Isn't it strange how some advocating an overtime ban say that gong on strike won't achieve anything? Surely, by that logic then an overtime ban would achieve nothing just the same?
Not everyone works overtime, so some wouldn't be affected by a ban. Some work huge amounts, and would be most affected. Part-time staff on lower contracts would tend to be most affected. In some workplaces, those most likley to do overtime now, are those least likely to stop doing so because of a 'ban''. Worst of all, Royal Mail could ride out an overtime ban Indefinitely. In some offices in our area Royal Mail actually implemented their own 'overtime prevention' strategy in the lead-up to threatened strike action in the last national dispute: by 'rolling over' mail from one day to the next if people would have to work over to complete delivery. I don't believe an overtime ban would bring Royal Mail to its knees at all. That is just wishful thinking.
On the other hand, a national strike that stops mail being delivered across the whole country immediately puts Royal Mail into a crisis they have to resolve. The more days of strike action we take, the more pressure they are under. They can't 'roll over'' undelivered mail to the next day, if the next day we are on strike as well. Not only that, when we strike, we are 'all in it together', showing ourselves as well as Royal Mail that we have the power to force them to concede. If the strke is solid, then Royal Mail have to negotiate a deal with the CWU to resolve the dispute.
No-one wants to go on strike and lose money. But sometimes you stand to lose much more in the long term if you don't strike, than you will lose in the short term if you do.
To those who say strike action never achieved anything or won't achieve anything: that's just completely wrong. I've been in Royal Mail since the 1990s, and I know we have got more by striking or even threatening to strike than Royal Mail would ever have given us if we didn't.
In the end, if we fight for what we want, we are not guaranteed to win. But if we don't even fight back in the first place, we are guaranteed to lose.
Moya Greene says we have the best wages, and the best terms and conditions in the industry. Why is that? Did Royal Mail managers wake up one morning feeling all generous and decide to give us these? No. We only have those wages and terms and conditions because the CWU and its union members in the past fought for and won them, by taking or threatening to take strike action.
