Royal Mail has blinked but the dispute is not yet over

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail has blinked but the dispute is not yet over


LONDON CALLING – ROYAL MAIL DISPUTE UPDATE 6



Dear Colleague


The CWU agreed to suspend the strike planned for the 4th November.
Royal Mail has made 3 major concessions and committed to further talks on all the outstanding issues.
Further negotiations on all issues will take place until 13th November. However it is important that all members understand that this dispute has not yet been settled and if we cannot reach agreement, no one should be under any illusion that it will be the unions intention to notify Royal Mail of further strike action. The first strike possibly being as early as the 20th November.

The facts are that without the union having to invoke the strike mandate, Royal Mail made the following concessions to the CWU;

1. That despite Royal Mail saying twice that they had made their final offer on pay, they have now said that they will make a further improved offer which will include improvements in basic pay, overtime rates, SA rates, shift rates and London Weighting. Royal Mail has also conceded to further talks on reward and a new bonus scheme.

2. Royal Mail has previously said that the pay offer was dependent on the following three strings; Members had to accept pension changes; Members had to accept a no strike deal and Members had to accept changes to working practises. All of these strings have now been dropped and are not dependent on the Pay Offer.

3. Royal Mail has accepted that Pensions will now be treated as a separate issue and will be subject to a separate vote of the CWU members.

4. The most significant concession that Royal Mail has made is that up to last week, Moya Greene was saying that Royal Mail would only ever agree legal guarantees for a maximum of 3 years. Royal Mail has now agreed that the legal guarantees will not have an end date and the first review will be after 5 years and then at agreed times over the years following the initial 5 years. Royal Mail has conceded that they have to give formal legal notice if they wish to change anything and that any proposed changes will be subject to further negotiations.
This is a major climbdown by Royal Mail and means that there will be no breakup of the company, no franchising, no outsourcing, no recruiting of a cheaper workforce and the protection of our agreements for at least 5 years but with ultimately with no end date. No other union in the UK has achieved this. Members should be aware all of this will be contained within a legally binding agreement and will be enforceable in court if Royal Mail breaks the terms of these commitments.

On this basis the CWU stood down the planned strike action and agreed a Joint Statement to enable further negotiations on not just the above issues, but on the issues listed below;

A. The CWU has secured an agreement with Royal Mail that includes the maintenance of the current level of full time/part time jobs. The agreement will also give protection to employees terms and conditions going forward and the service. These guarantees will take precedence over the rights of the shareholder and will also be legally binding.

B. Royal Mail wanted the union to agree a no strike deal. The CWU will never agree to a no strike deal nor binding arbitration.
The CWU do want industrial relations to improve and the only way to do this is for Royal Mail to stop the constant bullying and harassment carried out by managers who have to achieve unrealistic savings targets which then leads to pressure being put on staff to work harder and forced to finish beyond their duty time without compensation.

C. Negotiations on Mail Centres, Network 13 and RDCs are ongoing and some progress is being made on these complex and difficult issues.

D. On Deliveries, the CWU has made it crystal clear that one of the issues this dispute has to resolve is the unfair and unrealistic absorption levels which are driven not by workload but budgets. Often this has led to levels of bullying and intimidation whereby members are forced to stay out without any remuneration. In addition, management are not abiding by the current resourcing agreement and often absorption is decided by a conference call by the DSM and DOM without any CWU involvement. It pays lip service to the workload and is solely driven by budgets. The CWU will not settle this dispute without resolving this issue. Postmen and Women are fed up with being treated in a way that is often totally at odds with the workload and hours within the office.

All of these negotiations are complex and difficult and there is no guarantee that we will be able to reach an agreement on all the important issues.
It is vital that members continue to support the union and be prepared to take strike action if we cannot reach the agreement that you deserve. Your support so far has been key in enabling the CWU to gain concessions, but we still need the right agreement to protect our futures. If the union can’t reach a satisfactory agreement on all the outstanding issues, we may still need to fight.

Finally a message to those members who were not in support of the Union and the 4th November strike; The CWU and its members have, by standing together, achieved a better pay rise and protections for our future employment prospects. Without the threat of strike action this would not have happened.

This dispute is not over yet. If you want your terms and conditions safeguarded, if you want job security and if you want to see an end to unfair workloads, the only organisation who will fight for you is the CWU.

Support Your Union

It's Your Future



A statement by the London Divisional Committee

[pants123]

makes a very promising read this,,,, management should treat staff like human beings with respect and dignity and not like tortured animals.... management are human beings also, and they wouldn't like the same barbaric treatment that have been dished out on the staff put onto themselves...

[pants123]

makes a very promising read this,,,, management should treat staff like human beings with respect and dignity and not like tortured animals.... management are human beings also, and they wouldn't like the same barbaric treatment that have been dished out on the staff put onto themselves...

[Cut Off King]

My personal observations...

1- good that a branch can be bothered to put out coms to members ( other area's please take note ! )
2- untill there is an agreement, nothing is agreed, Any consessions that apear to have been won can be withdrawn by RM at any stage .
3- the trouble within deliveries are as a direct result of BT2010 agreement having more holes than a collander - The CWU activly promoted this deal and should issue an appology
4- the vast amount of members were willing to go on strike on 4th Nov, It was the leadership who stood the strike down, not the members. Many feel that, just like last time (2009) RM are just stringing out the talks to get over XMAS
5- we need a deal that is workable in real life , not one that looks good on paper to those on full time realease.
6- we need reps to activly challange RM over EVERY breach of the existing agreement to put the pressure back onto management and off the members. until an agreement is reached.

