bullying counter managers

[The BFO]

H&S have now come on board, fingers crossed that something can finally be done....

Please keep us posted. I would like to know widespread Stress Related Long Term sick absence is amongst Staff and Managers in the Crown Office Network.

[the old girl]

Well the H&S visit was useless. And we have now lost another colleague to the ever growing number of clerks off sick with stress.

[Running Man]

Many thanks for keeping us posted.

I'm really sorry to hear that another one of your colleagues has gone sick but sadly I am not at all surprised by the 'useless' Health and Safety visit.

I think it's pretty obvious by now that workplace stress is one of the many things that is simply talked about in POL. To give another example, BM's workload is very often talked about but with absolutely nothing done about it that actually helps anybody.

Shame on the H&S rep, shame on the CAM and ultimately shame on the alleged senior managers of POL.

I genuinely hope your office situation improves but with people like those mentioned above 'on your side' I very much doubt it will.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

If I may be so bold as to suggest that this is a result of RMGs approach to its people.

ATM they treat us as a RESOURCE to be used than as an ASSET to be encouraged. Thing is if their profit aim as not so short sighted, a long term change of mind set would IMO bring in greater profits going forward ( I'm learning Management Speak)

[Mr Love Pants]

Well the H&S visit was useless. And we have now lost another colleague to the ever growing number of clerks off sick with stress.

And what is the CAM doing about this - or is this normal at all their offices - this is now half of your staff off with stress- surely they must take some action.

[The BFO]

When will the business wake up to the fact that their counters managers are costing the company a fortune, being allowed to bully the counter clerks to try to increase sales. In my office 4 are now off sick with stress related illness, and we only have 10 staff!

Why not wait for the next ‘Life Focus Day’, and then go ‘On Strike’ in protest?

It has been spoken about, but not that easy. As we have so many off sick, we have borrowed in staff and a new casual doing full time. The office could still open.

Sorry to be blunt and unsympathetic but I am not convinced that you are prepared to do anything about this yourself. You mention H&S and CWU representatives, the Crown Area Manager, and you have placed a post on this forum. A number of suggestions have been put forward here but you seem to have a variety of excuses for why none of them will work.

Did the Tolpuddle Martyrs wait around for forms to be completed, and official channels gone through?

I think not.

[the old girl]

I see what you are saying, but i dont find it that simple. Our union is based over 100 miles away, H1's have been done, territorial, cam, Debbie Moore etc know what is going on. Also the fact that we are all ill or on the brink, which isn't an excuse, it's a fact, which all makes it harder to deal with. Last time i spoke to the union a stike was mentioned so will see. Again not an excuse but fact that only 2 left of our staff will be due in any 1 day. I will be getting the union to explain what we need to do though.
The latest i hear is that we are all now harrassing the Manager with our complaints......so its our fault now

[Running Man]

It's a rotten situation you are all in at the moment and I can almost feel your pain and frustration from the last post.
As an outsider I think now that Debbie Moore is aware of the problem then it is up to HER to sort it all out. Any involvement the CWU have should be with HER and they should not waste their time with your useless CAM who seems to have dealt abysmally with the problem, if he/ she has dealt with it at all!
As HR Director, if Debbie does not deal effectively with your problem then what message does that send to the other 'Little Hitlers' who are running around bullying staff to achieve our totally unrealistic targets?
I would urge the CWU to watch Debbie's actions very carefully and challenge her at every opportunity as she now has a chance to personally tackle bullying and harassment from the highest level.

[the old girl]

Where will it all end i ask myself, yet another colleague has joined the sick list......I keep thinking, surely someone should be asking questions as to why?

[The BFO]

Where will it all end i ask myself, yet another colleague has joined the sick list......I keep thinking, surely someone should be asking questions as to why?

I suppose what you have already is the effect of a Strike – staff brought in at expense to cover, the logistics connected with that, and so forth. Why not just sit back and watch them struggle? I think it’s called Passive Resistance .

Is your Area Manager just delaying until April when the problem may disappear for other reasons?

[billyhayes]

Is your Area Manager just delaying until April when the problem may disappear for other reasons?

Precisely. If they can get as many staff 'off the payroll' between now and April, be it those that quit or paying off with Ill Health Retirement, then it will be less of a burden on their plans to shut many more crowns and have to pay redundancy.

What can be better for POL than "Well we may as well just shut X Crown Office because a third of the staff left, a couple went long term sick so we payed them off, (on the cheap), and the staff that are remaining are disengaged and do not have any vision."?

To be honest any new thread that anyone starts on RMChat between now and April will more than likely end up coming to this conclusion as ANY actions that POL management enforce are all geared towards this one single event.

Don't bother asking "Where's the CWU in all this?"

Isn't it clear enough? They will not come charging over the crest of the hill like the Light Brigade to save the day. They ALREADY know the full impact of the closures and how many staff are to be lost. Of course this will mean less income for them as less members paying in subs. But remember that RM now pay a substantial amount to CWU thanks to the 2010 And Beyond Agreement, so any losses from subs is more than countered by this 'back hander' as that is what it is. Blood money, my friends.

Again I openly invite any CWU rep to shoot me down for what I have just said, but they wont. I know all of the reps on the counter side here and they have become deathly silent over the past 12 months.

We are on our own people. We stand alone, together.

[The BFO]

I completely agree. I don’t think there ever was a genuine ‘Sales Agenda’, it was merely there as a distraction to the real intent – more Crown Office closures. There remain only the following questions:
1. How many offices?
2. Which Offices?
3. What terms will be available to displaced staff?

[Running Man]

Not surprisingly I agree with Billy and The BFO.
We are almost six months into the financial year and the Executive Committee of POL must know the plans for the future by now.
How many offices?
They could sell off or even close the lot!
They could maintain a network of 'Flagship Offices' but then again aren't they the most expensive to run given the size and location of most of them?
It was no secret back in 2007 that WH Smith wanted more offices than POL (and the CWU) were prepared to give so what a perfect time for them to come knocking on the door again.
Personally I remain very skeptical as to the success of the WH Smith offices but I honestly don't think the leaders of POL care about their success. As long as these 'millstones' are off the accounts of POL and somebody else is at least keeping them open and offering some level of service then that is all that seems to matter for now.
I've said it before and it's getting closer by the day but come March 2011 we're all looking for another job!

[billyhayes]

1. How many offices?
2. Which Offices?
3. What terms will be available to displaced staff?

These are the questions we should be asking our managers, CAMs and reps. Every WTL, every week, every other opportunity.

The veil of bullshit has been pulled back.

We DEMAND the TRUTH. NOW.

Go amongst them, people.

Put those questions out there.

Be like a stuck record.

Get the word out to the customers who depend on us.

If there's one thing that POL dislikes, it's bad publicity, and the whistle being blown 6 months early...

[Running Man]

I thought it may be worthwhile resurrecting this thread.

It's been over a month since anybody posted and I wondered if there's been any developments.

Could 'The Old Girl' give us an update on what's going on in her office please? I think there's quite a few people who will be very interested to know.