kanuuuuuu wrote:Ex RM Manager wrote:I wouldn't say 99% of the public support the strike. A LOT of the General Public can only see the after effects of the strike : they don't get their post, and therefore it's the fault of the striking postie. Also there are very few national strikes these days, so public perception is that the strikers are very old fashioned.
That point of view is one I do not share so don't jump on me and don't shoot the messenger.
I agree with you and fully understand the stance from the uninformed public.
Also, a lot of them are actually bitter that someone has taken a stand in this country and stood up for what they believe and it not being them. You see calls for Eastern European workers on all kinds of message boards, people have no idea what harm an influx of cheap labour into this country would do. its hard to figure out what the majority of feeling is but unfortunately, the biased way its been reported in the media I think generally the public is not 100% with us
Can't resist responding to this one, even though I said I wouldn't post again. Sorry.
1) I don't believe that people are bitter about you taking a stand when they won't - they don't because they couldn't care less about anything much - they couldn't care less what you are fighting for or doing right or wrong - they just want their mail service. And some couldn't even care less about that since it means the sackloads of junkmail have stopped for a while.
2) Regarding Eastern Europeans. I don't know what planet you are on but there are already a million or more here, and yes, it has harmed us, which is why my other half cleans toilets in 5 jobs for a living now instead of working in a factory, and our unemployment rate has been going up at the same time as the employment rate. As far as I know, *all* the unions are in favour of them coming here. No union that I know of has said that they want to protect British workers jobs. Why not? Why should any member of the public, *or* employee with a union, support the unions when they have done sod all to protect our jobs? Their attitude has sealed the each-man-for-himself culture into society.
3) As far as the public opinion goes, if I understand correctly, they didn't want the RM to go private at all, but at the same time, they would not tolerate notions such as 'job and finish', since the RM seems to be just about the only place in the country that still operates such practices. The rest of us have had to, over the past 10 years, adapt to 12 hour continental shift patterns, agency work where they can send you home without pay 5 minutes after you turned up, not even being certain of getting a week's work, being replaced by EU citizens and being expected to become limitlessly efficient.
Regarding pensions, there are people who have worked and paid into pension schemes all of their lives and will not receive a penny, let alone be able to collect it early. People resent having to pay the gold-plated pensions of public sector workers, especially the ones who get to retire early while they must keep on probably well past pension age.
People have had a bellyful of taxation, and all this government has done is to increase the number ways that they can screw money out of people. People are sick of seeing their money flowing to the government while they have less and less disposable income themselves. I can't speak for all of them obviously, but I would guess that some of that rings true with you.
4) Wages - the posties pay seems pretty good to me. The last full time job my husband (age 48 - on scrap heap now) had was doing 12 hour shifts for £5.79 an hour on a high speed production line. His pay didn't increase for 10 years (and he's lost the job to an EU now so it matters no longer). The notion that the average manual unskilled workers pay is £440/week...where on earth does that come from? Here in the East Midlands most manual unskilled workers are on minimum wage - £6/hour.
There is always a danger when you work for a huge organisation that you become so introspective that you lose touch with the alternative. The sort of jobs I have described might be all that's left. The sort of security you get is almost unheard of these days.
As a member of the public (not posting with my small struggling business disgruntled head on...) I would advise all to think carefully about what you wish for. Are you really doing this to 'save' the Royal Mail, or to save yourselves? If it is to save yourselves, I would be inclined to be prepared to accept new practices in exchange for your relatively good job security, pay, hours and conditions. Jobs for life have disappeared, whether we like it or not. and the res tof us work the longest hours in Europe. Work with the RM to make it lean and efficient - a business that every business in the country will want to use. Unless you want to be outside in the cold with us, competing with the army of cheap and temporary labour or having to deal with Bliar's army of civil servants in the dole office that is...
Good luck
