Mount Pleasant Bulletin 11/2/15

[anna]

Hi there, here is latest bulletin from Mount Pleasant

RM WANTS TO DUMP ROMEC
This is potential game-changer: the proposed sale by Royal Mail of its 51% share in Romec to Cofely, the company that took over the 49% share previously owned by Balfour-Beatty - after Romec lost all its other contracts. So now RM is its only “customer”. Should be no problem. Just get Romec back in-house and save all that extra paperwork! That’s the position of the CWU, we’re told - now, two months after they started secret talks with the bosses about this - as shareholders, and stakeholders, but... what about as workers??

LESSONS STILL TO BE LEARNED?
Yes, union officials even appointed an independent advisor for these talks - whose name is a mystery. We’re also not told what sort of timetable there is about our futures... Honestly, this is exasperating. There is no place for confidentiality when it comes to unions and members. But the CWU officials up at the top never want to understand that. Nor, it seems, do they understand that class interests - those separating workers from bosses - are diametrically opposed...

A SUCCESS WOULD START THE TURNAROUND
Why is it a game-changer? Well, if we fought to get Romec back in-house it would be a good start in the fight to get all the privatised “businesses” out of the hands of the profiteers. And altho’ it’s never too late, it’s better to do it before they do anymore damage.

KEEPING A WATCH ON THIS
We all know those who are paid by RM for doing little or nothing – CEOs, top managers, and their like... But when it comes to us, the picture is quite different. So when we're asked to leave working on the CSS machines early - and unusually, we see no difference on our payslips, we can't help thinking management is preparing a dirty trick on us for the future... Better keep a close eye on this one!

WE'RE THE STARS OF THIS SHOW!
BTW, we don't mean managers don't work... they actually do... like CCTV cameras: on our backs 24/7, checking and spying, and some even buzzing in our ears. The only difference is that CCTV cameras don't get bonuses out of our work!

BUZZ HIM OFF
What a B*!#@! Bee - we can’t even find words for this night boss. He can’t stop himself from encroaching on everyone else’s territory. He chases after us, when we’re just going about our business, or going to the toilet! He even decided he should tell doorkeepers to fold and count mail sacks! A totally pointless exercise, which he then “policed” as well, to make sure mates did what he said! All this would be ridiculously funny if it wasn’t for the fact that some idiot at the top gave him management “powers”. Mind you, he’d probably fall into a faint if we all came at him together, straight-jacket at the ready... which is clearly what’s needed.

WHAT'S THE SCORE AGAIN?
Romec's dumb dumbo fight has reached the next stage: when one of them calls a meeting, the other isn't invited. Separate offices, separate teams, separate meetings... Why not separate continents? One could go to the North Pole and the other to the South pole, and give us a well-deserved break!

FAT RAT
We've read in the news that Brydon, RM chairman who was at the steering wheel during the flotation in 2013, has decided to retire... as if he had ever worked for real in here. Certainly he really deserved his £200,000/yr! And how much is his golden handshake? As one mate in the Royal Mail Chat wrote: “Another fat rat jumping before the ship sinks because they don't like getting their feet wet!”

PATTING THEIR OWN BACKS
RM bosses were boasting about the latest “trading figures”. But what are they “trading”? Anyway , we hear they're proud of steering the privatised (but still “Her Majesty’s”) Ship into the choppy seas of the UK parcel market; proud of how they delivered 4% more parcels this Xmas; and proud of how they're doing better than competitors, etc, etc... So why are they talking about job cuts? Well, the same old excuse: competition. But who said WE are in competition with our mates in Yodel, Whistl, DPD...?!

IT ONLY TAKES ONE JOB CUT
So Moya Greed, who still wants 3,000 more job cuts (on top of non-replacement of retirees and EVR programmes) says today's "tough times" are because of "too many players chasing traffic"... we know she really meant "too many players chasing profits", but never mind. This one player's doing very well indeed.
We've done the maths: she was paid a whopping £1.5m last year, the equivalent of 100 workers' annual pay. Is one of her worth a hundred of us?

WDF?
Another day another rumour about HWDC... So now we hear RM is thinking of moving it to Manchester... Are secret talks going on about it already?

[dvbuk55]

My experience of ROMEC is they're inefficient and expensive.

