latest Mount Pleasant Bulletin 3/12/14 from workers fight

[anna]

Hello from Anna - hope this is ok - please feed back and I am afraid I haven't figured out how to copy and paste the cartoon?

THIS IS SERIOUS!
Why are engineers being cut to the point where only one is left to do a job on his own, when for H&S reasons there should be at least two - in most cases? We know RM just wants savings, and never mind the consequences. But this is certainly not permissible.

CRACK THE TRACKERS?
Of course mail volumes soar in the run-up to Xmas, we all know that, and this year MP bosses have brought in the casuals’ helping hands later than ever. So we’ll be repeating the obvious again and again: when we’re done with our normal workload, the only thing we want, is to get out of HMP and go back home, asap! And what’s this nonsense of giving us all sorts of extra work like tracked mail, on top of the rest?

THEY ALREADY TOOK THE BISCUIT
Thanks to the shortage of hands 2 weeks back, managers were seen chasing workmates to the canteen to tell them to hurry up! While we were trying to have our cuppa! So they want us to have our coffee (and no biscuits allowed) on the sorting table? And what about the fact that some of us don’t have a sorting table? Should we balance our cups on our heads? Perhaps the managers can hold them for us? No, we’re sure they prefer us to go to the canteen...

PLOTTING TIME NEEDED
Actually, on EC we all got thermos flasks for our cuppa, 2 years ago. And not just deliveries, but also EC sorters. So bosses could just as well give everyone one today! But actually we don’t really mind being told not to drink in the sorting area, because nice long chatty breaks in the canteen are much better for us!

PUT IN THE BUNKER
As usual, the Xmas casuals are put in the cold basement along with the rats in fur coats... Apparently there’s no “World Class” treatment at this time of the year... They definitely need free hot drinks! PS: welcome to HMP!

WE NEED SPACE TO BREATHE
Again, thanks to “Christmas” we’re crushed up against each other on some jobs, like the bullring where two extra hands are allocated to a position where there’s really just enough space for one! How can we manage the work in such conditions? Must we take “it” outside...?

MR (P)RAT SINKING HIS ROMEC SHIP
Can you believe that Romec would still employ casuals on the minimum wage (one was told zero hours - “you are on call”!), no night shift pay, no holiday pay no sick pay... Well yes, we’d believe anything of these mis-managers! And then when Xmas Pressure OT was advertised for everyone to sign up to - casuals were told it wasn’t for them, when they probably need it most - and when there’s a real shortage of extra hands!

SIZE ZERO WAGES
Of course not one of us Romec cleaners gets what they call the London Living wage today - that is the £9.15 per hour which has been agreed by some London companies. Even if you add the London weighting which permanent workers get, we are all on poverty wages. So how are the casuals, on even lower wages than us, meant to make ends meet?

STAMPED OUT
The only thing that’s left of Romec’s and Quadrant’s past RM status is the Xmas stamps RM gives us every year... and maybe we shouldn’t even mention that, because they might take them back as well, like they took away our £5 Xmas lunch voucher. Nobody gets that anymore, not even postmen/women...

WHERE ARE THE 3 GHOSTS?
Yup, Scrooge has already visited. No party, no boat trip, no goodwill... A cup of cheer is sorely needed - to provide some real Christmas spirit here. It would be nice to have it in the canteen during a long break, with all of us together, plus turkey and trimmings...

SHOT THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT
We’re surprised RM’s profits haven’t gone down even more, because who can send mail packets at current prices? This Xmas they gave some obscure parcel discounts but how did that help? Of course, screwing the workforce, office closures, not to mention property sales, might do the trick... In the short term...

SO WHAT?
On a linked subject, we see Vince Cable said he’d not sell the 30% government share of RM “any time soon”. Maybe - but he’s likely to disappear next May. And anyway, how can it really help us, unless RM becomes 100% public again, and, what’s more, under workers’ control?!
[e-mail: contact@w-fight.org]

[Lounge Lizard]

"this year MP bosses have brought in the casuals’ helping hands later than ever" Must be nice having helping hands at this busy time.

[rubberbond]

"this year MP bosses have brought in the casuals’ helping hands later than ever" Must be nice having helping hands at this busy time.

