Striking V acheivement

[Puppetmaster]

Talking to a Postie from another office yesterday got me thinking,Absorbing is happening every where,we have had pegus so rounds are big.
I and many others have no problem with either working my full hours and or the indoor work for absorbing,obviously not going over your contracted hours,I have no Problem with doing a 3.5 hr walk although its really takes it out of you by the end of the week.

The main issue most of us have with he absorbing of other duties is the outdoor element.
When absorbing came in Managers said it would only be the indoor work needed to do initialy.Now without warning they are starting to send us back out again if we finish early even if it is only by 20 minutes or so,and you have already gone over 3.5 hours delivery.Managers are telling our rep they do not recognise 3.5hrs delivreies.

Most people as I say are unhappy about going over 3.5 hrs ,especialy if you have got wet or really hot out side,or if you could have a break between going back out again in addition to your meal relif then that might be ok.As other Companies that require you to do a full shift you get regular breaks,as most posties now work at a certain speed to get the round done.Been proven Managers cannot betrusted to keep to their word.

So after all this we go on Strike ,the reason for striking I FULLY SUPPOURT and agree with.

But what does striking acheive after all look at all the strikes we had in 2007 ,yet the leaders of the CWU agreed the very same deal wich we are going on strike for now.Are we going to loose lots of pay again for the leaders who loose nothing and might get a nice safe Labour seat somewhere to agree to something wich is not acceptable agian for most posties?

When did striking actualy win or acheive anything for anybody,if you look at the unions in the past ?
RM means buisness now,we all know the their Management stlye
And their bully boy tactics,
what is the Answer? I am unsure RM v CWU

CWU membership definatley benefis some,with overtime, -S/A and other good jobs being dished out in a favourable way to certain groups and not for others if you are not part of that group,So should we loose lots of pay for practice like absorbing that RM will introduce in the end anyway.

[stokes11eg]

This time.we are fighting to keep our jobs as contracted originally-we are fighting for the Postal service in general,
and the preservation of our wages.In NOT fighting you are losing anyway--make no mistake,your job will be reduced in hours, with less money,your working conditions will get even worse,and your time on the street even longer. You are very lucky only to be out for 3/12 hours. for many of us, for a couple of years now, our walks, even without the absorbtion.
is way in excess of that.
Nobody wants to strike, nobody wants to lose money,but there are times when you must.

[ashtoninho]

This time.we are fighting to keep our jobs as contracted originally-we are fighting for the Postal service in general,
and the preservation of our wages.In NOT fighting you are losing anyway--make no mistake,your job will be reduced in hours, with less money,your working conditions will get even worse,and your time on the street even longer. You are very lucky only to be out for 3/12 hours. for many of us, for a couple of years now, our walks, even without the absorbtion.
is way in excess of that.
Nobody wants to strike, nobody wants to lose money,but there are times when you must.

totally agree mate,some walks in our place are taking 4hours plus nearly everday,its only the time off (14week/a year) thats keeping in this job,its the older guys i fell sorry for im only 35 but come saturday night im f****d,god knows what the lads who are knocking on 55/60 fell like

[dubdaz]

But what does striking acheive after all look at all the strikes we had in 2007 ,yet the leaders of the CWU agreed the very same deal wich we are going on strike for now.Are we going to loose lots of pay again for the leaders who loose nothing and might get a nice safe Labour seat somewhere to agree to something wich is not acceptable agian for most posties?

When did striking actualy win or acheive anything for anybody,if you look at the unions in the past ?

I totally agree that it does seem like every time we strike and lose money we go back eventually for what was offered more or less in the first place!Most of the people in my office have this view as well especially after last time.I have a real fear that when the national ballot goes through it will be a no vote because of this

Now what our people have got to realise is that without the threat of stikes and a stong union, employers would offer far less money every year and our working conditions would be even worse.If we dont strike this time=union kapput,then watch how much worse it gets.

[Phantom]

You can win a strike but to do this the union guidence needs to be on sound footing. Strike action needs to be consistant and hard hitting, Fridays for all mail centres, Saturdays for all Delivery offices and Monday for all other networks and this needs to be repeated until RM talk and work with the CWU. The CWU in principal is a good organisation but it doesn't have a master plan, it does need RM to make this plan. The 2007 strikes were a complete and utter balls up, they split the pensions away, why? they agreed on flexibility, why? they agreed on using pegasus to plan walks, why? - So all in all it was a disaster all round and i said at the time we will be back in this position in a year or two time and i was right. Agreements aren't black and white, they are too vague and can be interpreted however RM or CWU choose which is no good to us Postmen/women, we need good clear instruction to working practices.

3.5hrs walking is the max and if you finish before your time over this summer period then RM must find you indoor work, YOU CAN REFUSE any other outdoor work if you have hit your limit and this is a national agreement with full backing from the CWU.

[madelin4]

I was talking to a lovely lady who works in a very fancy Hotel. She told me that she now works less hours, 40 down to 22. I said to her i hope they paid you well to drop down, she said no, never got a penny... crazy!!

[POSTMAN]

The winning starts in your office,i can not believe i am saying this AGAIN but where are the reps when the bollox happens.
There are agreements,especially the 3-30hr outdoor part ffs.

The 3-30 hrs outdoor work is the biggest agreement that we can use against RM,use it!

[steven100]

Regular postie 3.5 hours long , reserve 4 - 4.5 hours long.
Fit postie 3.5 hours long, unfit postie collapsed on the street somewhere!!!!!!

