NATIONAL DISPUTE – INDUSTRIAL ACTION NOTICE (RMG)

[dvbuk55]

You know something? We waited too long before we took action, almost 3 weeks. People have had time to talk themselves out of taking action, they feel the privatisation was the end of the road long term and don't feel able to get enough enthusiasm to care............in fact I feel a bit that way myself but if there is a picket line I'll be there.

[Pete22]

The problem we have is that workers think that the ballot and threat of industrial action was about stopping privatisation. The union were never going stop this, the forthcoming strike is about whats going to happen in the years to come. Those thinking about crossing the picket line need to think about where they are going to be in three years time? I'd rather lose the odd days pay now and have a healthy future in the company, than have my contract ripped up and re-employed on a minimum wage with a rolling contract!

This

[meweavy]

The problem we have is that workers think that the ballot and threat of industrial action was about stopping privatisation. The union were never going stop this, the forthcoming strike is about whats going to happen in the years to come. Those thinking about crossing the picket line need to think about where they are going to be in three years time? I'd rather lose the odd days pay now and have a healthy future in the company, than have my contract ripped up and re-employed on a minimum wage with a rolling contract!

This is exactly the same reason why im going on strike.

[Martin Walsh]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiters makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

Franchising , outsourcing will mean less jobs , less work and worse conditions. In addition do you think your annual leave entitlement will be safe , the amount of sick leave pay you get ? Do you think your pay will be safe ? Do you think your supplement will be safe , do you think seniority will still be there , MTSF gone , reserve rights payments gone , overtime rate down , shift payments , pensionable allowances. All of these could be attacked unless we get a deal.

Now let's look what the CWU and UCW and upw have done over the years which have been won by the CWU in disputes

Pensions
Paid meal reliefs
Weekly not monthly pay
Up to 6 weeks holiday pay
6 months sick pay
Shift payments pensionable
The end to 6 day working for delivery staff
A supplement for delivering Mail
Harmonisation of part time terms and conditions
Pay protection
Improved VR rates
Reserved rights payments for ex phgs and drivers
London Weighting
Scottish distant payments
Professional drivers rates
Improved basic pay
Attendance procedures which protect workers with agreed trigger points
New entrants get full pay after a year
The ability to purchase more annual leave
The hours we work down to 39 hours
Job security agreement which prevents complusory redundancies

None of those would have been given without members of the CWU fighting in the past.

If you are going to not support the strike then please indicate which of the above conditions you no longer want as Royal Mail and the profiters who now own the company will be delighted to taken them off you.

In this fight there is no fence you either give up your terms and conditions or you fight to keep them !

[meweavy]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiters makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

Franchising , outsourcing will mean less jobs , less work and worse conditions. In addition do you think your annual leave entitlement will be safe , the amount of sick leave pay you get ? Do you think your pay will be safe ? Do you think your supplement will be safe , do you think seniority will still be there , MTSF gone , reserve rights payments gone , overtime rate down , shift payments , pensionable allowances. All of these could be attacked unless we get a deal.

Now let's look what the CWU and UCW and upw have done over the years which have been won by the CWU in disputes

Pensions
Paid meal reliefs
Weekly not monthly pay
Up to 6 weeks holiday pay
6 months sick pay
Shift payments pensionable
The end to 6 day working for delivery staff
A supplement for delivering Mail
Harmonisation of part time terms and conditions
Pay protection
Improved VR rates
Reserved rights payments for ex phgs and drivers
London Weighting
Scottish distant payments
Professional drivers rates
Improved basic pay
Attendance procedures which protect workers with agreed trigger points
New entrants get full pay after a year
The ability to purchase more annual leave
The hours we work down to 39 hours
Job security agreement which prevents complusory redundancies

None of those would have been given without members of the CWU fighting in the past.

If you are going to not support the strike then please indicate which of the above conditions you no longer want as Royal Mail and the profiters who now own the company will be delighted to taken them off you.

In this fight there is no fence you either give up your terms and conditions or you fight to keep them !

this post should be copied and put in every office in the country.
Brilliant post.

