Open Letter explaining why postal workers are striking

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Open Letter explaining why postal workers are striking to defend services from East London Postal Branch

The East London Postal Branch would like to apologise to you our customers for any inconvenience suffered due to industrial action.
We would like to explain why strike action has been taking place in London for the past 4 months and why that action is about to be taken nationally.

Earlier this year the unelected business secretary Mr Peter Mandelson made his second attempt to privatise Royal Mail, he made his position clear at meetings with the Union that if the unions campaign to stop privatisation was successful that the government would relinquish its responsibilities to underwrite the current pensions deficit current estimate £10 Billion pounds created by Royal Mail making no employer contributions for 13 years but more menacingly that he would give Royal Mail the go ahead to make change within the industry which would consist of cutting 16000 more jobs and worsening the terms and conditions of ordinary hard working decent postmen and women.

Mandelson has been true to his word, after the Unions successful campaign to stop privatisation Royal Mail have forced through change without agreement de-recognising the Union at local level and imposing impossible and unachievable workloads on post people working in collection processing and the delivery of mail.

When these imposed standards are unable to be achieved Royal Mail managers are using bullying tactics threatening and in most cases removing people from pay. The Union have consistently offered to stand down industrial action if Royal Mail will meet and start negotiating constructively with mediation in place, all of these offers have been rejected, Royal Mails objective is clear fully supported by government they want to drive Union Representation out of the Business which is a legal right of all working people.

The Union and its members do not want to be taking industrial action we all have families to support and some are in real financial hardship.

Royal Mails latest tactic is to employ 30000 agency staff in an effort to break the strike none of these people will be trained or security checked and ultimately will add to the chaos.

The Union and its members recognise and accept the need to change and modernise we have negotiated an agreed over the last 3 years a reduction of 40000 jobs and successfully introduced new technology into the business.

Our aim is to reach agreement with Royal Mail that secures the future of Postmen and women. This is not a failing industry Royal Mail declared profits of £321 Million this financial year on the back of that profit the Royal Mail board have carved up between them £10 Million in performance related bonuses, Postmen and women where rewarded with a pay freeze.

Royal Mail has lost the confidence and trust of its workforce the only way it can be regained is to stop threatening and bullying their staff and come to the table and negotiate with the Union.

If we sit back and do nothing Royal Mail will run the industry into the ground then carve it up into pieces to sell if off to outside investors.

Your Postmen and women are part of the fabric of our society and we are determined to reach agreement which delivers the first class postal service that you the public deserve.

John Ayres & Angie Mulcahy CWU Area Representatives East London

[rhino49]

[IWW Fellow Worker]

Brilliant!

[BarryFromEastenders]

[woofwoof]

great

[DirtyHarry]

Now let's just hope there's enough people in East London who can read it, let alone understand it.

I'd be feck all use in public relations.

[steven100]

He's posted it in 10 different languages

[DirtyHarry]

He's posted it in 10 different languages

It's those with English as their mother tongue, I worry about. I have some right doughnuts on my walk, if I've told 'em once the reasons why we're striking, I've told 'em a thousand times.
I'm fast losing patience with the "great idiot public."

[opgpat]

It's OK but IMO suffers in that it doesn't emphasise the effects all the cuts will have on the service and customers experience of Royal Mail. The public largely don't give a toss about us the Royal Mail workforce, all they want is a good postal service. A lot of people even if they do read that will think - so feckin what, I've got a tough job too and have to put up with crap, get back to work and deliver my feckin xmas packets u lazy feckers. It's 'me me me' with most people these days so you have to tell them what it means to THEM not what it means for US.

[rollingthunder]

excellent