Was there any point in striking

[upmyroad]

It's very clear now that our own union is hell bent on working us like donkies so that those at the top can safe-gaurd their job's. They even come onto this forum and give us 101 reason's as too why we need to deliver longer walk's. Just what was the point of striking. Was it just so that the CWU could let everyone know they could still rely on the member's to act like lambs to the saughter.

[Exrep]

Possibly only a few weeks now and we will find out and im so not looking forward to it.

A prosperous 2010 it will not be for postal workers.

[AnotherLimey]

Possibly only a few weeks now and we will find out and im so not looking forward to it.

A prosperous 2010 it will not be for postal workers.

I dreed it too Monkey, seems we are gonna be shat on delivery wise, holding my breath.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Possibly only a few weeks now and we will find out and im so not looking forward to it.

A prosperous 2010 it will not be for postal workers.

I dreed it too Monkey, seems we are gonna be shat on delivery wise, holding my breath.

Good practice for when the shite hits our nose and no doubt will continue to rise.

As a Corporal once said to me "Its not so much that the we are in and out of the crap, but that its the depth and quality that varies"

[krussel]

I still think its early days. We were never going to back them to back down on modernisation at any cost but hopefully at least it can be controlled to some degree when it does come in.

[DirtyHarry]

2010 could be the worst year ever for everyone on deliveries. The insistance that we do what will be impossible for most of us, because "well, your union signed up to it", will be incessant.

Unless, we, the membership, vote against any deal which further undermines our terms & conditions. Colleagues must not be afraid to kick into touch yet another underwhelming deal because they fear a return to striking, or it could be some of us that are kicked into touch, and for no good reason, by RM's incompetent management.

[Martin Walsh]

Up my road you were balloted on 3 issues , 1 was Royal Mail breaking national agreements , 2. was to resolve Royal Mail`s imposed revisons , 3. was to achieve a national agreement on all aspects of Royal Mail modensation plans.

When the dispute started their was no talks with the union at National level , and Royal Mail were saying that pay and modensation allowed them to introduce what they wanted. On top of that Royal Mail were breaking national agreements on a routine basis and on top of that were imposing change within the work place by executive action.

London , parts of Scotland , Peterborugh , Bristol , Plymouth and a number of others decided if we didt fight these plans then Royal Mail would impose all the following on the membership , longer spans , door to door into workload with lifting the ceiling without any payment , imposed standards , removing the IR framework , MTSF being withdrawn and manager deciding the process , further budget cuts imposed , more mail centres closed without agreement , no improvements to basic pay , the closure of the pension scheme , cuts in collections , tendering out of network services , cuts in allowances and overtime , and the real threat of complusory redundancies.h
The local action forced management into negotations. The local action forced the national union to ballot which forced through the media and public pressure into Royal Mail agreeing a joint statement.

As a result of that joint statment the majority of cases regarding incidents in the workplace or on the picket lines , which protential would have led to their dismissal being resolved without dismissal in the vast majority of cases.

There are now over 170 agreements to resolve the executive action which took place . Still some way to go but now a quarter of all offices have now been resolved.

Plus the most intense national negotations with the aid of acas and the independent chair. The issues which are being discussed are very complex and very detailed and possibly the negative comments of some on here maybe explain by the fact that perhap they are not aware of the changes which will occur within the industry over the next 12 months. No one will be compelled to do anything but you will have the choice in your own office on certain aspects of the agreement.

Plus the fact the union is still in the workplace and that we are still negotiating on the members behalf is possible the biggest test that Royal Mail"s plan to destroy the union has failed again.

But of course some believe that a win in the dispute was Royal Mail putting the flag up and giving up all their plans for the industry. That was never going to happen but we have now forced them into talks and things they never wanted to do on the imposed revisons and displine cases and standards.

[dvbuk55]

Dingo says:


" No one will be compelled to do anything but you will have the choice in your own office on certain aspects of the agreement."

This is the same sort of "deal" that has landed us where we are - it was the loose agreement of 2007 that has allowed RM to do what it has done and there should be no watering down of the responsibility the union had in that undertaking - it was not a unanimous agreement, the PEC did not agree and were sent on voyages of discovery to persuade people to vote yes.

There will be no mistake this time - if the deal does not meet our expectations then we will vote NO. Any deals within deals, no strike agreements, increased delivery spans, increases in D2D without suitable financial reward will not be welcomed. It may not be all about pay BUT it is an aspect to the agreement which needs to be addressed - the last pay awards were risible - some may get perks apart from their Royal Mail pay but most of us survive on it so it is important to make sure we DO get a suitable increase.

