Talks continue

[General Mannerheim]

The only benefits alot of ordinary posties will be getting after Royal Fail and the union have had their way is Income and Support benefits.

[Martin Walsh]

What are these "benefits" you speak of?

I did detail the basis of our claim in another thread rumours but without giving the detail away , we are looking to resolve last years pay freeze , we are then looking at the biggest pay rise in history with all the monies paid in year 1 , we are looking at a reduction in the working week either a gross or net , its the same cost the gross is 2 hours off the workng week , the net will be 1.40 but if you then dont have paid meal breaks your hourly rate shoots up. Better option for part timers and in future pay rises and obtaining full time jobs in the future ( but there is an acceptance that needs to be explained to members who believe that this will mean no one has a meal relief when in fact the law ensures that a meal relief can be taken the difference is most other companies dont pay for them.In any case how many members work their breaks now or put them at the end of their duty )We want the money from colleague share to be paid with this deal ie £400 even if the share price has halved and even if the targets haven't been met.

In addition we have other requirements in terms of increases in overtime ,sa , christmas bonus , maternity and paternity.

Now with regards to your question another limley , first off I think you should remove the name of the rep from your post. But i have no idea why they are asking you to do that , but it is not my division so you need to ask them. My own view is that I have never accepted that the indoor workload is correct as the planning values are flawed. One which is clear is that the indoor workload assumes that all your mech bundles have no missorts well we all know different. All I can assume is that the rep in question who has been around for years must have a good reason for it.

But like I said we are not using it in London.

Now fishtank what do we do if it goes wrong , well what we always do . We come out and fight if we have to for a better deal and more money.

Yes we all know that more work will be needed before we get the members back on board , but I am sure we can after all if some of the posters on this board speak for the wider membership then the members are up for the fight still.

Lets all wait and see. I think we are all as frustrated as each other and that includes our negotiators believe me. It would have been easy to walk away but they have a repsonsibilty to over 120000 members and need to go the extra mile to see if they can force Royal Mail into the right deal for us.

Royal Mail know that their plan can only be introduced in the same offices where they have always been able to introduce things without a national agreement. They cannot introduce it in those offices who are prepared to fight. Thats Royal Mails dilemma.

[mailman71]

dingo's right in the sense royal mail know the offices to target and those they know will stand and fight,the union dont have it easy in dealing with management if that programme on panorama with the marine is anything to go by,even in the face of overwelming evedince that the walk could'nt be done in time management still refuced to accept this.
i think that the present management are the most awkward set of buggars that the union have had to deal with in 37 years of service.

[shimmyrule]

well dingo, i think youll agree that almost everyone on here waits for your informed input, but its so frustrating for people on here waiting and waiting for a resolution.
So many folk have questions that need answered,everyone wants to know what the future is gonna be like, how and when its all gonna be implemented, whos gonna get to leave, who wants to stay, will the thousands of vacant duties be filled, re-signs,local or national agreements, the list is endless.

Im bloody glad that the xmas bonus is to be looked at at long last,cheers for your input.

[dvbuk55]

I cannot believe that it has taken three months to reach the conclusion that Royal Mail are not going to give us anything and even more germane that we allowed the strike ballots to expire, the one weapon that we had.

Had we had the balls in the hierarchy to actually stand firm last November and not listen to the appeasers we would have had a settlement by now - lions led by donkeys? - even a donkey would be ashamed of this performance.

Lets not make excuses, intransigent management, bad weather, change of negotiators, moving the tent from place to place - get to the f*cking point - tell Royal Mail they either settle or the membership will be given free rein to take industrial action as and when any disagreements occur and there are plenty of those and if the union goes broke? so what! it's our money and at least it will have been used to good effect instead of perpetuating a dying breed.

