Post bulletin 15: 12 November 2009
It is true the strikes brought Royal Mail to the table but are there any real concessions in the Interim Agreement?
Problem 1: no commitments, no pension
Royal Mail certainly doesn't think so, arguing that the agreement is “on all key issues the same as that discussed last month” before the national strike began (Financial Times). Back then they stated they intended to make no more cuts this year - after all, they usually suspend such cuts before Christmas, so this isn't a concession.
The dispute is about the massive cuts made earlier this year, which caused the strikes, and the huge ones coming next year, with walk sorting machinery and deliveries on vans (CDVs). On those there is no agreement to roll back the imposed changes, on the contrary, a commitment to “accelerate and complete the modernisation programme”.
What won't be in any final agreement is the pension. Managing Director Mark Higson has made that clear: “The Royal Mail pension scheme does not and cannot form any part of this agreement. Earlier this year the government put forward a package of solutions… however, the CWU chose to campaign against that package and the government has since made it clear that it is now no longer available.” So Ward, Hayes and the PEC have signed our pension away in the small print - it is not mentioned in the agreement.
In addition, Chief Executive Adam Crozier and Higson have blanked our union nationally for a year and imposed local cuts, so 12 pages about a “radically different culture” of industrial relations and future agreements are just bullshit. Negotiating during the crucial six weeks up to Christmas is just a time-wasting stunt. They are delighted to have the strikes called off, backlog delivered, and the tills ringing up to Christmas. After that the most likely outcome is they stop pretending to talk and go back on the attack.
Problem 2: Toothless Review Process
The agreement says the TUC and ACAS (the government conciliation service) will agree an “independent person to oversee and monitor progress” in the talks between the CWU and Royal Mail. But this “independent” will have to be acceptable to Royal Mail and the Labour government, and so place “necessary” cuts and workload hikes above workers' jobs and the quality of service.
Unfortunately, Dave Ward and PEC agree that modernisation cuts are inevitable and we can't fight them all. They believe the union can only negotiate the numbers down, possibly win a pay rise or bonuses to bribe those of us still lucky to have our jobs, like they did in 2007. So the negotiating table is tipped against any decent deal coming out of the talks.
The agreement also includes a review of the talks' progress in the week starting 16 November and then every two weeks: 30 November, 14 December and then it's Christmas! The union would also have to give a week's notice for the strike to be legal. So Royal Mail really only needs to play it safe for a few weeks and all the pressure of the Christmas rush will be off.
This will just encourage Royal Mail negotiators to play hide and seek, giving just enough to avoid triggering industrial action. Then if we are forced to restart the strikes, Royal Mail, Mandelson and the media will scream bloody murder, putting massive pressure on our weak-kneed leaders to back down. Hayes and Ward may authorise local action to blow off some pressure, but will likely duck calling a national strike even if talks are blatantly going nowhere.
Problem 3: Local strikes pulled too
Worse, the Interim Agreement ties the hands of the 500 offices that held local strike ballots and took action in the summer: “The CWU will suspend all national and local industrial action and no further local or national industrial action will take place during the course of these negotiations.”
And the CWU leadership has the temerity to say: “We must now use the strength of the agreement for local reps to re-engage and reach local agreements.” After months of strikes, we are back at square one!
Executive action has not been withdrawn. Instead the agreement calls for local reviews and a return to the industrial relations framework to resolve local cuts, which could take weeks - certainly that will be Royal Mail's aim. Managers will just give reps the run around, committing to nothing more than cosmetic changes to the cuts. The bosses will at best split the difference and after Christmas claw any concessions back as they bring in the next round of cuts.
