost price. They would most likley, rebuild the Workforce, using cheap labour. Who would be at the beck and call of RM. But never know how many hours they would be likley to work in a given week. So how would they be able to budget?

Guys if you have any pride in being able to support your families then be prepared for the fight,if not then be prepared to spend a life on Gordon Browns tax credits which will peg you to the same standard of living of welfare layabouts if not worse.
Of course I'm willing to fight. But what I'm saying, is that we should be fighting to protect the SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC. Not necessarily, to become a Public Service again. Particularly considering the mess that our Economy is already in.

Do you really think that Britain has enough money left, to pay the compensation that would be required to compensate all the Companies which are currrently trying to gear up to compete with us?

Just because there is no real competiton yet (merely the illusion of competition). It doesn't mean that it isn't going to happen, does it?

We should be fighting to have the Service built back up to the level it once was!

BELIAL · Post by **BELIAL** » 14 Dec 2008, 00:34

I think someone managed to scrape up 500 billion to bail out the likes of Barclays and a Spanish bank,i'll just check my back pocket

andy2007 · Post by **andy2007** » 14 Dec 2008, 05:02

That's true BELIAL, but at what cost to the Country?

The Government has borrowed a ludicrous amount of money, because they were scared that if the Banks went under. The whole Economy would collapse, and Britain would be bankrupt. Personally, I think that's a load of crap. But I'm not in charge, am I?

But where is the money going to come from, to pay back those huge loans?
They claim it will come from the Banks. But will the Banks really pay the interest too?
Will they pay it back quickly?
Or more likley, will we end up with large Tax increases, and cuts in funding for Public Services?

So I ask again: Do you really think that the Country can afford to pay the neccessary compensation, to our fake competitors?

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 14 Dec 2008, 07:13

BELIAL wrote:
Big Daz wrote:Why cant we both? Surley in order to compete we need to be both?
Who are RM competing with ?

It's own staff by the looks of things "our people" the faded mantra from a failed leadership!. If you don't have the staff on your side in any business you are not going to be successful and will ultimately fail.