Poll : Are we all ready for a National Strike?

[daveyeff]

aye. everyone will have double knee jobs if they are allowed 6 hr deliveries. we know who the deluded ones are. ignore is right.

[SierraOscarBravo]

devils advocate my arse. some just don't like unions but are happy to take the 'yakka'

keep it real.
Monthly pay - yes
pay rise - no
sick pay - got to stop RM
technology - got to embrace
longer delivery spans - yes - that all we'll have to do.
Bullying / harrassment - got to stop this.

One salary - no extras.

2017 not 1971

go to keep it real me julie

Indeed it is 2017 not 1971. There are those on here who will never face up to the massive changes that are coming and industrial action will not succeed in the way they think. Sticking two fingers up at the public who pay our wages and keep us in jobs is seen by these union militants as justified. They even revel at the idea of getting one over Royal Mail management.

I am not a member of a union as a matter of principle. I do not agree with industrial action and I am independent in my beliefs. The attitudes of union diehards on here merely confirms to me they are living in the past and only a fool would follow them down the road to ruin.

[Lounge Lizard]

SOB,
You are not a member of a union as a matter of principle, as is your right, but as a child you didn't clean chimneys or work in a factory because of social reformers who fought for our rights and as an adult postman, if that's what you are, you readily accept a decent hourly wage, holiday pay, sick pay and employer's pension contributions that the union and its members has achieved for us over many years.
if there's one thing I agree with you about it's that "it's 2017 not 1971" but the far bigger division between rich and poor now compared to then is largely due to union membership and influence not being as great as it was.

[TheTrolleyMan]

this agreement that they've broken is a legally binding one, but RM are ignoring that...

In which case one trusts that the CWU will be taking RM to court.

The CWU NEEDS to get on with it

[DGH]

keep it real.
Monthly pay - yes
pay rise - no
sick pay - got to stop RM
technology - got to embrace
longer delivery spans - yes - that all we'll have to do.
Bullying / harrassment - got to stop this.

One salary - no extras.

Monthly pay - yes. While it would need some short-term adjustment/help for some people, it is only sensible to agree to really.
Pay rise - 1.5%. Personally I'd like to see more, but in truth I think 1% might need to be settled for.
Sick pay - must remain as currently. RM's changes will penalise those who have genuine short-term illness. It's silly.
Technology - I agree, it has to be embraced.
Longer delivery spans. Tricky one, this. 5 hour+ delivery spans will be very tiring over a week. But it's either that or shorter hours if the inside work goes almost completely.
End 'grandfathered' allowances - yes. Give folk a year to get ready and then cut them.
Pensions - should be maintained. I think, however, that this will be impossible to reconcile with a company committed to maximising dividends. The solution is really government intervention but that won't happen under the Tories.

The move towards franchising of routes by stealth (under the guise of teams) also needs scotched.

The best hope really is another election, a proper Labour government and renationalisation, allowing investment and a thorough overhaul of the business (including cracking down on the serial piss-takers who are present at all levels in the company)

[osgoody1970]

SOB, just for clarity, name me a militant union, or even a militant union leader, I see southern rail have offered their drivers a 24% rise, and they have still turned it down and a tory MP slated them for it, if that was me, i'd be asking, what on earth is wrong with this offer, that they turn down 24%!!!!, but I go back to my earlier point, no government should stand on the side of mamagement, because, I've never seen a good one!!!!!

[milly]

I'm afraid something has to be done about the Sick in Royal Mail as quite a large minority in my office look at it as extra Holidays.
I am very much in favour of clamping down on short term Sick but people with long term serious illness ought to be looked after.
Sickness must cost Royal Mail millions of pounds every year as many Postal Workers just take the piss.

[postslippete]

devils advocate my arse. some just don't like unions but are happy to take the 'yakka'

keep it real.
Monthly pay - yes
pay rise - no
sick pay - got to stop RM
technology - got to embrace
longer delivery spans - yes - that all we'll have to do.
Bullying / harrassment - got to stop this.

One salary - no extras.

2017 not 1971

go to keep it real me julie

I wouldn't have you as negotiator Ernie!! Like I said, I'm not against change, but you simply don't allow RM to make changes for nothing. Fine, let them have monthly pay, technology, bigger rounds BUT we should get something in return for it - and in this respect, its our pay. Did you not take on board what daveff was saying at all?? The fact that they would get rid of 1 in 3 staff by making the duties bigger - well don't you think that RM once they have paid them off that the company will make quite hefty savings from us in a few years time when we are all out delivering this extra workload?? And if you think that RM don't make big bucks from having larger outdoor spans then ask yourself why the bl**dy hell are management always lapsing at the drop of a hat?? Its not simply because a few runners like to fly round getting their own deliveries down within their hours, its because they expect management to pick up the slack and deliver the rest; but the only reason they do it and the main reason that they lapse is because its......profitable!!

