Update to members following injunction decision

[Martin Walsh]

Yesterday Royal Mail got an injunction which means the strike action which was planned for 19th , 20th and 21st October will now not take place.

The CWU will now enter into the mediation process which will take 5 weeks. If this mediation does not result in a good Agreement, then there is a further two weeks of talks. If we don’t then reach an agreement, we will notify Royal Mail of strike action.

Following the court hearing yesterday, Royal Mail have been in touch with the CWU saying they will make concessions. So the ballot has worked already.

It is important that we remain united. Remember we went into court with a 90% yes vote and we still have a 90% yes vote.

This dispute is about our futures on Pay , Pension and your job in the workplace including start times.

So whilst yesterdays decision was a disappointment , it really does not change the nature of this dispute.

Either Royal Mail start negotiating properly, including having Steve Cameron in the talks and start backing down on their pension plans , their Pay offer and their pipeline proposals, or we will be taking strike action in December and if needs be in January and February and until we have a good deal.

So let’s stay united and remember the reasons why the members voted for strike action has not changed because of the injunction.

Together we are stronger and together we will win.

United we stand !

London Divisional Committee

[POSTMAN]

Post

[Wednesday]

As my post on external mediation seems to have gone,can I ask when the five week mediation time starts from?

[cloherty1976]

As my post on external mediation seems to have gone,can I ask when the five week mediation time starts from?

Would today Friday 13th be a good start?

[chrisj]

As my post on external mediation seems to have gone,can I ask when the five week mediation time starts from?

Would today Friday 13th be a good start?

Ha ha ha... Funny man, Mr Cloherty.

I still don't know why we are being asked to strike a

A colleague was really disappointed yesterday... Why are you so disappointed? One of the strike days was my day off and now we are not striking. What about the other day? I have done enough overtime to cover that... What? So please tell me, you are not striking just to have a long weekend? Well, not just that... Look at what they are doing to our pensions? Mate, your particular pension is not being touched and you get an extra 1% contribution. But I just wanted to stick it to them?

From a bloke who has only been in the job 4 years... Short memory of being on the dead and being happy to take on the job when most of the changes are already in place...

Why why why? People should educate themselves and not just rely on others especially one side of the dispute.

The CWU wants to talk and not want to strike - some people should understand that simple logic of negotiations; give and take. RM does not want to talk as such but they know they will have to; so they are all doing their fake political dance.

And it is all about the Pensions. I do not believe the CWU really thinks they can run the company and will want to run the company and dictate pipelines and the rest.

And a little bit of money too... Who doesn't want more lollies for doing the same job? But there will be strings attached, if not now then later or by stealth...

[jack~jack]

You were being asked to strike because:
1, our pensions are under attack
2, no payrise after record profits
3, later pipeline will cause major job losses
4, owning workload, means no more overtime paid.
5, bullying and harassment in many offices.
and many more unresolved issues.

[chickenwittle]

Yesterday Royal Mail got an injunction which means the strike action which was planned for 19th , 20th and 21st October will now not take place.

The CWU will now enter into the mediation process which will take 5 weeks. If this mediation does not result in a good Agreement, then there is a further two weeks of talks. If we don’t then reach an agreement, we will notify Royal Mail of strike action.

Following the court hearing yesterday, Royal Mail have been in touch with the CWU saying they will make concessions. So the ballot has worked already.

It is important that we remain united. Remember we went into court with a 90% yes vote and we still have a 90% yes vote.

This dispute is about our futures on Pay , Pension and your job in the workplace including start times.

So whilst yesterdays decision was a disappointment , it really does not change the nature of this dispute.

Either Royal Mail start negotiating properly, including having Steve Cameron in the talks and start backing down on their pension plans , their Pay offer and their pipeline proposals, or we will be taking strike action in December and if needs be in January and February and until we have a good deal.

So let’s stay united and remember the reasons why the members voted for strike action has not changed because of the injunction.

Together we are stronger and together we will win.

United we stand !

London Divisional Committee

So dingo am I correct in thinking the earliest we can strike is now 9 weeks time , that's for 5 weeks mediation followed by 2 more weeks if needed then 2 weeks notice to the company for strike action ?

[LaggyBand]

I like the message of the OP.

So long as the union stand firm and everyone continues to support them, in my eyes they have the upper hand here.

It's all about the perception of the workers. Regardless of yesterday, they're still in general very pissed off. Even without the four pillar campaign issues, RM have encouraged this pissed off mentality to develop through lapsing more and more, pressure to complete no matter how long it takes, and by achieving both of those things through simple brute force on the shop floor rather than through cleverness.