[pony]

We're absorbing straight after new year.
I've been working over all christmas and was told union had agreed a no cut off policy.
Walks take 4 hours if you do them normally but gaffers think they should be under 3 and a half because thats what billy runner does it in.
Nothing is going to change and 5 hour duties could be a reality.Thats a 5 hour RM duty,so you're looking at 5 and a half +.
If thats the case i will lose my job anyway because i can barely cope now.Never been as stressed and knackered when i get home.

[Exrep]

Dingo im not sure how high up you are in the union or what contacts you have a HQ .

I urge you to relay the feelings of many who use this site to there air feelings be known to HQ.

You quoted "Plus the fact the union is still in the workplace and that we are still negotiating on the members behalf is possible the biggest test that Royal Mail"s plan to destroy the union has failed again."

If all of the above that dvd has mentioned is agreed for better the words many reps like myself will jack it in ,so there will be no union in the work place and R/M will get what they want with the HELP of the CWU then were will we be.

Im 100% union but how am i like many others can be in a union we dont agree with. Im still hoping for the best as i do not want to give R/M a free reign over the lads in my office.

[fishtank]

dingo wrote
"The local action forced management into negotations. The local action forced the national union to ballot which forced through the media and public pressure into Royal Mail agreeing a joint statement."
"That was never going to happen but we have now forced them into talks and things they never wanted to do on the imposed revisons and displine cases and standards."

My take on this is a little different.
I believe now with the benefit of hindsight Royal Mail have in fact forced the CWU into negotiating an agreement none of it's members want.
I believe that RM knew that the changes,which will be massive would never be implemented without agreement but they wanted it on their terms.
These people are not fools,with the possible exception of Tolhurst and would have known the consequences of executive action especially in London.
I think the only thing that took them by surprise was how long HQ would take to get involved.

dingo wrote
"The issues which are being discussed are very complex and very detailed and possibly the negative comments of some on here maybe explain by the fact that perhap they are not aware of the changes which will occur within the industry over the next 12 months"

That's either patronising or just plain insulting I'm not "aware" which.

dingo wrote
"When the dispute started their was no talks with the union at National level "
"Plus the fact the union is still in the workplace "

This i believe is the main driving force behind the negotiation now,and i'm not knocking it.I would hate to work in RM without a union.
However if HQ believe i will accept any price for this they can think again.

[jessicarabbit]

Dingo do HQ and the PEC have a back-up plan when/if the members reject this new agreement/sell out with a huge NO vote? Or do they believe we can bought with a 'pay incentive'. I do not know your history but would be interested if you have done a delivery in the last 18 months? Physically the majority of over 50 year olds will not be able to cope and RM will delight in performance managing them out with reduced pensions. There is no doubt 2010 will be a huge year for RM and CWU who will survive who will claim victory who will be left with a job???????? All these questions and more the members need to be answered.

[seeker019]

Above all, remember people, WE NEED THE PUBLIC'S SUPPORT
thats why we returned to work for xmas

[headscrewedon]

I believe now with the benefit of hindsight Royal Mail have in fact forced the CWU into negotiating an agreement none of it's members want.
I believe that RM knew that the changes,which will be massive would never be implemented without agreement but they wanted it on their terms.
These people are not fools,with the possible exception of Tolhurst and would have known the consequences of executive action especially in London.
I think the only thing that took them by surprise was how long HQ would take to get involved.

Spot on, Fishtank.

Royal Mail have played a crafty game this year. Just look at this snapshot from Postcomm's website on 7 April. RM were clearly intent on provoking a series of strikes - they'd already sought Postcomm's approval to waive compensation payments for strikes that HADN'T EVEN STARTED when they asked for that waiver !!!!!!!!!!!

See http://www.psc.gov.uk/news-and-events/n ... 09-10.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dvbuk55]

Above all, remember people, WE NEED THE PUBLIC'S SUPPORT
thats why we returned to work for xmas

Lets not get too carried away with "public support". By and large the public support their local postie, they are able to recognise that the service they receive on a personal level is far removed from the service that Royal Mail provide. They also realise that the reasons for the strikes are not a personal attack on them but an attempt to maintain what is left of the service. We returned to work not to pacify the public but to appease Royal Mail, despite protestations to the contrary that an interim agreement had been reached.