[vmaxv4]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiters makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

Franchising , outsourcing will mean less jobs , less work and worse conditions. In addition do you think your annual leave entitlement will be safe , the amount of sick leave pay you get ? Do you think your pay will be safe ? Do you think your supplement will be safe , do you think seniority will still be there , MTSF gone , reserve rights payments gone , overtime rate down , shift payments , pensionable allowances. All of these could be attacked unless we get a deal.

Now let's look what the CWU and UCW and upw have done over the years which have been won by the CWU in disputes

Pensions
Paid meal reliefs
Weekly not monthly pay
Up to 6 weeks holiday pay
6 months sick pay
Shift payments pensionable
The end to 6 day working for delivery staff
A supplement for delivering Mail
Harmonisation of part time terms and conditions
Pay protection
Improved VR rates
Reserved rights payments for ex phgs and drivers
London Weighting
Scottish distant payments
Professional drivers rates
Improved basic pay
Attendance procedures which protect workers with agreed trigger points
New entrants get full pay after a year
The ability to purchase more annual leave
The hours we work down to 39 hours
Job security agreement which prevents complusory redundancies

None of those would have been given without members of the CWU fighting in the past.

If you are going to not support the strike then please indicate which of the above conditions you no longer want as Royal Mail and the profiters who now own the company will be delighted to taken them off you.

In this fight there is no fence you either give up your terms and conditions or you fight to keep them !

A well informed post from someone who has seen all of these changes to our benefit.
Don't get me wrong we have all seen some changes of regress, but those changes have come as time moves on & agreements are hard fought for .
What is at stake now is the fastest possible route to take this business to the bottom & it's employees with it.
If you think for one second that this job is worth keeping/fighting for....
Support your colleagues on the picket line...

[dvbuk55]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiters makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

In this fight there is no fence you either give up your terms and conditions or you fight to keep them !

On here dingo you're by and large preaching to the converted but believe me in offices up and down the land union involvement has been minimal or non existent. In my office we haven't seen a full time union official or full time release official in years. No meetings, no information, no explanation of the reasons for decisions taken by the CWU, no effort to recruit, no face to face. This fight is crucial but the attitude of local branch here is abysmal and in that respect the union is the architect of it's own disaster.

I complain about the CWU and the London influence but in truth they're probably the only ones who give a crap.

[music4essex]

We will be manning a picket line as we know about half are coming in on monday so wanna see who they are
one person has gone acting lino only lastw eek and came in the last time round in another office

out of 60 def 25 are going on strike

Had one guy who was made up from part time this year in the revision that the CWU fought for him and a few others and he says i cannot afford it , my reply neither can I but it will be a whole lot worse in 3yrs time if you dont

Essex mum

[fishtank]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiteers makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

Some branch engagement has been very poor again and some reps have taken the easy option of taking the membersip anger over privatisation and directing it at the strike ballot but to be honest all the members have really seen for the last 6 months on TV is Billy and the SORM battle bus preaching the ant-privatisation message so it isn't really surprising that members are confused.

We were always going to face this kind of "but the damage is already done" apathy from members,that's why they pushed the sale through quickly but it's maybe time Billy and SORM and the politics took a back seat and let the industrial issues come to the fore.

[banner18]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiters makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

Franchising , outsourcing will mean less jobs , less work and worse conditions. In addition do you think your annual leave entitlement will be safe , the amount of sick leave pay you get ? Do you think your pay will be safe ? Do you think your supplement will be safe , do you think seniority will still be there , MTSF gone , reserve rights payments gone , overtime rate down , shift payments , pensionable allowances. All of these could be attacked unless we get a deal.

Now let's look what the CWU and UCW and upw have done over the years which have been won by the CWU in disputes

Pensions
Paid meal reliefs
Weekly not monthly pay
Up to 6 weeks holiday pay
6 months sick pay
Shift payments pensionable
The end to 6 day working for delivery staff
A supplement for delivering Mail
Harmonisation of part time terms and conditions
Pay protection
Improved VR rates
Reserved rights payments for ex phgs and drivers
London Weighting
Scottish distant payments
Professional drivers rates
Improved basic pay
Attendance procedures which protect workers with agreed trigger points
New entrants get full pay after a year
The ability to purchase more annual leave
The hours we work down to 39 hours
Job security agreement which prevents complusory redundancies

None of those would have been given without members of the CWU fighting in the past.

