MDEC PAY RISE - POSSIBLE STRIKE ACTION?

[Louise]

If there is more strike action is it over pay 2.5% or is it there more to do with the business plan? However the government will not pay anymore, they have made that clear enough. This time around will the strike have more impact than before? What will be fighting for the same as before or has it changed?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Oh boy their latest offer is worse than the one from April see http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/forum/vi ... php?t=4436 for details.

BTW I am not going to strike over the pay offer of 2.5% in fact I would accept a pay freeze, but what they are trying to do is make us work harder, for longer, for less pay. Also they want to change your hours at very little notice, change to monthly pay but give no details on how this would happen (could you survive on 1 weeks pay for 4 weeks). The want to rip up previous agreements which protect pay, they want to bring in annualized hours so some weeks when it is quiet they only want you (and pay you) 30 hours and on busy weeks making you work 50 hrs. Sorry but I have a life outside work and cannot work anymore than 40 hours a week, and I cannot budget properly if I do not know how many ours I will be paid from week to well.

Its all take, take from RML and no give.



Oh by the way this new offer affects everyone in RML including MDEC staff.

[Jessika]

things that WILL afect us at mdec (assuming i have understood it all properly - please correct me if i'm wrong)

Removal of nlght shifls in delivery units
This will change the time scales we get to key the mail out, thereby changing the shift times and numbers needed on each shift

weekend working
RM want to overhaul the whole weekend and bank holiday operation, this inculdes stopping collections, therefore less mail (if any) for us to key meaning no (or at least less staff) weekend shift and no weekend overtime

efficient summer scheduling
This means we will be forced to take our anual leave during quite periods whether we want it or not

Flexable working
This means flexable working hours. Say good bye to the early finishes we get now, you will be expected to make that time up during busy periods like xmas (you could find yourself working 10 hour days)
Anybody who is trained to work elsewhere will be made to do so if we run out of stuff to key (without being paid the same rate as employees who have been employed to do it in the first place). presumbably those of us who are not currently trained to go work at mail centers could recieve that training
when there are high levels of sick absence we will be expected to stay longer to make sure the mail is keyed with no overtime paid to us
at short notice we may be asked to start early or finish late if mail volumes are high. we will be working differnt hours on different days of the week, and may not even still have 5 days working followed by 2 days off. Attendence will be worked out weekly (40 hrs hours per week full time)


MTSF Agreement
currently if your job disappers the union will get you a job somewhere else in the company with protection to your pay and conditions. RM want to scrap this completly so they can make you redundent with no redundancy package given and no option to work elsewhere


pensions
you will now have to work until 65 (instead of 60) for the same amount of money

[baldrick]

Good summary Jessica.
Only the last bit about pensions is slightly wrong - you will be expected to work
till 65 for a smaller pension based on your average pay over your whole 'career'
rather than your best year as as present.

[freespeech]

Good summary Jessica.
Only the last bit about pensions is slightly wrong - you will be expected to work
till 65 for a smaller pension based on your average pay over your whole 'career'
rather than your best year as as present.

Surely MDEC's key mail for MC's not DO's so unless MC's change their despatch times I cant see cessation of nights in DO's will have a knock on at MDEC's?

[Jessika]

I had assumed that If the DO change their times then the MC's would have different shift patters too. There's no point in sorting mail if its not going to be delivered that or the next day. The way the sections of the business impact on each other is something which is never explained to us at mdec so sorry if i got it completly wrong. And thanks to baldrick for correcting me on the pensions section

[freespeech]

I had assumed that If the DO change their times then the MC's would have different shift patters too. There's no point in sorting mail if its not going to be delivered that or the next day. The way the sections of the business impact on each other is something which is never explained to us at mdec so sorry if i got it completly wrong. And thanks to baldrick for correcting me on the pensions section

My assumption is that the MC's stay the same (ie no impact to MDEC's) and the slower vehicle speeds etc (56 mph limit) was the issue from the MC to the DO's hence later starts. I may be wrong. I would think the 56mph limit will impact on collections and distribution to and from MC's but there would always be some work available to sustain current times at MC's.

Are there any MC staff on who have been given later starts?

[BELIAL]

Dream on

[baldrick]

If RM get their way staff at MC's could be asked to stay on 2 hours later so managers could
delay finishing the last (first class) despatches from the current times of around 2145-2200,
and do them up to 2 hours later. This might mean that the MDECs would be able to code until
the later despatch times.
Previously MC's had to do the despatches in time for the last rail connections. But now most
go on our lorries, and presumably they could also delay the lorries for 2 hours.

Also someone on rmc from Bristol MC has reported that they have been told that the current
late shift (1345-2145) will be moved to 1600-2400.

[de-coded]

Come on people, see the light, as is clearly shown by actions of Royal Mail in Bristol.

If Mail Centres are moved to 1600 to 0000 to allow for mail changes (alledged slower lorries), then eventually the MDEC will have to follow suit because the company will adjust mail volumes, thus leaving not enough mail to key to have a 1400 to 2200 shift, remember it is not efficient to have keyers sat on please wait.

If it ever happen's don't expect any shift allowance for finishing so late and if RM get there own way there will be MTSF agreement to protect people if for example they are unable to work these hours due to public transport arrangments, there are no buses in plymouth that run much after 2300.

Personally, I worked this shift for a previous employer and it was okay especially during summer, i.e finish at 0000 home by 0030 bed by 0130, you can still get a good nights sleep and have most of the day off before you have to go work.

[de-coded]

I cannot budget properly if I do not know how many ours I will be paid from week to well

Annualised Pay will probaly mean that you will still get your normal pay every month, just for example mdec plymouth Full time staff are contracted for 159.45 hours a month.

Under new plans in August you work 20 hours a week, coming out at 80 hours for the month meaning for a busy period you owe them 79.45, so on the 4 weeks running up to Christmas you could end up working 59 hours a week.

this works out correctly for hours you have already been paid for, so you can see why so many posties are willing to strike on just this condition.

[de-coded]

Surely MDEC's key mail for MC's not DO's so unless MC's change their despatch times I cant see cessation of nights in DO's will have a knock on at MDEC's?

The mdec keys mail for both outward sort and inward sort, so if everywhere else gets rid of nights as they have done then MDEC will not have a shift either. Mailcentres, RDC's, HWDC and DO's are the customers of the MDEC if they change we will need to change.

[evilc]

Surely MDEC's key mail for MC's not DO's so unless MC's change their despatch times I cant see cessation of nights in DO's will have a knock on at MDEC's?

The mdec keys mail for both outward sort and inward sort, so if everywhere else gets rid of nights as they have done then MDEC will not have a shift either. Mailcentres, RDC's, HWDC and DO's are the customers of the MDEC if they change we will need to change.

Not sure where you are coming from mdec101, whilst a next day delivery is required by royal mail there will always be a night shift at mail centres as that is where all mail for delivery offices is processed, so therefore there will always be a requirement for a night shift to assist mail centres in sorting mail for delivery. :cfo :lfo

[de-coded]

ok, so where do people on here work that don't have night shifts is that the Delivery Office's

[evilc]

ok, so where do people on here work that don't have night shifts is that the Delivery Office's

yes