[SpacePhoenix]

My experience of ROMEC is they're inefficient and expensive.

Same here. tbqf if MCMs and DOMs could it would be far cheaper and quicker for them to get third party contractors in to do whatever maintence work needs doing

[rainbowwarrior72]

Goes to prove one thing their managers haven't got a clue. Besides these are our colleagues what are Billy, Dave and Bob Gibson going to do to save the Romec workers jobs so far not much it seems

[dvbuk55]

TBH I used to do a number of things that ROMEC should have done but couldn't wait the six weeks it would take for them to get round to do it.

[aiden01]

Goes to prove one thing their managers haven't got a clue. Besides these are our colleagues what are Billy, Dave and Bob Gibson going to do to save the Romec workers jobs so far not much it seems

are these the same colleagues who always cross a picket line at least in our office they do.

[anna]

My experience of ROMEC is they're inefficient and expensive.

Actually I couldn't beieve my eyes reading these comments. I guess you must be joking?
Since when do you personally pay for the workers to clean the work area? And maybe there were too few workers for cleaning or maintenance(?) to be done? But anyway, that's management's problem. Romec workers were done a dirty when they were "sold" to the private sector (41%) and lost RM Ts&Cs. Did the CWU officials ask them not to cross picket lines? Please.

[dvbuk55]

My experience of ROMEC is they're inefficient and expensive.

Actually I couldn't beieve my eyes reading these comments. I guess you must be joking?
Since when do you personally pay for the workers to clean the work area? And maybe there were too few workers for cleaning or maintenance(?) to be done? But anyway, that's management's problem. Romec workers were done a dirty when they were "sold" to the private sector (41%) and lost RM Ts&Cs. Did the CWU officials ask them not to cross picket lines? Please.

I wasn't joking that was my experience and over the 25 years it got worse. As for being asked NOT to cross a picket line as a union member I wouldn't cross anybody's' picket lane WITHOUT having to be asked.

[anna]

Sorry I agree one shouldn't need to be asked. Nor rely on union officials... too right.
That said, Romec workers (and Quadrant) were just unconsciously left out of everything by union when strikes happened. If they did ask they were told they weren't on strike and should cross! What I am getting at, is the "cancer" of sectionalism which eats up our strength.
And maybe you remember that time when one section at a time (salami strikes) were called by CWU and as a result people found themselves facing a picket when their turn to strike was the next week or something. That wasn't a clever ruse on the part of the union guys. It was weakening the fight.

[dvbuk55]

Sorry I agree one shouldn't need to be asked. Nor rely on union officials... too right.
That said, Romec workers (and Quadrant) were just unconsciously left out of everything by union when strikes happened. If they did ask they were told they weren't on strike and should cross! What I am getting at, is the "cancer" of sectionalism which eats up our strength.
And maybe you remember that time when one section at a time (salami strikes) were called by CWU and as a result people found themselves facing a picket when their turn to strike was the next week or something. That wasn't a clever ruse on the part of the union guys. It was weakening the fight.

The CWU have become a puppet of Royal Mail, they have lost the will to defend the workers rights and are afraid to call a strike in defence of those who are paying their bills. RM have them by the short and curlies if they called for IA RM would pull out of the agreements, that they don't honour and please themselves what they do, which is pretty much what the situation is anyway. The workplace is like a raging sea these days and rather than the union being a lifeboat it's more like a lump of flotsam to which people are hanging on to in desperation.

[aiden01]

My experience of ROMEC is they're inefficient and expensive.

Actually I couldn't beieve my eyes reading these comments. I guess you must be joking?
Since when do you personally pay for the workers to clean the work area? And maybe there were too few workers for cleaning or maintenance(?) to be done? But anyway, that's management's problem. Romec workers were done a dirty when they were "sold" to the private sector (41%) and lost RM Ts&Cs. Did the CWU officials ask them not to cross picket lines? Please.

PERSONALLY WOULD,NT CROSS ANYONE,S PICKET LINE

[fishtank]

ROMEC staff have always been advised to cross our picket lines by the union to avoid the risk of dismissal due to secondary action.

Would I personally?
No.
But that's a personal choice, the union can't make that call when it's someone's livelyhood on the line.