3.5% unlikely!

[Martin Walsh]

Inflation was 4.2 CPI last month and 4.5 RPI. Now for every .1 of the percent it is equivlant to around 35 pence. So at the moment there is roughly about £2.45 pence for CPI and £3.50 for RPI. Now most believe inflation both CPI and RPI will come down torwards the summer.

Now of course it is worth the union seeing whether they can get more and they will do and they are also committed to trying to get an early deal for next year and a replacement for colleague share. Now someone said in this thread that no where in the deal did it say a link to EU state aid and they are right but equally the issue of state aid and of course the fact that the government has now got authroity to sell us. Both of these issues are quite improtant changes to any business since when the agreement was being negotiated in 2009.

Now how anyone can think that the EU state aid , the government sell off does not have a bearing on issues really must not understand the threat which Royal Mail are under. That is not scare mongering cause quite frankly I dont really care if you believe it or not casue any one who is dealing with the issue knows the state aid issue is massive and industry changing in both ways. Fish your wrong the EU have not apporoved the Royal Mail business plan they are on record as saying they do not believe it will work and that they do believe Royal Mail are in a financial mess.

Now like I say I do believe the £3.5 % will be paid , as it would stir an hornets nest of resistance to change throughout the industry.

By the way thanks to so many who have thanked me for giving them information by personal email and this thread. Cheers and its to you that I will keep updating this site on issues when information is just rummour and heresay. Cheers !!

[fishtank]

Fish your wrong the EU have not apporoved the Royal Mail business plan they are on record as saying they do not believe it will work and that they do believe Royal Mail are in a financial mess.

I didn't say the EU had approved the business plan dingo,i said they were aware of the agreed 3.5% pay rise.
It's not the EU's place to approve Royal Mail's business plan,it's their remit to approve or otherwise the Governments application to provide Royal Mail with what may amount to state aid.
What is to some state aid is to others robbing us of the pension assets and writing off loans that were in fact made with the company's own money.
The words massive fraud and shysters spring to mind but there are some who are desperate for this to go through because they see the alternative as more frightening...they might be right...they might not.
How things have changed since the days we actually fought things like this...

[Lincox]

Dingo, inflation has been running in excess of 5%and it is these costs that we have already had to absorb in comparison to the wage increases we have received in the last two years. The fact that inflation may reduce to 3.5% later this year, should not be the basis on which the current pay award in April is based on. That should be the starting point for next years deal. If Royal Mail are in such a precarious state, please tell me why they have paid out millions of pounds in managers bonuses on top of the pay award to the chief executive for yet another poor performance. This together with the waste of money in providing new uniforms, the world class mail initiatives and the purchase of delivery method vehicles that have stood unused. This is not the sound financial constraints of a company in trouble, whereas when it comes to the troops, every conceivable method of reducing earnings, whether it be pay increases, reducing overtime fairly or unfairly, low contractual hours reducing holiday and sickness expenses, have been pushed to the limits. This should be a time when a shrewd company would be making sure that the troops are valued, both in respect and fair and reasonable pay and terms, to encourage a spirit of all being in it together and working for a common cause. Unfortunately this board of directors and senior management have taken the common route for tough times and that is to screw the workforce as hard as they can. No foresight, no plan and no bl..dy idea how to run a business.

[dvbuk55]

I think dingo sometimes gets confused between state aid and RMs Business Plan - the current business plan has been in operation since the agreement was first reached as an interim measure in 2009 with funds already borrowed to facilitate the modernisation. The EU has no say in the business plan per se what it can do is block the Governments plan to take on board the pension deficit which in turn affects the saleability of RM. I have heard managers suggesting that the sell off will be this year and are worried that they may be replaced but Chester Zoo said no, in reality of course 2012 is out of the question and next year would be more realistic. The managers are right to be concerned because they will probably be forced to reapply for the positions they hold and lets face it how many managers would be able to pass scrutiny?

Now if there is a new business plan maybe we should be given a glimpse of it before any agreement is reached. I do wonder if these talks are actually about the problems we are facing with the current agreement or the preliminary talks in preparation for the next stage.

A replacement for colleague share? - do I need another plastic carrot? - for replacement should we read promises not kept again?

Of course we aren't party to the big picture, we only reap the reward

[gb93]

Will EU aid if granted.....Aid privatisation and make it more likely to speed the process up.
Or will it slow privatisation down or even stop it if not granted.

[MinisterofCucumber]

Nobody knows the future.