All we are is numbers, the service rm provides is poor, the job is getting worse by the minute. We complain about the management not listening but our union doesn't listen.

We are doomed!!!!!!

[ashtoninho]

The winning starts in your office,i can not believe i am saying this AGAIN but where are the reps when the bollox happens.
There are agreements,especially the 3-30hr outdoor part ffs.

The 3-30 hrs outdoor work is the biggest agreement that we can use against RM,use it!

on our last re/pick the walks in my office were all set at 4hours to 4hours15mins dont get me wrong some of um are a bit better than that but likewise some are worse and this was all agreed with our cwu rep who then took EVR

[kanuuuuuu]

The winning starts in your office,i can not believe i am saying this AGAIN but where are the reps when the bollox happens.
There are agreements,especially the 3-30hr outdoor part ffs.

The 3-30 hrs outdoor work is the biggest agreement that we can use against RM,use it!

on our last re/pick the walks in my office were all set at 4hours to 4hours15mins dont get me wrong some of um are a bit better than that but likewise some are worse and this was all agreed with our cwu rep who then took EVR

walks were set at 4.15 ???! how is that even possible. Id contact the area cwu rep. If theyre set at such a long time frame how do you have time to complete them without rushing your bolox off ? and if your are rushing around just so you can complete... WHAT FOR ?!?!

[ashtoninho]

The winning starts in your office,i can not believe i am saying this AGAIN but where are the reps when the bollox happens.
There are agreements,especially the 3-30hr outdoor part ffs.

The 3-30 hrs outdoor work is the biggest agreement that we can use against RM,use it!

on our last re/pick the walks in my office were all set at 4hours to 4hours15mins dont get me wrong some of um are a bit better than that but likewise some are worse and this was all agreed with our cwu rep who then took EVR

walks were set at 4.15 ???! how is that even possible. Id contact the area cwu rep. If theyre set at such a long time frame how do you have time to complete them without rushing your bolox off ? and if your are rushing around just so you can complete... WHAT FOR ?!?!

this is happening all over now i know 2lads in other offices and its coming in there very soon,rm seem to think every thing will be fine due to new tec machines at mail centres it wont be long before its in YOUR OFFICE as well,and as for going on strike next month the cwu can stick it there arse its our last union rep who agreed for all this to come in then f****d off cant justify going on strike for some thing weve all ready been doing for 6 months

[kanuuuuuu]

The winning starts in your office,i can not believe i am saying this AGAIN but where are the reps when the bollox happens.
There are agreements,especially the 3-30hr outdoor part ffs.

The 3-30 hrs outdoor work is the biggest agreement that we can use against RM,use it!

on our last re/pick the walks in my office were all set at 4hours to 4hours15mins dont get me wrong some of um are a bit better than that but likewise some are worse and this was all agreed with our cwu rep who then took EVR

walks were set at 4.15 ???! how is that even possible. Id contact the area cwu rep. If theyre set at such a long time frame how do you have time to complete them without rushing your bolox off ? and if your are rushing around just so you can complete... WHAT FOR ?!?!

this is happening all over now i know 2lads in other offices and its coming in there very soon,rm seem to think every thing will be fine due to new tec machines at mail centres it wont be long before its in YOUR OFFICE as well,and as for going on strike next month the cwu can stick it there arse its our last union rep who agreed for all this to come in then f****d off cant justify going on strike for some thing weve all ready been doing for 6 months

well if you want the union to lose the yes vote it would most likely cripple the unions power to a point that not only would you have no chance of having your deliveries revised youd be very likely looking at a job where youd get little to no sick pay, very little to no holiday pay, flexible hours as and when RM need you, more D2D - unpaid and no prospects of a pay rise for years until inflation sets a wage which RM sees as more viable. RM would pretty much squeeze everything out of you before they trim it down enough to go private and make a few people very rich.

[mailman71]

everybody has to vote for strike action because as others have said if we lose the ballot then working conditions will be victorian.
royal mail want to break the union and make us pay for the last strike, we are the last of the big unions who are up for a fight against a board who want us to work more for less pay.

[bandit650]

How about looking at some of the things that taking strike action has achieved.
1)Working conditions are alot better than they would have been,Royal Mail would still have us working in un-safe conditions like poor lighting,unpaid breaks,ALT'S that had bits hanging out of them,deep coffins that you could have slept in,working out of them damaging your back,working out of red sleeve yorks that had not been maintained to a standard.etc.
2)Wages that are far lower than we have now,our wages were quite poor once upon a time,and to be honest its not the best but its better than some,of course it is alot more expensive to live now and yes some managers are paid way to much but that is endemic of alot of businesses.
3)Holiday and allowances payed.
4)Day off,so instead of working 7 days aweek we only now work 5.
5)The company is forced to work and adhere to certain conditions and they are forced to comply with the law.
These are all things that unions have done for the work force and i know that taking IA is not the best way all the time but i think RM has had this coming to them for a long time.The work force are only going to put up with so much before they kick up thier heels and say no i am not prepared to keep putting up with an errosion of our terms and conditions of employment.
I am trying to look on the positive side of this,they are taking the mick out of us and along the way they are depleating a once great service which belongs to the public of the UK defend it or loss it!

[luckyllama]

I worry about a strike now, the timing is wrong everything is too difficult and people cannot afford to lose money. I dont think CWU will be able to get a good deal right now and we will end up with a bad deal just like last time.