I'm still undecided, my initial reaction was rubbish deal, vote no. Having had time to sit back and think about it rationally I will say the following:
Longer Saturdays; not good, but as I've said elsewhere, for me this day was ruined long ago (when SDD was brought in!) so I finish at ~11am now, then perhaps another 2 hours later at 1pm is not a "major" difference. Be thankful you don't work in a supermarket where you could end up working all day Saturday!
D2D/shift payment; again not good but lets face it, this one has been coming for a very long time! I keep reading about 10xD2D - do poeple really believe they will get this amount every week? I don't often get 3 lots, I have less than 500 houses so whilst I might lose out it's not as much as some perhaps.
In theory the potential extra workload should be accounted for, we all know RM - if they fail to deliver then we do as per RM's insistance - work the hours we're paid to do - no more, no less!!! Let them hang themselves.
Bonuses; most due to us anyway, in particular the "shares payments". The other split £1000 (200, 600, 200) I wasn't expecting so this to me is extra, not much but better than nowt and some of the conditions I'm sure we've already met in our office anyway?
Workload; The union were well aware of issues surrounding workload, christ it was even on the TV with that marine chappy!If they have failed to agree on workloads this time then I feel they are incapable of doing so again if we vote no. The only thing we can do is do the job properly, don't take the piss and there's nothing to worry about, let them go overboard trying to pin s**t on you.
1 hour less a week (forgot to add that initially!) - not sure how that will be factored in to things but, 1 hour less for the same basic pay is good for me!
Pay increase; 2%, not earth shattering, not nothing, I'm satisfied with it. Admnittedly next years seems low and the 3% or whatever the year after is open to change (which it will be) - but why oh why are we negotiating something so far in advance anyway? How many other companies look at pay-deals a few years ahead?
I've already commented on what would happen with a no vote elsewhere - but to reiterate the possible outcomes;
- They could get back round the table, do any of you believe that would happen? Do you honestly believe that if it did happen that the union would be capable of negotiating a deal you were happy with?? I don't have any faith left in them.
- We could continue with our current agreement, which as we all know is rubbish anyway and it's what got us in this mess.
- We go back out on strike long term, with less public support (how many fools have read and believed we are getting a superb deal that we are rejecting because we're greedy??), there would be less union support/more strike-breakers as some people are tired of fighting for it to be thrown away as it was last time. How much money have YOU lost to get this deal, how much more would YOU lose to get a better deal?
There, said my piece, still undecided, swaying heavily towards yes at the moment. When some further details emerge I will consider my choice again.
Some basic info about me; I'm a delivery man, been in the job ~15 years, have always gone out on strike and supported the union, never once crossed a picket-line. These days I have more commitments and going on strike is financially crippling (it was very hard at the end of 2009 with only minor strike action that we undertook) - would I go on strike this year if we reject the deal, regretably it might be a no. I threw away good money to support the union and in return I get this deal, I have no desire to throw away even more money making my life f***ing difficult just to get a revised deal (and revised is all it might be, there would be no new deal, just amendmants of the one that's on offer now, anyone that thinks RM will bow down and give you £40+/week for no D2D payements and £1000s in bonuses is quite frankly, deluded.)
I don`t want to be blinkered to that possibility .