new Mount Pleasant workers' fight bulletin for 9/4/15

[anna]

Hi there here is the latest bulletin. Feedback well appreciated. Cheers.

WE WILL BITE
What about EC nights? Managers are totally knife-happy! They wanted to cut 9 jobs - but the union argued them down to 6. More and more work's going to be left for earlies - and they'll try stretching our working hours even later into the pm. Stretch too much and we go "snap"!

NOTHING FITS BETTER THAN FT
Honestly, there are vacant duties everywhere in HMP… so why the mini Processing fit-up now? Coz mates are leaving on EVR? Whatever the reason, RM is going to fit us up with OT! Well, some of us may need OT to cope, but wouldn't it be better if part-timers got full-time jobs? Or if we had new mates in here, so we can continue having the good laughs we had with those who've gone?

HMP UP-SIDE-DOWN
In fact, you don't need to be good at maths to know how many full-timers and part-timers are doing the work in here. Is RM still claiming that the ratio of F-Ts to P-Ts is 75 to 25%? Certainly on lates it's the other way around… We know that some of our mates have been asking for full-time jobs for more than 15 years!

NIGHTMARE
By the way, why is it that in Processing on nights, we're not given the option to go on days? We know there're vacancies everywhere, which RM just doesn't fill! Nights are a nuisance when family time is needed! Not to mention how bad it is for our health! We definitely don't want to be stuck on nights until our last hour's come… not even with the charming company of the buzzy Bee!

GOOD PLANNING, ISN'T IT?
Do we really have to have this constantly crazy hour on packets and even on letters, around 8pm every night? We know the cause: the collections, which are done later and later… so it's easy to fix! Just put the collections back to how they used to be! More, and earlier. But we know we'll all have to force these cut-throat bosses to do that!

THANKS, BUT NO THANKS
So, RM claims that the reason we're getting diversions in processing is because there's enough workers in HMP to cope, but there aren't! We're short everywhere, platform, sorting, etc. Or is RM expecting us to be grateful, say thank you very much and swallow their b-s?!

POURING OIL ON THE FIRE
Ok, the problems on Wed night may not have been their fault, because of the Kingsway and Park Royal fires, but if we had enough hands, emergencies wouldn't throw us!

…AND THE PIPES ARE ALSO LEAKING!!
£30m for refurbishing HMP, and then the gateposts start crumbling and they have to close the whole entrance down the bottom. Cheap work, at an expensive rate. Whose friends got the bribe?
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
We should not be repeating this again! When our older workmates - or mates with health problems - ask to be moved to jobs that suit them better, that should happen immediately! If RM's not in a hurry to answer our needs, we'll not be in a hurry to do the work. After all RM is the one chasing profits, not us!

WE'RE NOT FOR SALE!
It seems from this leaflet about Romec's proposed sale to Cofely that the CWU already gave up the fight: "we fear that Royal Mail has already made up its mind to get rid of Romec." And we're told that the transfer to Cofely will not even protect the shitty conditions that we have now! So, with all of that, as the picture on the leaflet suggests, isn't the right answer an ALL-out strike - RM and Romec - but with a lot more than the 2 people on the "CWU official picket" shown in their photo!!

OH, MOYA GOODNESS
How nice of Moya Greede to visit us last week. Well, she really came to visit the underground railway... and, surrounded by her entourage, she waved at us from a distance, like the Queen…
In fact, we hear she's freezing her pay this year… so she'll get barely the £1.2m she got last year. That's heart breaking… we feel almost embarrassed to get our 2.8%!
NO WORRIES, WE KNOW ISN'T YOUR FAULT
More seriously, we're getting the 2.8% late… the union sent us a letter explaining that the pay rise will be implemented on 24th April, back-dated to the 6th … The reason? "Uncertainty over the inflation review clause and the fact that the company had not programmed their payroll systems early enough". Signed: Dave Ward. No reason for you to apologise, Dave…

BYE-BYE
So the World Class champion boss moved to Croydon… So who is to be the new WC boss? We look forward to seeing the candidates fighting it out in the (bull)ring. Or should they be sent to Las Vegas for the knock-out?

TELEMETRY OR SPYING?
What's this about spyware in the drivers cab? As if we don't know how to drive already. They're telling us that telemetry is going to improve our technique. But no, it'll cramp our style. Big time.

[POSTMAN]

They wanted to cut 9 jobs - but the union argued them down to 6.

They didn't want 9 jobs,they wanted what they got....6

[anna]

yes you are probably right. Of course. But you can guess why it's best to put it like this.