I'm sure others could add to this list

[dvbuk55]

"The CWU has secured an agreement with Royal Mail that includes the maintenance of the current level of full time/part time jobs."

Would that be the 75/25 agreed in BT2010 or the current 69/31 which is the current level, so the union has managed to secure a drop in full time and a rise in part time employees? I hope they keep their wits about them when negotiating the %age payrise

[Cichlid]

Royal Mail has blinked but the dispute is not yet over


LONDON CALLING – ROYAL MAIL DISPUTE UPDATE 6



Dear Colleague


The CWU agreed to suspend the strike planned for the 4th November.
Royal Mail has made 3 major concessions and committed to further talks on all the outstanding issues.
Further negotiations on all issues will take place until 13th November. However it is important that all members understand that this dispute has not yet been settled and if we cannot reach agreement, no one should be under any illusion that it will be the unions intention to notify Royal Mail of further strike action. The first strike possibly being as early as the 20th November.

The facts are that without the union having to invoke the strike mandate, Royal Mail made the following concessions to the CWU;

1. That despite Royal Mail saying twice that they had made their final offer on pay, they have now said that they will make a further improved offer which will include improvements in basic pay, overtime rates, SA rates, shift rates and London Weighting. Royal Mail has also conceded to further talks on reward and a new bonus scheme.

2. Royal Mail has previously said that the pay offer was dependent on the following three strings; Members had to accept pension changes; Members had to accept a no strike deal and Members had to accept changes to working practises. All of these strings have now been dropped and are not dependent on the Pay Offer.

3. Royal Mail has accepted that Pensions will now be treated as a separate issue and will be subject to a separate vote of the CWU members.

4. The most significant concession that Royal Mail has made is that up to last week, Moya Greene was saying that Royal Mail would only ever agree legal guarantees for a maximum of 3 years. Royal Mail has now agreed that the legal guarantees will not have an end date and the first review will be after 5 years and then at agreed times over the years following the initial 5 years. Royal Mail has conceded that they have to give formal legal notice if they wish to change anything and that any proposed changes will be subject to further negotiations.
This is a major climbdown by Royal Mail and means that there will be no breakup of the company, no franchising, no outsourcing, no recruiting of a cheaper workforce and the protection of our agreements for at least 5 years but with ultimately with no end date. No other union in the UK has achieved this. Members should be aware all of this will be contained within a legally binding agreement and will be enforceable in court if Royal Mail breaks the terms of these commitments.

On this basis the CWU stood down the planned strike action and agreed a Joint Statement to enable further negotiations on not just the above issues, but on the issues listed below;

A. The CWU has secured an agreement with Royal Mail that includes the maintenance of the current level of full time/part time jobs. The agreement will also give protection to employees terms and conditions going forward and the service. These guarantees will take precedence over the rights of the shareholder and will also be legally binding.

B. Royal Mail wanted the union to agree a no strike deal. The CWU will never agree to a no strike deal nor binding arbitration.
The CWU do want industrial relations to improve and the only way to do this is for Royal Mail to stop the constant bullying and harassment carried out by managers who have to achieve unrealistic savings targets which then leads to pressure being put on staff to work harder and forced to finish beyond their duty time without compensation.

C. Negotiations on Mail Centres, Network 13 and RDCs are ongoing and some progress is being made on these complex and difficult issues.

D. On Deliveries, the CWU has made it crystal clear that one of the issues this dispute has to resolve is the unfair and unrealistic absorption levels which are driven not by workload but budgets. Often this has led to levels of bullying and intimidation whereby members are forced to stay out without any remuneration. In addition, management are not abiding by the current resourcing agreement and often absorption is decided by a conference call by the DSM and DOM without any CWU involvement. It pays lip service to the workload and is solely driven by budgets. The CWU will not settle this dispute without resolving this issue. Postmen and Women are fed up with being treated in a way that is often totally at odds with the workload and hours within the office.

All of these negotiations are complex and difficult and there is no guarantee that we will be able to reach an agreement on all the important issues.
It is vital that members continue to support the union and be prepared to take strike action if we cannot reach the agreement that you deserve. Your support so far has been key in enabling the CWU to gain concessions, but we still need the right agreement to protect our futures. If the union can’t reach a satisfactory agreement on all the outstanding issues, we may still need to fight.

Finally a message to those members who were not in support of the Union and the 4th November strike; The CWU and its members have, by standing together, achieved a better pay rise and protections for our future employment prospects. Without the threat of strike action this would not have happened.

This dispute is not over yet. If you want your terms and conditions safeguarded, if you want job security and if you want to see an end to unfair workloads, the only organisation who will fight for you is the CWU.

Support Your Union

It's Your Future



A statement by the London Divisional Committee

Is this OK to print and put in office canteen, we are getting nothing from Local or area reps.

[Martin Walsh]

Yes no problems this has gone to all London members and is accurate !

[Cichlid]

Yes no problems this has gone to all London members and is accurate !

Thanks Dingo.