swindon mail centre

[UNION IVOR]

Union claims Royal Mail staff being bullied
9:30am Friday 28th August 2009
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sear ... g_bullied/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
By George Hamilton »

A PLANNED strike by more than 800 Royal Mail staff follows bullying and harassment from managers, a union representative has claimed.

About 800 postal workers from Dorcan Mail Centre and 70 drivers from Royal Mail’s logistics depot, also in Wheatstone Road, will walk out for 24 hours from 4am on Wednesday.

The planned strike follows months of fruitless negotiations over changes to working conditions.

Issues which have led to the industrial action include changes to earning potential, unsociable working hours and confusion over contracts following the decision to sort mail for Oxford and Reading in Swindon.

Last night Royal Mail urged the Communication Workers Union to call off the strike, but CWU branch secretary Chris Rye said: “Nobody sacrifices a day’s wages lightly – so it shows how strongly the workers feel.

“Morale is very low, and one manager even admitted there were some women in tears last week.

“The way changes are being made across the area amounts to bullying and harassment.”

Mr Rye claimed the number of workers visiting union representatives with complaints had increased ten-fold in the last six months.

He admitted the strike would cause mail to be delayed and would leave a backlog of mail to be sorted on Thursday, and added: “It will affect people in Oxford, Reading and Swindon, but we feel that management driven changes are giving the public a worse service anyway.”

Another national CWU ballot on whether to take industrial action regarding pay and conditions will be put to union members on Wednesday, September 9.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “First and foremost we strongly refute any allegations of bullying or harassment. “We will be doing our best to mitigate the impact of strikes in any area where the CWU is taking action.

“We again urge the CWU to call off its strikes and its plans for a ballot next month.

“We cannot understand why the union is claiming to support modernisation when it’s pursuing a policy of actively opposing the changes we need to make to ensure there’s a successful future for the business, its people and its customers.

“Any changes we are making are fully in line with the existing agreement on modernisation and everything we ask our people to do is reasonable and all the changes we are making – which have been already been implemented in many offices around the country – are in line with both the letter and the spirit of the 2007 pay and modernisation agreement on flexible working practices.”

:mfo :cfo

come on swindon

[DGP1]

“Any changes we are making are fully in line with the existing agreement on modernisation and everything we ask our people to do is reasonable and all the changes we are making – which have been already been implemented in many offices around the country – are in line with both the letter and the spirit of the 2007 pay and modernisation agreement on flexible working practices.”

What a load of bollocks

[jockstrapp]

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “First and foremost we strongly refute any allegations of bullying or harassment

More feckin lies from these people, are the incapable of telling the truth. F#CKING LIARS