Postal strike: three-day stoppage

[Stormproof]

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Postal strike: three-day stoppage likely as CWU plans series of 24 hour strikes
Householders are to be hit with a three-day postal strike next week after it emerged that unions are planning a co-ordinated series of 24 hour stoppages to cause maximum chaos.


By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor
Published: 7:00AM BST 14 Oct 2009

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Householders are set to be hit with a four day postal strike next week after it emerged that unions are planning to manipulate strike rules to cause maximum chaos to the Royal Mail.

The backlog is estimated to amount to 100 million letters and parcels, which will take a fortnight to clear, potentially causing disruption to Christmas deliveries.

Under the plans, the Communication Workers Union is planning to organise a series of 24 hour strikes to cause widespread disruption to the postal network.

This would see workers in different parts of Royal Mail, such as mail centres, delivery offices and sorting offices, downing tools at different, stretching out the disruption for two to three days, but meaning workers only lose one day's pay.

One industry source described the move as “cynical” but said Royal Mail was powerless to stop the action. The source said: “It is within the rules. It means that workers will only lose one day’s work but cause disruption for three to four days.”

Yesterday the CWU set out a series of fresh demands, including one for a new three year pay deal, by Thursday to avoid the national strike. If no agreement is reached, the first national stoppage for two years is likely to start on Thursday, Oct 22.

Postal workers will then stop work on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, however, as no work is done on Sunday, it will effectively mean four days of inaction.

The stoppage would cause chaos in the mail system, with cheques, driving licences, credit card bills and even applications for secondary school places caught up in an emerging mail mountain.

The last national strike, eight days of action in September and October 2007 resulted in a postal backlog of 200million items of mail, including millions of cheques and credit card bills.

Typically Royal Mail delivers 75 million letters and parcels every day. An ongoing series of rolling local strikes, which has been focused on London since the summer, has created a backlog of 30 million which is still being cleared.

There are likely few deliveries in London when staff at most of Royal Mail's delivery and sorting offices and mail centres are expected to strike for 24 hours. This is the 16th week of strike action in London.

Unless there is agreement, the national rolling strikes could continue until Christmas. Consumer groups have already urged people who buy presents over the internet or by mail order to place their orders now to avoid disappointment.

Following last week’s vote in favour of strike action, the CWU now only has to give seven days’ notice to Royal Mail before the next stoppage.

Yesterday, a spokesman for 10 Downing Street described a national strike as “completely self-defeating” and said the Government was keen “to encourage the two parties to keep talking to each other and to try to settle this before it becomes a more formal dispute”.

The CWU’s leadership met on Monday before setting out its demands in a letter to Royal Mail yesterday, saying its offer would help restore customer confidence and resolve long-running disputes over jobs, pay and work levels.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the union is asking for a new three year pay deal, agreement on the principles underpinning a change programme, a new definition of working conditions and an independent review of the alleged bullying culture at Royal Mail.

The union said it wanted to give one last chance to avert the national walkout. Dave Ward, the union’s deputy general secretary said: “Postal workers do not want to take strike action but neither are they prepared to put up with continuing attacks from a management which is failing.

“More importantly, we have offered what we believe is a genuine alternative to reach a lasting agreement. This is an opportunity to avoid a national strike, restore customer confidence and resolve the concerns of staff.

“If Royal Mail really is sincere about reaching an agreement we expect them to take up this offer for the interests of all involved in the mail industry.”

Royal Mail condemned the threat of a national strike as a “blatant and deplorable attack on customers and on the future of the UK postal service”, including planned local stoppages in London today.

Mark Higson, Royal Mail’s managing director, said: “The CWU has written to us with a ‘peace offer’ which is in reality a series of fresh demands against Royal Mail.

“If they are genuinely interested in peace, I challenge them now to live up to their claims to care about customers and the future of the postal service and to honour their pledge to call off all strikes, including those planned for London.”

The news came as Lord Jones of Birmingham, a former minister in the Department for Business, said here would be “no sympathy” for Royal Mail among the public if a strike starts, and compared it with the miners’ strike in 1984.

Separately, Lord Jones said in a letter to a newspaper: “Every hospital, school and prison has seen working practices blown away by modernity, job losses and flexible working methods.

“Twenty five years ago, Arthur Scargill chose precisely the wrong moment to take on the British people in a fight to the finish. I never thought turkeys would vote for an early Christmas again.”

[bandit1157]

Mark Higson, Royal Mail’s managing director, said: “The CWU has written to us with a ‘peace offer’ which is in reality a series of fresh demands against Royal Mail.

“If they are genuinely interested in peace, I challenge them now to live up to their claims to care about customers and the future of the postal service and to honour their pledge to call off all strikes, including those planned for London.”

yes we did make a peace offer, which was ignored until after the ballot for ia. fresh demands ? does he mean reasonable requests, he is accusing the workers of doing a lot less than what management have done. care about customers and our future, it's obvious to anyone with the cuts in service royal mail management don't care about customers or our future. the men at the top will be long gone once they've raped and pilllaged royal mail. mark higson needs to change his medication.

