What type of postie are you?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Don't need to get laid, mind is on the strike at the moment, and very little else.

In this fight, both sides seem to be losing.

Why is no-one on this majority pro-strike website taking my views on? Surely not everyone is simply following orders, there must be someone else out there to whom the choice of strike or don't strike is not an easy one. There are reasons not to strike, and these should be balanced with the reasons for striking. To those whose decision was as close as mine but who chose to go with the strike, please help me to colour the landscape on here, because it doesn't need to be so black-and-white. I guess this stuttering attempt at a discussion is seeking to discuss in general why people choose to strike, perhaps not specifically why a postie might strike. Just because you don't like the job you are being asked to do, that doesn't always lead to strike action. So to anyone who can say more than 'Crozier's a #$!@' or 'Our office is a joke!', why not expand a little on how you came to your final decision.

Or perhaps I've come to the wrong place.

I ve just sat and read through this whole post and GOD its so boring and mainly pointless, it going around in ever decreasing circles which will just end up with abuse.

AND BOARD WARNINGS IF PEOPLE DO - I AM GETTING VERY ANNOYED THAT PEOPLE ARE IGNORING THE RULES AND AS SUCH I AM STARTING TO HAVE A ZERO TOLERANCE TO THOSE WHO THINK HURLING ABUSE AND CALLING PEOPLE NAMES, NO MATTER HOW MILD IS AN ACCEPTABLE FORM OF DEBATE.

ONE OF OUR MAIN GRIPES IS B&H FROM MANAGERS LOW TO MANAGERS HIGH, YET WE ARE BLIND TO IT WHEN WE DISAGREE WITH SOMEONE'S VIEWS - NAME CALLING IS HARASSMENT.

[robmacca]

While I don't agree with Peejays conclusions or actions, I DO question everything - even a strike.

It's a sensitive subject, especially to each and every one of us who made the conscious decision to strike as a last resort.
I work in an office where management imposed cuts without any agreement, they changed walks without consideration for bag drops, welfare stops etc - something the Union have always ensured before walks being changed. This new way of working (steam rolling changes without agreement) is NOT the way forward, it is NOT the way a workforce will be won over.

Sadly RM management from the top down have failed to engage the workforce and in failing to do this, have already lost the battle. Change by agreement is the only real working way forward. If we hadn't taken this last resort (to strike) then RM wouldn't even be in talks now, we'd be seeing even more 'executive' action against jobs/conditions. Luckily for RM there are plenty of people in the business who are in it just for what they can get, but there are plenty of us here who care about this public service and the future generations.

(Sorry if my reply is a bit long-winded but I do feel passionately about being a postie.)

[Tuffers]

Where do I start. Well, I have no way of proving my genuineness

, that I can think of. That some folks don't trust my posts is a result of their refusal to believe that a postie can talk like this.

I hoped for considered responses from experienced posties, because I am still making up my mind. Before the word 'strike' started drifting through my office at the beginning of this month, I had no notion of such a level of general discontent. Sure there were changes underway in the office, and the management and union guys were holding regular meetings to get everyone thinking along the same lines, but striking?

So the question of strike, or don't strike, has been thrust upon my unsuspecting mind, and I'm in the middle of a process of trying to find out just what type of postman I really am, what I stand for, do I stand with the company or the union, am I really that serious about my job. As yet I'm not ready to make an honest decision, and if I did I would be listening to others and not to myself. I think I need time, but also I need the considered views of posties who know the job and the history of the fight between company and union. If I really didn't care, then I wouldn't bother coming to this website to search for answers.

My aim is to paint a broad picture of both my background and the rationale behind my thoughts on the strike. I want to give as much material (or ammunition, if you like) as I can to anyone reading my posts, so that ideally they will have to give my posts some thought before replying with their own considered views.

By asking me to side with the union, then you are asking me to break faith with the company, a company I have no real personal gripe with. To me that is a serious decision, and not one that I will take lightly, because it will lead me down a path of long-term industrial action. Many of you who have shared your thoughts with me are already way down that road and are well ahead of me in forming your views about the company, plus you have a much stronger bond with the company, which is kind of ironic. Ironic, because perhaps that is a criticism that is being laid at my door, but really I am taking neither side. I'm sorry I have made a few of you defend your support for the company itself and what you believe it (ought to) stand for, I am starting to see that it's possible that some or many may be striking from a position of wanting to save the company. That then would make your strike even more difficult, because actually (as both sides concur) you are harming the company through doing so (which is one reason that is holding me back). If indeed the majority (or better, all) of those on strike are doing so for the sake of the company, and the company management is failing to see this, then shame on the company for treating its employees in this way and not heeding their concerns. But this is probably not the case, and as the union members mistrust the company management, I'm sure it would only be fair if the company management felt it their right to be sceptical about the union's motives. I think that a lot of the public are also sceptical of the true beliefs and values of those going on strike, but that says more about the breakdown of society than it does about the public's views on the strike. Yet as the backlog piles up, the public will be tested, we all will, and the truth may be revealed as to the real motives driving the arguments for and against. Some people say that in a war there are no true winners, only those that have lost the least.

Don't say that because of my beliefs and actions I don't care. I am deeply troubled, and that shows something of the pride and respect I already have for the job. 'If I really cared for the job, I would be striking' - some have said. I'm not so sure. This strike period is more of a learning curve for me. If I could get off the bus, I would, but I'm afraid that as long as I remain an employee of Royal Mail then I'm in for a very bumpy ride in seasons to come. Perhaps there is a third way (am I dreaming, it is after 11pm?), a way that suits neither the company or the union. Perhaps if I just try my best, that being all I can do and feel entitled to do, then neither side can touch me. So, at the end of the day, I've done my job, they've done theirs, and we move on from there to tomorrow, and if that's not good enough then something changes, e.g. them, me, or the job, until momentum is regained. Then the 'bigger picture' takes in the view that in order to move on and retain momentum all the cogs in the machine have to turn freely, the big and the small, all cogs being vital to the success of the mission, which is to serve those who use the machine (yawn). I hope that the machine in operation today is not consigned to a museum of the future, which is what not a few members on this site are forecasting will happen if the union does not win this fight. I hope that the machine (the one presently stalled and sitting by the wayside) develops on into the future and continues providing work for its members and a service for its users, that indeed history is being made, and that in the museum will be not a thing of the past but merely a stage in the development of the place we call Work.

