Accrington Royal Mail staff set to strike over 'bullying and harassment'

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 16 Dec 2016, 12:34

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WORKERS at the Accrington Royal Mail delivery office are set to strike for the second time tomorrow over ‘bullying and harassment’.

The official picket will be from 6.30am until 9.30am at the office in Infant Street.

Members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) said they will be taking the action following ‘refusal’ by regional managers to implement an agreement made last summer to deal with ‘persistent bullying’ by an office manager.

Royal Mail has said that it is ‘disappointed’ at the industrial action being called and will look to ensure any disruption is minimal.

Workers were also on strike last Saturday and more action is planned for the following week.

CWU national officer Ray Ellis said: “The union is continuing to call on Royal Mail to live up to its publicly stated values and exercise its duty of care to employees at the Accrington office.

“The action of the Accrington staff in standing up to bullying and harassment has attracted support from all over the country and the union’s executive committee has agreed further strike action if the matter is not resolved.”

CWU said a joint report in August by both Royal Mail and the CWU had recommended a change of manager, ‘yet nothing has been done’.

National members of the group have called for Royal Mail to honour its agreement with the union and implement the recommendations.

Martin Berry, secretary for the East Lancashire branch of the CWU said: “There are allegations that managers of the Accrington office have been bullying the staff.

“We have been told it has been going on for some time now and the staff have just had enough.

“We have also been told there has been the non-payment of overtime and instances of foul and abusive language.”

Action is also planned to take place on Friday, December 23, and Saturday, December 31.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We are disappointed by the industrial action.

“We are implementing a contingency plan to ensure any disruption to service is minimised and apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.

“We are committed to working with the CWU.”

rubberbond · Post by **rubberbond** » 16 Dec 2016, 17:32

I often wonder when the strikes are over and the headlines recede,,will Royal Mail ever deal with this bullying and harassment culture ,that is ever present? I remain to be convinced

wheresourmoney · Post by **wheresourmoney** » 16 Dec 2016, 17:59

We all know that bullying and harassment are terrible conditions to work under, some of us are fortunate enough not to be victims but some are not so fortunate, how about putting forward the idea that when the lads and lasses are having to strike because of bullying in the workplace we each donate 50p to cover their lost wages.

worktotime · Post by **worktotime** » 17 Dec 2016, 08:57

this is why royal mail want to deal with these b&h problems in house (sweep under the carpet) and not have an independent body deal with them as most of these clowns wouldn't have a job , the CWU need to push to have all b&h claims dealt with outside of the company , come on CWU this is going on everyday in all offices.

tommyrep · Post by **tommyrep** » 17 Dec 2016, 16:29

worktotime wrote:this is why royal mail want to deal with these b&h problems in house (sweep under the carpet) and not have an independent body deal with them as most of these clowns wouldn't have a job , the CWU need to push to have all b&h claims dealt with outside of the company , come on CWU this is going on everyday in all offices.

You make an obvious point, but !, it's just so obvious the system of dealing with bulling managers is a joke. So, with the CWU happy for the current corrupt method of investigation by RMs own management pals is madness. How can that be fair and acceptable. There is no true fairness in the HR system ! It's like putting lunatics in charge of the asylum. Managers continue to bully and harass simply because the current system allows it, there is no punishment for the crime of being a RM bully. RM management system stinks, from the very top down. Where is the fear of punishment when the decision makers are buddies with the culprits? Would faith in our legal system be justified if our jury's were made up by the criminals families? It's sooooo obvious that the current stage grievance is not fit for purpose and our union needs to much more vocal in fighting to have a better, fairer and probably more qualified investigator looking at valid cases of bulling.

walkthewalk · Post by **walkthewalk** » 18 Dec 2016, 15:04

Has a DOM ever been sacked for this type of B&H recently.

Newbie001 · Post by **Newbie001** » 19 Dec 2016, 17:10

walkthewalk wrote:Has a DOM ever been sacked for this type of B&H recently.

Think they almost always get moved to a new office and the cycle starts all over again. It's a joke really.
We get conducted for misdeliveries or stupid mistakes. They get pat on back and transfer or even promotion for what in all seriously is a case of gross misconduct in most cases.
Scary when you think about it.

Post by **woopesh** » 19 Dec 2016, 18:41

I don't think a lot of posties get it. It is YOU who are the problem. The Managers are doing a sterling job motivating a recalcitrant work force who can't complete their duties on time, costing them money, who take too many days off sick, costing them money. IT is YOU are not meeting their financial targets. IT is YOU who are cutting off making them answerable to OFCOM enquiries. YOU are the problem.

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » 19 Dec 2016, 19:09

In order to make RM ears prick up there needs to be a paper trail of everything a managed does regarding bullying and that way action can be taken.

No paper trail = No problem in that office!!!

Post by **holly123** » 22 Dec 2016, 05:13

A few in our office had fantastic paper trails but at stage 3 grievance it was all brushed under carpet and as we all know there is no appeal against this, corrupt isn't the word,

Post by **Lincox** » 22 Dec 2016, 15:16

This system has been corrupt for many years and has been allowed to worsen under the jurisdiction of Moya Greene. She is fully aware of what her management team are up to and I have no doubt she is the perpetrator of a system that is corrupt from the lower teams of management right to the very top of the board of directors.
Never throughout my working life which spanned 49 years and included working for several blue chip companies have I witnessed such gross misconduct and a complete disregard and disrespect by management of the people that work so hard to deliver a service to the whole of the British Isles under such harsh working conditions.
If Ms Greene has any self respect or humility at all, she should resign her position, and the Chairman and Board of Directors should make sure that her successor has a background of staff welfare and respect for employment law and making sure terms and conditions of employment are respected and honoured. Anything less will mean that this company will continue it's nosedive to the bottom of the list of caring companies and employee respect for their employer.