If you are going to not support the strike then please indicate which of the above conditions you no longer want as Royal Mail and the profiters who now own the company will be delighted to taken them off you.

In this fight there is no fence you either give up your terms and conditions or you fight to keep them !

Great post and I totally agree but can I put the other side here?
I have worked for private companies before Royal Mail, most non unionised or with a head nodding union.
Non of those places did anyone start before there time or work through their breaks or ever work after their time without being paid or expected to work past their time without being asked first. No-one was expected or harassed into working at unreasonable rates or bullied if you worked correctly because working correctly is the culture. Now I know that it is a cultural thing at Royal Mail as well as a management thing but the reality on the ground for most people doing this job in deliveries is that you have to cut every corner in the book and work like a dog or do your job right and get harassed and stressed for the rest of your working life with the union doing little or nothing to help.
What I'm saying is that we have a lot of benefits but we put up with a lot of crap in how our daily working lives pan out due to being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Nothing the company and the union comes up with will address this core issue.

[Glenno]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiters makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

Franchising , outsourcing will mean less jobs , less work and worse conditions. In addition do you think your annual leave entitlement will be safe , the amount of sick leave pay you get ? Do you think your pay will be safe ? Do you think your supplement will be safe , do you think seniority will still be there , MTSF gone , reserve rights payments gone , overtime rate down , shift payments , pensionable allowances. All of these could be attacked unless we get a deal.

Now let's look what the CWU and UCW and upw have done over the years which have been won by the CWU in disputes

Pensions
Paid meal reliefs
Weekly not monthly pay
Up to 6 weeks holiday pay
6 months sick pay
Shift payments pensionable
The end to 6 day working for delivery staff
A supplement for delivering Mail
Harmonisation of part time terms and conditions
Pay protection
Improved VR rates
Reserved rights payments for ex phgs and drivers
London Weighting
Scottish distant payments
Professional drivers rates
Improved basic pay
Attendance procedures which protect workers with agreed trigger points
New entrants get full pay after a year
The ability to purchase more annual leave
The hours we work down to 39 hours
Job security agreement which prevents complusory redundancies

None of those would have been given without members of the CWU fighting in the past.

If you are going to not support the strike then please indicate which of the above conditions you no longer want as Royal Mail and the profiters who now own the company will be delighted to taken them off you.

In this fight there is no fence you either give up your terms and conditions or you fight to keep them !

Great post and I totally agree but can I put the other side here?
I have worked for private companies before Royal Mail, most non unionised or with a head nodding union.
Non of those places did anyone start before there time or work through their breaks or ever work after their time without being paid or expected to work past their time without being asked first. No-one was expected or harassed into working at unreasonable rates or bullied if you worked correctly because working correctly is the culture. Now I know that it is a cultural thing at Royal Mail as well as a management thing but the reality on the ground for most people doing this job in deliveries is that you have to cut every corner in the book and work like a dog or do your job right and get harassed and stressed for the rest of your working life with the union doing little or nothing to help.
What I'm saying is that we have a lot of benefits but we put up with a lot of crap in how our daily working lives pan out due to being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Nothing the company and the union comes up with will address this core issue.

Another very good post
Nothing the company and the union comes up with will address this core issue
In Deliveries, this has caused massive problems for the last 3 yrs or more, it is as you say a CORE issue, which should of been better addressed than it has, here is a possibility: when commencing your duty you must Log on to the PDA allocated to you/ your duty, when you complete your Duty you must Log off this device....... and this is what time you will get paid for???
Obviously Post Revision, but this or summit simular COULD be the future, food for thought...

[Cut Off King]

Most people I know in deliveries think that the last agreement (BT2010) amounted to a Union sanctioned attack on deliveries in order to protect the unions powerbase within MC's

This may / may not be true , but that is how it was percieved.

[mr deeds]

The problem I see is that some members may not have been informed of what this dispute is really about ! It was never going to end with who owns the company. The fact we are now owned by profiters makes it even more important that we fight to protect our terms and conditions.

