Our future with Royal Mail

[aiden01]

i agree with everything you said.one of the problems is that most of us are too insular .we only see things at our local level.we see unfilled vacancies,obsession with absorbing,breaking of national agreements and bullying as local problems.but its obviously a national scandal.we need leaders of our union to be more pro-active,instead of churning out nonsense like 4 pillars?.imagine how a proper leader like the late Bob Crow would have dealt with royal mail

Never mind the late bob crow ( great leader he was) can we just expect or deserve a great leader of cwu. No more of this bullshit from rm come on cwu you have been talkung for months on end and according to dingo nothing hsa changed.

[JKSmudge]

Does anyone else think that RM have deliberately taken such a tough negotiating position with terms that we should never accept, simply in order to avoid financing a pay rise ?

If a majority of members do not vote against the proposals, then the union may as well just call it quits and let RM shaft the idiots ( and we know there are plenty ) who will go along with whatever RM offer.

[aiden01]

if that happens we are well and truly fuked

[Flashman_]

Do we simply accept RMs view that to compete with rivals....

Just to make the point clear because it's a line I've heard from both the business and the union and it's actually bullshit. We don't have any rivals doing the same job for less money. Wistl tried it and failed, primarily because they were churning through staff at a ridiculous rate. If Royal Mail want to offer me a nice cosy parcel delivery job instead of walking the streets for 5 hours in all weathers I might consider doing it for slightly less money but until they do they can stop pretending we're paid more than the rest of the industry, we are the f***ing "industry".

I totally agree. The job we do is entirely different from a courier. I believe they are paid mostly by how many items they deliver. Transfer that model to us and they would have to increase are pay not, cut it.

[postslippete]

No other courier company seem to be delivering letters, D2Ds and parcels. And for all the information that Royal Mail spout off about letters that are dwindling, well, if its really that bad, why are we still out there delivering them? The very fact that our duties have got bigger, more than makes up the shortfall. Wasn't the single daily delivery, and the grouping of one larger delivery, one of the major factors that put Royal Mail's operating profit in the black?

I won't also mention the 'delivery supplement' that the CWU agreed to which meant that many of us now lose out big time when it comes to delivering D2Ds every week, especially if there are more than 2 lots. Oh I forgot we don't actually get paid for the D2Ds anymore!! It still mystifies me to this day why the Union agreed to this.

And for this reason I'm incredibly wary of the CWU's 35 hour working week and the 4 pillars. Partly, because I think it will lead to more bullying and harassment on staff and partly because the Union seem to be sort of borrowing ideas from the Royal Mail to make them sound plausible. The pillar idea I mean. I never did buy into all that World Class Mail crap because I honestly believed that we already were 1st class. Though when the company start comparing us to Yodel and Hermes I do wonder what expectations the powers that be have for the future of the company.

And why is it in Royal Mail, they want everyone else to change their life just so that they can introduce whatever they want. Well, I've already had to change my hours at least 3 times from when I first started - first from 5.15am to 6.30am and now flexible starts from around 7am. This change will be another great leap away from 'our' customers.

[Tman]

="aiden01Never mind the late bob crow ( great leader he was) can we just expect or deserve a great leader of cwu. No more of this bullshit from rm come on cwu you have been talkung for months on end and according to dingo nothing hsa changed.

I'd stick with the current leadership of the CWU than that hypocrite Bob Crow.
You know the one....busts of Lenin in his office and meals in the best Mayfair restaurants, probably paid for by his girlfriend (who he got a job for in the RMT on an inflated salary).
Yep, that Bob Crow.

[XCHpostie]

He looked after the interests of his members though.

[Martin Walsh]

It is disappointing that some Branch's have not engaged the members at unit level. However I would suggest that a significant amount of Branch's have and CWU HQs have been providing regular workplace bluetins to Branch's so they can send to their Branch's. Remember the timeline for a potential ballot is the torwards the end of August. So there is at least two months to go and we know there are more membership meetings closer to any ballot.

So where are we in this potential dispute. It is important we all understand that according to Royal Mail the shareholder is king. The shareholder want more profitable parcels including the growing next day market which Royal Mail currently do not operate in.

However the difference between us and Yodel etc is that Royal Mail only make money on parcels when it deliveries letters and parcels at the same time. Whilst letters are declining the real problem for Royal Mail is that letter revenue has declined far more due to DSA , of which the competitors now have over 68% and Royal Mail have to deliver that Mail.

Royal Mail as you would expect a privatised company would love to be free of the legal guarantees as like all the other privatised companies they could franchise work , outsource work and introduce a two tier workforce.

In face within the current negotiations they have stated that they believe the following options are open to Royal Mail in terms of their future business strategy.

1. That they managed decline. Letter traffic due the digital revolution of text , email etc is declining , advertising Mail is slowing and automation is by passing IPS etc. They would just shrink over time cutting costs and selling buildings with little ambition for growth. ( Some would say that this is their current business strategy )

2. The business goes for growth and the next day parcel business i.e. Any orders on the inertnet between 18:00 and midnight tonight gets delivered tomorrow and that will mean all Delivery start times moving by at least 2 hours later or possibly more dependent on your localation from the National Distribution Centre in Daventry. Mail Centrex would have to change their shift patterns to cope with a bigger outward and later inward window. Royal Mail believe this model with bring in more parcel traffic and revenue which is currently in the self employed of Yodel , Hermes etc

3. The third option Royal Mail have stated is that they employ new staff on lesser terms and conditions i.e. Self employed same as Yodel etc and they delivery parcels including the next day model and they managed the decline of letters by reducing staffing levels as a result of the workload taken from Delivery offices and given to the new Royal Mail on inferior terms and conditions to the rest of the staffing.

That is the key challenge in these negotiations. The CWU have rejected all 3 options and believe that you can capture the growth in number without everyone having to move start times by at least two hours.

Add the fact Royal Mail have now made their final offer on pensions and want to put the DOM in charge of dealing with stage 2s of the IR framework bearing in mind the DOM has already disagreed at stage 1 than things are getting hotter.

This potential dispute is really about Royal Mail and it shareholders shrinking the costs in the whole industry , pensions , pay , staffing costs and selling more buildings by removing the need for you to sort letters into your frame apart from approximately 10%.

It is a dispute you have to choose sides on , accept Royal Mail's vision or stand with the union ?

Remember the new Trade Union law means if we ballot , the ballot with be void if less than 50% of those entitled to ballot vote ?

We have so much to lose unless we get organised and support the CWU.

[terry2972]

Dingo a well put summary of the situation we face lets hope we get the 50% so we can strike as I cant see this being resolved any other way

[SpacePhoenix]

2. The business goes for growth and the next day parcel business i.e. Any orders on the inertnet between 18:00 and midnight tonight gets delivered tomorrow and that will mean all Delivery start times moving by at least 2 hours later or possibly more dependent on your localation from the National Distribution Centre in Daventry. Mail Centrex would have to change their shift patterns to cope with a bigger outward and later inward window. Royal Mail believe this model with bring in more parcel traffic and revenue which is currently in the self employed of Yodel , Hermes etc

The only way that will happen is if RM abandon the idea of the 10:30 final dispatch of 2C. Many MCs won't have the room and maybe also not the staff to do both. The later stuff will just fail everyday