UNITE letter to all managers

[TrueBlueTerrier]

UNITE letter to all managers

Twyford
Reading
Berks
RG10 9JD

CMA Section

All Unite members,
Royal Mail, (not Parcelforce)

3rd October 2013


Dear Member

Royal Mail – Pay, Pensions and related issues

I wanted to give you the full picture in respect of what is happening and not allow you to be swayed by the glossy and one sided propaganda that is in the letter today from the Chief Executive.

Pay – The truth here is that despite the Royal Mail commitment from last year to conclude negotiations early the team that undertake these responsibilities have not been given a pay mandate and therefore they have no authority to negotiate on pay. We have met on a couple of occasions, at our insistence, and we have set out what we are looking for. In effect we have tabled a number of demands but Royal Mail has brought nothing to the discussion.

I have been suggesting for a few weeks now that our members, their managers’, deserve an update and, in this respect, over two weeks ago, I drafted the basis of a joint statement which Royal Mail have been considering. I was advised 15 minutes before I received a copy of the CEO’s letter that they were unable to commit to the joint statement that they had previously wanted to issue.

If we are unable to make progress soon we will have no alternative than to ballot for Industrial Action on the issue of pay.

Pension – We are currently preparing for a consultative ballot on the Royal Mail pension proposal, as we promised previously. It is important that members have the final say on what is being put forward. In the covering letter we will say “Should members vote to accept the changes we will advise the company accordingly and look to finalise an agreement as soon as possible. Should members reject the Royal Mail decision then we will advise the company and seek to re-engage and establish fresh negotiations. In the absence of any positive response from Royal Mail we will have to seriously consider a ballot for Industrial Action in opposition to the proposed pension changes being imposed.”

Privatisation – Unite has had a long history of opposition to the privatisation of Royal Mail and this continues and was indeed re-affirmed at the recent consultative ballot.

Our opposition is not for purely ideological or political reasons but that is part of it. We consider that based on the examples and experience of other “utility” sell offs that this will lead to job losses, outsourcing of activities, downsizing and an attack on terms and conditions of employment. A scenario where a Mail Centre or a Delivery Office is franchised and run by another organisation, even a competitor to Royal Mail, may be an alien concept but is likely to be a fact and a consequence of privatisation.

We do not consider that it is appropriate to sell off Royal Mail and it is a short term expediency that will satisfy government and the Treasury and, I suspect, provide an exceptional pay day for those senior executive who deliver on the policy.

We have also complained to Royal Mail last week on the issue of our members being used as propagandists for the sell off and that this approach will have an irreparable negative impact in the workplace. No response has been received to our message.

Industrial Action – It is very likely that our colleagues in the CWU will get a clear and unequivocal mandate for strike action in their ballot. Unite will support any and all trade unions who are engaged in a legitimate trade dispute with their employer, as we would expect them to support Unite, and we will be urging our members not to undertake the work and responsibilities of those who are on strike. We will be encouraging members to work normally and will support any member who is bullied, threatened or intimidated in to doing other work. There is no place in the workplace for provocation and we will not stand by and let it happen.

Legally Binding Agreement – The CEO says that the issues covered by the legally binding agreement it has offered to the CWU, and which have not been accepted, are covered by employment and industrial relations law in the UK. We do believe this to be the case but we also consider that the legal agreement that is being discussed is based on the labour contract principles that apply in North America and have conditions in them that make it impossible during the period of the agreement to take strike action, for example.

Conclusion – The letter from the Chief Executive is looking for managers’ support in a fight with the CWU that Royal Mail has failed to resolve. Let me ask you to ask yourself if you are as important as the CEO now suggests, why is it that the employer has been bombarding the OPG audience with privatisation propaganda and has left the managers to learn what is going on through the process of osmosis. Little, if any, communications have been aimed at, or addressed directly to, the management population.

We have some way to go to make progress but we remain open to do so. For this to happen positive action is required from Royal Mail and that is unlikely given their past performance.

Should we continue to be subjected to this type of treatment then we will have, as suggested above, no alternative than to seek a mandate for Industrial action on the issues of pay, pensions, job security and future terms and conditions of employment. We have not done this since 1997 but we will if we have to.

In the meantime thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely

Brian Scott
Unite CMA Officer

[veronihilverius]

Why do they have a different union ?

[Son Of God]

Been after this... cheers TBT :)

[Lounge Lizard]

"Should we continue to be subjected to this type of treatment then we will have, as suggested above, no alternative than to seek a mandate for Industrial action on the issues of pay, pensions, job security and future terms and conditions of employment. We have not done this since 1997 but we will if we have to." - that's it, wait a while to see first how we get on with our dispute.

[music4essex]

We will be encouraging members to work normally and will support any member who is bullied, threatened or intimidated in to doing other work. There is no place in the workplace for provocation and we will not stand by and let it happen.

Well that will stoke up the fire , as if management dont stand by and let it happen, or themselves meeting out the B/H


Essex mum

[Shambles]

Industrial Action – It is very likely that our colleagues in the CWU will get a clear and unequivocal mandate for strike action in their ballot. Unite will support any and all trade unions who are engaged in a legitimate trade dispute with their employer, as we would expect them to support Unite, and we will be urging our members not to undertake the work and responsibilities of those who are on strike. We will be encouraging members to work normally and will support any member who is bullied , threatened or intimidated in to doing other work. There is no place in the workplace for provocation and we will not stand by and let it happen.

Now the worms are turning!!!!

[Shambles]

If Management get what they want....be back to normal then B&H indiscriminately?

Sad bunch of losers

[mdm]

Irony is lost on Unite it seems. '

[dvbuk55]

I suppose it is pretty much the type of letter you'd expect prior to a strike - "we encourage our members to work normally but not undertake OPG work" well we know that's not going to happen, the CMA know that's not going to happen and the managers know they'll be receiving, sorting, delivering mail and manning the callers office - probably restricted to tracked and specials purely because of the volume but we know most managers are jobsworths.

[Shambles]

The enablers on so many levels.....all in the gutter!

[Pinky 1]

Brian Scott, you talk the talk .......... but can you walk the walk ?

[Surreypostie]

So their members can bully us, but they won't stand for their members being bullied. Hope they get shafted after the sell off. I won't shed a tear for them. It's a shame as I actually like most of them, I just detest the way they treat some people at work. It's my main reason for voting yes.

[Shambles]

So their members can bully us, but they won't stand for their members being bullied. Hope they get shafted after the sell off. I won't shed a tear for them. It's a shame as I actually like most of them, I just detest the way they treat some people at work. It's my main reason for voting yes.

Exactly....and yes there are 'some' decent Managers, but the ORDERS Come from Above, so if they want to keep their Cushy numbers, they WILL, tow the line and Bully, Collude, Cover Up...Ignore Grievances...etc

It's a Dog eat Dog World in their minds! I've heard so many Managers say it whilst laughing!!

They will soon wind their necks in, when they realise, they aren't 'The Chosen Ones'

Just a name and number, like the rest of us, and just as dispensable, that's all

[nataddick]

If the management are out on a different day to the Opg's who will supervise the work?

[Mr_Pink]

If the management are out on a different day to the Opg's who will supervise the work?

Most offices would probably run a lot smoother without 'management' interference!