Franchising , outsourcing will mean less jobs , less work and worse conditions. In addition do you think your annual leave entitlement will be safe , the amount of sick leave pay you get ? Do you think your pay will be safe ? Do you think your supplement will be safe , do you think seniority will still be there , MTSF gone , reserve rights payments gone , overtime rate down , shift payments , pensionable allowances. All of these could be attacked unless we get a deal.

Now let's look what the CWU and UCW and upw have done over the years which have been won by the CWU in disputes

Pensions
Paid meal reliefs
Weekly not monthly pay
Up to 6 weeks holiday pay
6 months sick pay
Shift payments pensionable
The end to 6 day working for delivery staff
A supplement for delivering Mail
Harmonisation of part time terms and conditions
Pay protection
Improved VR rates
Reserved rights payments for ex phgs and drivers
London Weighting
Scottish distant payments
Professional drivers rates
Improved basic pay
Attendance procedures which protect workers with agreed trigger points
New entrants get full pay after a year
The ability to purchase more annual leave
The hours we work down to 39 hours
Job security agreement which prevents complusory redundancies

None of those would have been given without members of the CWU fighting in the past.

If you are going to not support the strike then please indicate which of the above conditions you no longer want as Royal Mail and the profiters who now own the company will be delighted to taken them off you.

In this fight there is no fence you either give up your terms and conditions or you fight to keep them !

all true but last time deliverys got f*cked over(again)i lost £25 a week on d2d ....remember the "no plan b sh*t"...we should of stood then don't give me all this solidarity sh*t as soon as full time release was pulled the cwu was singing like canaries and as for the above yes thay are all good and that's what I have paid in for ....15+yrs? don't you now give me this sh*t look at what we have done for you ...you all run for the hills when full time release was pulled last time...while I was on the line....I will be out but I have no respect for my area reps who are only there for a free ride

[Martin Walsh]

Mr Deeds your view on the outcome of 2009 does not tell the whole story.

Remember the dispute came about because Royal Mail had informed the CWU that they were no longer going to pay the workforce for change and that they wanted to introduce their Business Transformation plan without agreement.

Part of the plan was to introduce d2d into workload without any remuneration. In addition they wanted much later starts taking people off of early start allowances. Their argument on d2d was the average number was just over 2 per week , quality was poor , some offices and walking postman opted out of doing them and they wanted to grow the advertising market including unaddressed and addressed Mail.

On top of that they had borrowed money of the Government to purchase CSS machines , iLSMs and CDVs.

Now the CWU did not have veto on the plan , we fought and we got an agreement which meant Royal Mail did pay for change. Perhaps some wanted us to smash the machines like old fashioned Luddites or wanted us to demand that Royal Mail continue with a unit payment which was not growing the d2d product which Royal Mail believed that they could stem some of the revenue lost by stamp Mail , dsa with the growing market of unaddressed advertising Mail.

Everything from lump sums , less Saturdays , the 3 year pay deal which most believed year 3 would never be paid it was , was gained by fighting.

Royal Mails initial position of why should we pay delivery postal workers any more for delivering d2d when we are already paying them a weekly wage for delivering Mail which they believe was declining changed and they conceded to a weekly payment which is an permanent addition to basic pay. Royal Mail made it clear that they would not continue with a unit rate payment.

The CWU captured all the monies which was paid on d2d and the early shift 1 &2. The CWU believed it should be then paid to everyone who is tagged to a delivery office ( this supplement is not paid to Mail centre workers ) the agruement for this was all delivery postal workers gain their basic pay for delivering Mail but not all the Mail within an office. For example tracked Mail is usually delivered by a driver but that track Mail brings in revenue which helps to pay a delivery postman wage even thou they don't actually deliver any tracked.

Now once it was decided to be a permanent addition to basic pay then part time postman had to then have it pro rata other wise they would be on a higher hourly rate then a full timer.

[Martin Walsh]

Most people I know in deliveries think that the last agreement (BT2010) amounted to a Union sanctioned attack on deliveries in order to protect the unions powerbase within MC's

This may / may not be true , but that is how it was percieved.

It may be their opinion , but I frequent a lot more delivery offices then yourself and believe me it is not the norm in my experience. In addition more Mail centre people lost their jobs , had to move offices and saw far greater change then most delivery offices.