At the moment, we are the only organisation that can deliver to every address in the country.

Show us some respect.

If the customers want early delivery which means that postal workers get paid early allowance and are allowed to rush around in return for 'job and knock', then so be it.

If privatisation means an unreliable service, reject it.

The bottom line is getting the mail to the destination as quickly as possible

External customers use us because we are more reliable than the private sector. For deliveries, reliability is king.

[dvbuk55]

Nobody knows the future.

At the moment, we are the only organisation that can deliver to every address in the country.

Show us some respect.

If the customers want early delivery which means that postal workers get paid early allowance and are allowed to rush around in return for 'job and knock', then so be it.

If privatisation means an unreliable service, reject it.

The bottom line is getting the mail to the destination as quickly as possible

External customers use us because we are more reliable than the private sector. For deliveries, reliability is king.

Well I'm afraid it's cost is king moc, hence the huge increase in DSA - but once privatised and the network opened further and the USO destroyed you may find there will be localised small companies taking on the load especially in large urban areas. Getting the mail through as quickly as possible is really a myth unless it is date sensitive which 99.9% of the mail isn't and people are prepared to pay for that. Most customers couldn't care less when the credit card bill arrives or the bank statement or anything else for that matter they pay for it to be delivered - end of. Only Granny pays for 1st class anymore thinking she is getting a better service - totally deluded of course because all mail, regardless of its standard, 90% of the time goes out at the same time recently highlighted by the media.

[wandle]

Dingo, inflation has been running in excess of 5% and it is these costs that we have already had to absorb in comparison to the wage increases we have received in the last two years. The fact that inflation may reduce to 3.5% later this year, should not be the basis on which the current pay award in April is based on.

Too bloody right, Lincox.

Could you imagine Royal Mail's reaction to us asking for a 7% increase, on the basis that inflation may increase to that level later this year ?
You are quite correct that the increases in the past two years - because of the higher inflation rate - have in effect become pay CUTS.

One thing that always gets me is that whatever level of pay increase the union pitch for in the pay negotiations, they fail to allow for the fact that we pay income tax on any pay rise we get. So, were they by some miracle to achieve a 5% pay rise for us, even at the lower of the inflation figures quoted by Dingo (CPI, at 4.2%) we'd still be going backwards in real terms, since the net increase in take-home pay would be only 4%, as one-fifth of any rise is swallowed in income tax alone.

No wonder we always feel we're falling further and further behind the real rise in prices of food, gas, electric, petrol etc etc

[Cut Off King]

Super Bob does it again

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/0 ... ries-50000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plus a seperate 2012 Games bonus !

Good for them !

[dvbuk55]

Super Bob does it again

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/0 ... ries-50000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plus a seperate 2012 Games bonus !

Good for them !

FFS I thought you meant Bob Gibson I was practically ordering the new Merc.

[fishtank]

FFS I thought you meant Bob Gibson I was practically ordering the new Merc.

I was practically ordering a new laptop.
I thought this one was f****d.

[dvbuk55]

FFS I thought you meant Bob Gibson I was practically ordering the new Merc.

I was practically ordering a new laptop.
I thought this one was f****d.

I don't suppose an amalgamation is in the offing - we could certainly do with some of those negotiating skills - and perhaps a little less of the cosy cosy we're getting now. I'll bet Bob Crow didn't buy the old......"we're so poor, we haven't any money, you need to drive the trains faster, we couldn't hardly pay our managers bonuses"

[POSTMAN]

Chuggington have got London by the balls,when they can't get them by the balls it will be a different story.
As someone who is very big on unions,i have my doubts with this lot.
Can't believe i actually posted that,especially on here.

[daveyeff]

Super Bob does it again

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/0 ... ries-50000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plus a seperate 2012 Games bonus !

Good for them !

FFS I thought you meant Bob Gibson I was practically ordering the new Merc.

ha, you,re getting crow mixed up with chicken! bob the knob is the cwu rep

[dvbuk55]

Super Bob does it again

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/0 ... ries-50000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plus a seperate 2012 Games bonus !

Good for them !

FFS I thought you meant Bob Gibson I was practically ordering the new Merc.

ha, you,re getting crow mixed up with chicken! bob the knob is the cwu rep

It's certainly grand we can make light of a desperate situation. Here we are a 200,000 strong workforce being led through a serious modernisation by a union that refuses to communicate wtf is going on - that's if it knows of course. Judging from the last two debacles, Royal Mail hasn't told them what to say yet - if they bother at all.