And a canteen,haven't seen one of those in a while. As rare as a senior manager at Christmas

[anna]

Hello you guys, yes but this office is one of the largest in the country (in the capital city) and used to have over 3,000 workers not so long ago - having been the biggest international sorting office in Europe. Then they moved international to Langley near Heathrow and automated, and the whole thing was meant to shut down - get sold... But RM as usual couldn't cut it at Langley and all kinds of new plans came up. Now 3 mail offices (one delivery, Rathbone Place from London's Central Oxford St, Nine Elms and East London Mail centre) are all merged into it. Plus it still is the main delivery office for London's City EC1-4. So lots of workers are still here (a couple of thousand) ; still does international stuff and if there wasn't a "canteen", and casuals at Xmas, then you would have to be surprised. Surely? Anyway doesn't help because it's mad chaos at the moment.

[baldrick]

Anna, most of these delivery guys work in offices with a few dozen staff. Anyone who has worked in a large workplace knows that there will be a staff restaurant/canteen. I've worked in offices, shops and factories and they have all had staff restaurants or canteens.
The food in the RM canteens used to be better, prepared on site, before Quadrant was outsourced though.

[dvbuk55]

Is it relevant how many workers there are when we all work for Royal Mail and should consequently enjoy the same privileges?

[clashcityrocker]

Is it relevant how many workers there are?

Yes.
A thousand people all spending £3/day will mean the canteen is self financing.
20 people in a DO each spending £3/day wouldn't even come close to breaking even.

[dvbuk55]

Is it relevant how many workers there are?

Yes.
A thousand people all spending £3/day will mean the canteen is self financing.
20 people in a DO each spending £3/day wouldn't even come close to breaking even.

The cut off when we moved was 100 to decide if a canteen was viable we had 110 but the powers that be said nobody would use it so we didn't get one. Now why on earth in this day and age when health issues are important do we have only machines that sell sweets and crisps instead of healthy alternatives from a manned canteen facility. We now have 160 employees who pay an arm and a leg for a miniscule cup of coffee/tea. The minimum should be that in the same way that a canteen is subsidised then so should machine prices be subsidised. We in deliveries are a captive audience who cannot decide to bring in alternatives such as cheaper drinks and sandwiches/fruit/cereals.

[feduppostie]

we have 250 and they closed our canteen :-(

[Mr_Pink]

we have 250 and they closed our canteen :-(

Same here, turned into an office for the DSM, to paraphrase Mr Spock "The needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many"

They let us keep the pool table, on the proviso that it was put in the garage, you know where the vans are parked

[feduppostie]

we got told if it didn't make 'x' amount a week it would close and we had 3 months

after 3 months they closed it and refused to disclose the takings ( we knew damn well they were above the threshold they set as the Quadrant person running it told us so!)

anyway back on topic

Have to say the authors of this ( and the other Bulletin's from this place) do come across as moaning all the time

Some points are valid but If I hated coming to work as much as they obviously do I really would fins another job

[baldrick]

Is it relevant how many workers there are when we all work for Royal Mail and should consequently enjoy the same privileges?

Well when Moya closes your DO to sell it off, and moves you to a 'Super-DO' miles away, you will get a canteen.

[dvbuk55]

Is it relevant how many workers there are when we all work for Royal Mail and should consequently enjoy the same privileges?

Well when Moya closes your DO to sell it off, and moves you to a 'Super-DO' miles away, you will get a canteen.

Well she better get a move on baldick I retire week after next

[britwrit]

Hello you guys, yes but this office is one of the largest in the country (in the capital city) and used to have over 3,000 workers not so long ago - having been the biggest international sorting office in Europe. Then they moved international to Langley near Heathrow and automated, and the whole thing was meant to shut down - get sold... But RM as usual couldn't cut it at Langley and all kinds of new plans came up. Now 3 mail offices (one delivery, Rathbone Place from London's Central Oxford St, Nine Elms and East London Mail centre) are all merged into it. Plus it still is the main delivery office for London's City EC1-4. So lots of workers are still here (a couple of thousand) ; still does international stuff and if there wasn't a "canteen", and casuals at Xmas, then you would have to be surprised. Surely? Anyway doesn't help because it's mad chaos at the moment.

Jusr curious. How much international does the Mount handle these days? I was one of the lot who got transferred from there out to HWDC four-five years ago and remember hearing about how Langley was going to do it all.

[anna]

I am sorry to hear you are retiring DVBUK55 as have always enjoyed reading your posts, I think you are one of the veterans of this - and its predecessor on the CWU site so I hope that you will still contribute to the chat - but good wishes to you even though I don't know who you are, really...