Royal Mail strike cash offer slammed

[fishtank]

http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/royal-m ... -1-3128139" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THE Royal Mail has been accused of “desperation” after offering postal workers £300 if they do not go on strike over the controversial privatisation of the company.

Chief executive Moya Greene has written to employees urging them to vote no in a ballot of Communication Workers Union (CWU) members.

“Any strike action, or the threat of it, is likely to be damaging to our business. We all benefit from a successful Royal Mail. Our customers depend on us. That is especially the case in the run-up to Christmas.

“We lost business to competitors following strike action in 2007 and 2009. Any loss of business has a direct impact on your job security. I ask you to think very carefully about what the point of a strike would be. Is it really the way to reach agreement?”

Ms Greene said workers had been offered a “highly competitive” pay deal of 8.6% over three years, including a £300 lump sum in year one.

“We offered a lump sum of £300 (pro-rata for part timers), payable in December 2013, as long as there is no industrial action.

“Many of you have said to me that it is unfair that people should lose this money if others in their office go on strike and they work normally. I agree. So, we would make this payment provided you have not taken action yourself.”

Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: “This is an act of desperation and discrimination.

“Postal workers won’t be fooled and will vote to fight to protect their terms and conditions against the impact of privatisation.”

The ballot closes later this month.

[worktotime]

fishtank, is what she did legal ? so if it isnt has it been kicked into touch now .

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail offer "bribe" of £300 to defy strike over Government's sell-off plans

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ro ... 00-2339998" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Communication Workers’ Union is balloting more than 115,000 post staff on a strike over privatisation, pay and pensions

Desperate Royal Mail chiefs are offering workers a £300 “bribe” to defy a strike over sell-off plans.

Boss Moya Greene has written to staff promising to pay the cash to those who work during a strike.

Plans to privatise Royal Mail are being rushed through by the Government.

It will be listed on the Stock Exchange on Friday.

The sell-off is opposed by the Communication Workers’ Union which is balloting more than 115,000 post staff on a strike over privatisation, pay and pensions.

The earliest strike would be October 23 but industrial action would hit the share price.

Royal Mail originally promised staff £300 each if no-one went on strike.

They have changed the offer to just those who cross a picket line.

In her letter, Ms Greene said: “We would make this payment provided you have not taken action yourself.”

But a union spokesman said: “This is a bribe that won’t fool postal workers.”

Meanwhile, stockbrokers Panmure Gordon valued Royal Mail at up to £4.5billion – £2billion more than the sell-off will raise.

They predict anyone buying shares before Tuesday’s deadline will make a tidy profit.

Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna said: “It is truly shocking taxpayers are set to lose £500million because the government has undervalued Royal Mail.”

[fishtank]

fishtank, is what she did legal ? so if it isnt has it been kicked into touch now .

It's very likely to be unlawful discrimination but until you test that in court you can never be sure.
Anybody who believes this £300 would have been paid outside a negotiated agreement with the CWU is living in dreamland.
It's sole purpose was to undermine the strike ballot,If that had worked there would be no strike,why then would Royal Mail need to bribe staff not to strike?
It would have been off the table quicker than you can say "fuckwit" which is what you would have to be to trust these chancers.

[worktotime]

fishtank, is what she did legal ? so if it isnt has it been kicked into touch now .

It's very likely to be unlawful discrimination but until you test that in court you can never be sure.
Anybody who believes this £300 would have been paid outside a negotiated agreement with the CWU is living in dreamland.
It's sole purpose was to undermine the strike ballot,If that had worked there would be no strike,why then would Royal Mail need to bribe staff not to strike?
It would have been off the table quicker than you can say "fuckwit" which is what you would have to be to trust these chancers.

thanks , I would sooner pull me own eyes out with a spoon to take that , could you imagine if it was on the other foot, the cwu offered to pay all there members the pay they would lose to strike , she would have gone further about it , shes a f***ing clown and wants to piss off back to where they found her.