[tailfly12]

The only way where going to get this sorted is down tools for a hole week. I know its going to hit your pocket but its the only way where going to get anywhere. :mfo

[DirtyHarry]

Lord Jones of Birmingham, another no-mark who sees the price of everything, but the value of nothing. According to that dickhead, because other groups of workers have been shafted by turds like Jones, then postal workers should simply assume the position and allow themselves to be buggered. That may have been a pleasureable experience for Jones when he was fagging for his prefect at Harrow, but it's not for me.

[prowler]

Lord Jones of Birmingham, another no-mark who sees the price of everything, but the value of nothing. According to that dickhead, because other groups of workers have been shafted by turds like Jones, then postal workers should simply assume the position and allow themselves to be buggered. That may have been a pleasureable experience for Jones when he was fagging for his prefect at Harrow, but it's not for me.

Are these twats still paid £100 to turn up every day? Money for nothing?
More snouts in the gravy train that you and I are paying for.

[rockytony67]

Its Digby Jones former Directer of the CBI what do you expect

[baldrick]

Its Digby Jones former Directer of the CBI

And former New Labour (unelected) Minister.

[DirtyHarry]

Are these twits still paid £100 to turn up every day? Money for nothing?
More snouts in the gravy train that you and I are paying for.

£100 is paid to peers of the realm as an incentive to turn up to sittings of the house of lords? Crikey, I never knew that. We, as a people, must be one of the barmiest on earth!

[DirtyHarry]

Its Digby Jones former Directer of the CBI what do you expect

Oh, that cnut. I wouldn't expect an awful lot of anything remotely worthwhile from a turd like Digby, what a crap name, Jones.

[F0zziebear]

This strike will not change anything in my opinion.

If the CWU were serious about changing the status quo then indefinite strike is called for. A three day strike, whilst causing hassle for customers and management will not change their stance. I could be wrong and willing to be shown as being so.

The last time there was a national strike it do not change anything, possibly slightly delayed SDD. The main people who lost out were the posties who lost pay whilst on strike.

Other management in that particular strike who 'scabbed' as it were got overtime to make up for it.

If you want government intervention then it has to be so prolonged that it brings the country to a halt in terms mails communication. A three day stoppage whilst taking two weeks to clear (possibly longer) will not achieve that.

I suspect as well that public sentiment will not improve during this time, if anything it will be worse and your position in the public eye will worsen.

Again happy to be shown otherwise

F0zz getting the logs on the fire

[Lounge Lizard]

"This would see workers in different parts of Royal Mail, such as mail centres, delivery offices and sorting offices, downing tools at different, stretching out the disruption for two to three days, but meaning workers only lose one day's pay."
- "DOWN TOOLS" - They just come out with the same old blurb for every strike story.
Do they think we use spanners to sort the mail ?

[Stormproof]

More like spanners running RM!

[dvbuk55]

TBH Fozzie, public sentiment good or bad can only help the situation, they may get on to their MP or ring the customer helpline again complaining, only to be told that the situation is beyond their control. Don't forget the postman is on the street 6 days a week, well 5 when the strikes begin and each day he/she will be telling the public the reason is because RM are intractable in their style of management and devoid of any real imagination in creating a lasting service to the public.

All this chatter of losing business forever - don't make me laugh - there are 29 other "mail" companies each of whom rely on RM for the final mile. DHL are offering to deliver a single envelope letter for £5.95 collected from WH Smith - yet postcomm think we can do it for pennies, so if the general public want to use the alternative - feel free. The fact that the postage on a birthday card by DHL would be 5 times the cost of the card won't make any difference, but hey there's always online postal services for cards isn't there EXCEPT .......................yep you've guessed it.

Now lets see if TNT or Deutsche Post or any other of these so called competitors are going to go ahead and set up a final mile service - it's the bogeyman to scare kids, its a threat that doesn't exist.

Maybe the regulator will see that our services are being sold cheaply and that in order to build a sustainable service we must be paid a reasonable price - I mean if DHL can do it for £5.95 - we can do it for half that and save everyone money!

[robd]

Fozz,
The thoughts of the public were not foremost in my mind when i voted for industrial action,they
have no concept of what the job entails anyhow,many still think we have two deliveries,and only
have one bag of mail!
But this ignorance is somewhat matched by the unprofessionalism of Royal mail management and
it has to be said the ineptness of the CWU.
How can they have had in the region of 60 meetings,and yet still not seem to agree on what they are
actually disagreeing on?
What many senior postmen are actually reporting is we are fighting a battle on both fronts,against
RM and the CWU,attacked on one side and abandoned on the other.
For a communications industry there's a deafening silence from both sides,and we are finding out
'unofficially' from forums or sky news.
The jobs become unbearable for many and we are letting them both know,it needs sorting out!!
It's like the old saying,speak to someone, how you expect to be spoken to,well we accept the need
for change,but don't expect to be intimidated and treated with contempt.

[opgpat]

"This would see workers in different parts of Royal Mail, such as mail centres, delivery offices and sorting offices, downing tools at different, stretching out the disruption for two to three days, but meaning workers only lose one day's pay."
- "DOWN TOOLS" - They just come out with the same old blurb for every strike story.
Do they think we use spanners to sort the mail ?

LOL, the state of some of the letters you see comming from MC it looks like they've had a spanner taken to them. God bless em sorting machinies.