What isn't acceptable are managers that bully staff into taking the lapse. You know the scenario, 'well there aren't many packets today', or, 'well everyone else is taking theirs', making you feel like some sort of lazy b*stard simply because they can't be arsed to go out and deliver it themselves. What I do find strange about this whole lapsing business, is when you tell managers that you can't deliver it because you don't have the time, they then offer you additional overtime to deliver it?? Royal Mail is clearly the only place where I've worked where you have got to tell the bosses that you don't want overtime!

[fishtank]

I love the idea that you walk into a negotiation room and immediately surrender everything, that's a winner. Even if every change proposed by Royal Mail was completely rational and necessary you still wouldn't be that stupid because human nature being what it is they would just have another meeting to discuss just how ridiculous they could make their demands before we actually did put up a fight.

This process is part of business, they want changes and we want protection from poorer terms and conditions, the pay element is minor. Nobody is asking for or expecting a large pay rise, something that keeps pace with inflation would be nice so that members are not facing a pay cut in real terms.

Some of the operational changes proposed by the business will lead to job cuts, changes to working patterns and a different delivery model, those are massive changes and have to be managed properly, is there anything in the recent history of royal mail management to suggest that they're capable of major change without throwing the business into chaos? This is our company as well and I'm not convinced that the business plan they have won't drive the company off a cliff never mind industrial action.

The thing to consider is not making a stand and forcing the company to reconsider the direction it's heading in is basically endorsing a continuation of the present management structure and mindset that has seen the company stagnate, waste a huge amount of money on idiotic ideas like world class mail and fail to grow the business in any way. That's the real elephant in the room, it's not just what their doing to us, it's also about the damage they're doing to the company.

[datasaint]

Pension - We need a pension that's fair and provides members with a decent prospect of retirement. The defined contribution scheme is wholly inadequate.

Monthly pay - I disagree with it on the basis overtime is such a massive aspect of the job, it's no way acceptable to be 2 months in arrears if the overtime you worked fails to get paid after the first month.

Sick pay - for a job as physical as this, we need the security of 6 months pay as it stands, recovering from a knee operation for example will take a good 6 months.

[The Postman]

jobs will go!!. they ARE going...25000 to be precise, at the behest of this management.

If they increase the walk's by 1/3 where are the job cuts going to come from? I know they'll offer vr's but will they also kick the most recent starters out the door as they're not eligible for vr for the first 2 years? If so why are they still hiring?

Also what will happen to part timers hours if they add another 2 hours to outdoor? I work 26.5 over 5. Would they then increase my hours to 29 over 4 or decrease them to 22 over 3?

This worries me as I not long ago gave up a job I was secure in to be here and I'm probably not the only one.

[Lounge Lizard]

I'm afraid something has to be done about the Sick in Royal Mail as quite a large minority in my office look at it as extra Holidays.
I am very much in favour of clamping down on short term Sick but people with long term serious illness ought to be looked after.
Sickness must cost Royal Mail millions of pounds every year as many Postal Workers just take the piss.

Sickness means Sickness.
If you are "very much in favour of clamping down on short term Sick but people with long term serious illness ought to be looked after" you are suggesting that "short term" sick absence is "taking the piss" but "long term" sickness is genuine.
If they couldn't ever manage their way out of a damp paper bag how do you think DOMs would differentiate between genuine sick absence and taking the piss ?

[SierraOscarBravo]

I'm afraid something has to be done about the Sick in Royal Mail as quite a large minority in my office look at it as extra Holidays.
I am very much in favour of clamping down on short term Sick but people with long term serious illness ought to be looked after.
Sickness must cost Royal Mail millions of pounds every year as many Postal Workers just take the piss.

Sickness levels at Royal Mail are costing the business millions of pounds every year. We all know that very often it is the same individuals, week in week out, who are going off sick. Yet while they are sat at home with 'stress' or 'bad back' or whatever reason they choose to come up, the business is still paying them.

It is about time the business rewarded staff with 100% attendance with a significant bonus and removed sick pay from those who are very clearly feigning illness on a regular basis. It is the only way to stop the abuse of sick pay.

[gone postal]

I think we are looking at this the wrong way. Sickness levels in organisations where the workforce is engaged and valued by management are low. All sickness should be treated as genuine and looked at sympathetically. No one should be forced to work because they fear of not being paid all that does is penalize those genuinely unfit to work, and those that do abuse the system will carry on doing so.

[Chelseablue]

The company know that the way its going and the changes they are forcing upon us , that the sickness levels will go through the roof.