[martinapsid]

hi all can you imagine a office where some people get £300 and others do not iam a rep in my office of under 25 posties i have never been a great believer in strike action i have always gone with the vote and have gone on strike never crossed lines i have been lucky my office with one exception as aways gone out as one. i feel it is time we all stand together and not be pick off one office at a time.we have been sold i can not see how we can run royal mail as we do now with rounds in my area covering up to 50 miles a day can possible make money our vans a disgrace to royal mail our office needs painting i can not see share holders giving up their profit to buy us new vans and paint the office this may be a simplistic view to take but people have brought shares to make money not to provide a GREAT ROYAL MAIL where us posties know the score we are going to be asset stripped of our offices to give share holders their money and when that's done in a year or two or three we be next to give them their money with our jops sorry boys and girls i have gone on to long but it makes my sad to see royal mail being destroyed by cable and his like good luck to you all in hard days ahead

[redandblue]

Spoke to a collegue today, he said he regrets voting yes as he could do with the £300.

[UnhappyGremlin]

Spoke to a collegue today, he said he regrets voting yes as he could do with the £300.

Unbelievable.
I never thought it was possible to be this short sighted. Except for managers.
Will people never learn?

[Sergeant Blast]

Spoke to a collegue today, he said he regrets voting yes as he could do with the £300.

Ignorance of those around us is what risks undermining any strike action. So many I speak too just don't understand the basic facts and the pay offer etc that RM keep banging on about has been rejected by the union and so is irrelevant. They go on about how they can't afford to lose a day's pay. I've tried explaining that they risk losing a hell of a lot more if they don't strike. RMs propaganda campaign has certainly got through to many.

[cloherty1976]

fishtank, is what she did legal ? so if it isnt has it been kicked into touch now .

It's very likely to be unlawful discrimination but until you test that in court you can never be sure.
Anybody who believes this £300 would have been paid outside a negotiated agreement with the CWU is living in dreamland.
It's sole purpose was to undermine the strike ballot,If that had worked there would be no strike,why then would Royal Mail need to bribe staff not to strike?
It would have been off the table quicker than you can say "fuckwit" which is what you would have to be to trust these chancers.

Until it is tested in a court of law you can't say for sure. Will they test it before the ballot results. I doubt it..

[fishtank]

Until it is tested in a court of law you can't say for sure. Will they test it before the ballot results. I doubt it..

You can't really test it until it happens,you can take legal advice and you could theoretically obtain an injunction stopping it if you could convince a judge that it will almost certainly be discriminatory but until a member is actually refused the payment on the grounds that they took lawful industrial action you can't really test it properly.

It doesn't matter,It won't happen in my opinion.
Royal Mail know it would be legally dubious at best and won't take the risk of 100,000 union members filing at an Employment Tribunal,The potential cost is astronomical and far outweighs the benefits even if they think they are 90% safe on this.

It was always just an undermining tactic and hopefully the members will have seen through it.
If I was the union's legal representative I might consider taking the employer to court for interfering in a lawful industrial ballot though.The only problem with that is that it would probably result in this ballot being invalidated which would suit RM more than it would the union.

[cloherty1976]

Until it is tested in a court of law you can't say for sure. Will they test it before the ballot results. I doubt it..

You can't really test it until it happens,you can take legal advice and you could theoretically obtain an injunction stopping it if you could convince a judge that it will almost certainly be discriminatory but until a member is actually refused the payment on the grounds that they took lawful industrial action you can't really test it properly.

It doesn't matter,It won't happen in my opinion.
Royal Mail know it would be legally dubious at best and won't take the risk of 100,000 union members filing at an Employment Tribunal,The potential cost is astronomical and far outweighs the benefits even if they think they are 90% safe on this.

It was always just an undermining tactic and hopefully the members will have seen through it.
If I was the union's legal representative I might consider taking the employer to court for interfering in a lawful industrial ballot though.The only problem with that is that it would probably result in this ballot being invalidated which would suit RM more than it would the union.

Very well put fishtank. No definitive answer but time will tell..

[dodger162]

With so many old sites being sold off and no doubt more in the pipeline shouldn't the cue be pushing for some of this to be used for colleagueshare?

[cloherty1976]

With so many old sites being sold off and no doubt more in the pipeline shouldn't the cue be pushing for some of this to be used for colleagueshare?

Sorry to say colleagueshare is dead in the water. Nice idea though!

[magnaman]

As we haven't agreed a pay deal yet, then the proposed £300 is irrelevant.