Hope. That's what I'm doing. I don't want Saturday to come. By going to work I will not be making a statement, I will just be... going to work. The story accompanying the exhibit at the museum, of when the posties went on strike and (who knows what?) will not feature me, because I'm not playing a part in it. I will go unnoticed, hopefully, on Saturday .

tl;dr oh just tell the viewers on here where you work, then we can see if you're genuine?

'What type of postie am I?' A grafter who gets the job done inside my hours but gets frowned upon from my gaffer because I get a freakin move on!

A postman that's seriously thinking of working to rule when it's all over. Just imagine the sh!t RM would be in if we all worked to rule???

[Yahoorsur]

your a troll and I claim my £20.
Make the cheque payable to CHAS.
Cheers.

[smokerjim]

Tuffers - a word to the wise, don't work to rule unless it has been sanctioned by the Union after an official ballot....otherwise it can be construed by your managers as unofficial IA, and your pay will be docked accordingly. Just find out exactly the standards and standard operating proceedures that RM expect you to follow, and attempt to follow them to the best of your ability. Some examples are take 20 mins of your meal relief within 5 hours of starting your shift, stop moving when checking your bundle for mis-sorts and never taking short cuts across gardens or leaving gates open.

You will recieve immense pressure from your mangers to complete your walk on time, possibly even threats of action against you, but stand firm, get advice from your rep ( if you ever get witnesses to the pressure you should be able to put in a grievence against the manager ), and remember, all you ever need to say to any threats is "Willful delay? No boss, I'm only doing my job properly - to the standards laid down by Royal Mail." There are few things more satisfying than a frustrated manager turning on his heel having lost the latest battle.

[smokerjim]

your a troll and I claim my £20.
Make the cheque payable to CHAS.
Cheers.

I'd prefer mine made out to the Charitable Association for Service Hospitality - or you could just use it's acronym CASH! [/hijack]

[UNION JACK]

Psalms 101:4. If you display selfish behavior with God or your neighbor, God will not put up with you for very long. Because God is a righteous God, He cannot be in the presence of the scab. The scab place's more honor on themselves than God. God counts this type of scab as wicked and He will not know him. Neither will God put up with a scab God will not suffer anyone that has a proud heart against God or his fellowman (Psalms 101:3-4).

[peejay14]

Another idle thought:

Change the name of this site to CWU-CHAT ?

[Yahoorsur]

Another idle thought:

Change the name of this site to CWU-CHAT ?

where's the cheque?
Childrens Hospice at Kinross,look forward to ur £20.

[dvbuk55]

Another idle thought:

Change the name of this site to CWU-CHAT ?

You really catch on quite quickly pj - this is a non affiliated chat room - however, it must be obvious to most people that 70% of the members are also CWU members and of those most are picket line members. You may also have noticed that we are equally damning of both RM and the CWU in equal measure when necessary. Some people fit in and some don't but everyone has the opportunity to voice their opinion, most of us can take criticism and humour in equal measure but some take life far too seriously and think too much.

[moggymoz]

Another idle thought:

Change the name of this site to CWU-CHAT ?

....... thats it, Mods...please... (ban)

[Stormproof]

Another idle thought:

Change the name of this site to CWU-CHAT ?

....... thats it, Mods...please... (ban)

I agree, it is time PJ went elsewhere, he has just come on here to wind people up, shame Hellmails forum shut down he would of been well suited on there.

[moggymoz]

Another idle thought:

Change the name of this site to CWU-CHAT ?

....... thats it, Mods...please... (ban)

I agree, it is time PJ went elsewhere, he has just come on here to wind people up, shame Hellmails forum shut down he would of been well suited on there.

There is also PMC...or maybe he knows that already :cfo :mfo

[peejay14]

Not going anywhere. Will persist in making my voice heard. Maybe I'll try to be more concise in what I want to say. If you read all of this thread, some posties have tried to make sense of my posts and replied positively. I'm sure that there are lots of other posties in my position to whom going or not going on strike is far from a clear decision, and who also perhaps feel that the mood of the majority (union) is not presently minded to listen to their questions, their uncertainties, and their fears. Maybe I would make more ground here if the mood around the camp was not so on-edge and hostile, i.e. if there was not an on-going strike. I guess I hoped to find a more open forum of discussion than this. The reason I searched on-line for some answers is because I felt left behind by the sudden movement of the union to strike, and the mail-room is no place for question-time at the best of times. The stakes are high in this strike, and people are ultra-defensive of their own positions, to the extent that differing points of view have little or no chance at the moment of being considered in a calm and moderate fashion. I understand this better now than when I started posting. It's a tough time for all, on both sides and none. I wish both sides and all caught up in the dispute good luck.

[smokerjim]

*snip* I guess I hoped to find a more open forum of discussion than this. The reason I searched on-line for some answers is because I felt left behind by the sudden movement of the union to strike, and the mail-room is no place for question-time at the best of times. *snip*

Don't give up now! Try, try, try again - and if that doesn't inspire you, then I invoke the wise words of the King James Bible, from the Book of Genesis, chapter 6 verse 16 - 17.....all the advice you need is to be found there

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se ... ersion=KJV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;