[BelfastPostie]

Dingo thanks for the info mate but I have a question. Is there going to be any agreement on Pegasus in these negotiations? There has recently been proposals been put in our unit to take out a couple of walks with probably more further down the line. Is there goin to be an agreed walkin speed, call rate, health and safety spec, toilet breaks etc? Also, should our rep be in on these talks for savings whilst there might be an agreement later? Cheers

[fishtank]

dingo wrote
"Royal Mail know that their plan can only be introduced in the same offices where they have always been able to introduce things without a national agreement. They cannot introduce it in those offices who are prepared to fight. Thats Royal Mails dilemma."


Royal Mail can only introduce things without a national agreement in areas where area and divisional reps allow it and in some cases recommend it.These area reps and divisional reps can only do this if CWU HQ is disinterested or lacks the balls to stop it.Thats CWU HQs dilemma

[dvbuk55]

dingo wrote
"Royal Mail know that their plan can only be introduced in the same offices where they have always been able to introduce things without a national agreement. They cannot introduce it in those offices who are prepared to fight. Thats Royal Mails dilemma."


Royal Mail can only introduce things without a national agreement in areas where area and divisional reps allow it and in some cases recommend it.These area reps and divisional reps can only do this if CWU HQ is disinterested or lacks the balls to stop it.Thats CWU HQs dilemma

And how long will those "strong" areas last in isolation - once the changes start and they will, CWU HQ left us out to dry when we asked for advice and was told to go ahead and six months later it was whoa don't agree to anything - well if it does get to the stage where the "strongholds" require national help it will be god help them.

[AnotherLimey]

Thankyou for your reply Dingo, the reason i thought it ok to include the divisonal reps name in my post is that he and the area reps are openly working with the area managers to bring this indoor working tool in and remove fulltime dutys from repicks to accomadate part timers, the whole thing has me at a loss to be honest, like you i thought this kinda stuff was not agreed and was being put on the back burner until this agreement was sorted out.

[HootyMacBoob]

Some say the best time to take IA is x-mas.IMHO the best time to take strike action is just before a general election, reason is there is more chance of public support mainly due to the total distrust Joe public has with mp,s. All the parties rely on posties for their electioneering leaflets and polling cards postal votes etc etc. So if we have to be back outside the gates to get a decent agreement well here’s one CWU member that’s up for the fight.

[baldrick]

Me too Hooty - and the weather should be better for picketting by then. :mfo

[HootyMacBoob]

Me too Hooty - and the weather should be better for picketting by then. :mfo

Its gonna a be a barbecue spring so say the weather men baldrick.

[smokerjim]

Me too Hooty - and the weather should be better for picketting by then. :mfo

Its gonna a be a barbecue spring so say the weather men baldrick.

Right, I'm off to ebay for head to toe Barbour.....sod it, I'll get a pitch fork and drive the screws and strike breakers out onto the pavement & picket indoors!

[PostieWithTheMostie!]

At the end of the day Royal Mail got what they wanted through the earlier strikes that ended on the 5th Nov and that was for every Postie to go out and deliver in the run-up to Christmas so they made their money, at the company's busiest time, thus hitting their targets, thus helping some Top-Dogs make their annual Bonuses too - And for the Union to agree when we had them by the BALLS was probably someone getting a nice little back-hander to put the talks back to the start of the New Year.

[MinisterofCucumber]

I agree with Hootie.

We should strike before the general erection with just one demand - that the UK government takes over the pension liability like the French government were allowed to. This is what we should have gone out for in the first place and all parts of RM should have been balloted.

Dingo mentions the biggest pay rise in history and a reduction of the working week.

It's easy to increase someone's hourly rate if you cut down the number of hours they work. Say I was earning £400 a week for working 40 hours, I would be on a hourly rate of £10. If I was only paid for 35 hours, I would be on a hourly rate of £11.43. My rate has gone up by 14.3% but I'm still taking home what I was before.

If any area reps have the nerve to try this on, I hope they make sure they are not standing near any windows and are wearing their running shoes.