People will always dislike being made to do more work (lapsing, D2Ds, scanning) for less (pay not in line with inflation), especially when the core reason for this is to simply make those at the top better off. Trickle down economics doesn't work for me I'm afraid. Whether that is the truth or not,, it doesn't matter, what matters is the vast majority think that way. Add to the mix the pensions mess and possibly taking away the main reason people decided to be a postie in the first place (early morning, get done get home) and the union will always have a crowd of raging support behind them.

RM now committed to making a deal - and nearly all of the workers are on the union's side. People just need to keep supporting and don't get disillusioned through this delay.

[cloherty1976]

As my post on external mediation seems to have gone,can I ask when the five week mediation time starts from?

Would today Friday 13th be a good start?

Ha ha ha... Funny man, Mr Cloherty.

I still don't know why we are being asked to strike a

A colleague was really disappointed yesterday... Why are you so disappointed? One of the strike days was my day off and now we are not striking. What about the other day? I have done enough overtime to cover that... What? So please tell me, you are not striking just to have a long weekend? Well, not just that... Look at what they are doing to our pensions? Mate, your particular pension is not being touched and you get an extra 1% contribution. But I just wanted to stick it to them?

From a bloke who has only been in the job 4 years... Short memory of being on the dead and being happy to take on the job when most of the changes are already in place...

Why why why? People should educate themselves and not just rely on others especially one side of the dispute.

The CWU wants to talk and not want to strike - some people should understand that simple logic of negotiations; give and take. RM does not want to talk as such but they know they will have to; so they are all doing their fake political dance.

And it is all about the Pensions. I do not believe the CWU really thinks they can run the company and will want to run the company and dictate pipelines and the rest.

And a little bit of money too... Who doesn't want more lollies for doing the same job? But there will be strings attached, if not now then later or by stealth...

Thought you were playing rugby then moving to Spain?

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

I think a lot of us would appreciate some reassurance regarding time limits on how long RM could refuse to agree to specific ACAS representatives proposed by the CWU.

Until RM and CWU agree on who is going to mediate, the five weeks of mediating to hopefully resolve this stand-off without us having to strike, could go on for weeks if not months.

Unless there is a written clause about what to do, if there is a failure to agree on which ACAS reps to mediate.

[chrisj]

You were being asked to strike because:
1, our pensions are under attack
2, no payrise after record profits
3, later pipeline will cause major job losses
4, owning workload, means no more overtime paid.
5, bullying and harassment in many offices.
and many more unresolved issues.

I do not agree with that list!

1. My pension is not under attack
2. There is a pay rise
3. RM do not lay people off - they have not done so. Let folks move into delivery or take VR - we cannot stop change. And why should employer automatically pay or encourage overtime. Resource management, it is called.
4. We do not know what owning workload means but if it means working for the hours you are paid - then what is the problem? As for OT - it is better to employ more people than same old same people getting OT. A lot of people now hate the job so why do they want OT?
5. Bullying and Harassment - it depends on posties and office. Moreover, there are procedures in place and CWU could do more to encourage people to do job properly, encourage equal and fairer workload and go after bullies - either in management or amongst posties.
If we all look out for each other especially newer and more vulnerable staff, we can reduce bullying

[chickenwittle]

You were being asked to strike because:
1, our pensions are under attack
2, no payrise after record profits
3, later pipeline will cause major job losses
4, owning workload, means no more overtime paid.
5, bullying and harassment in many offices.
and many more unresolved issues.

I do not agree with that list!

1. My pension is not under attack
2. There is a pay rise
3. RM do not lay people off - they have not done so. Let folks move into delivery or take VR - we cannot stop change. And why should employer automatically pay or encourage overtime. Resource management, it is called.
4. We do not know what owning workload means but if it means working for the hours you are paid - then what is the problem? As for OT - it is better to employ more people than same old same people getting OT. A lot of people now hate the job so why do they want OT?
5. Bullying and Harassment - it depends on posties and office. Moreover, there are procedures in place and CWU could do more to encourage people to do job properly, encourage equal and fairer workload and go after bullies - either in management or amongst posties.
If we all look out for each other especially newer and more vulnerable staff, we can reduce bullying

I stopped reading after number 1 , our pensions are not under attack

[banner]

You were being asked to strike because:
1, our pensions are under attack
2, no payrise after record profits
3, later pipeline will cause major job losses
4, owning workload, means no more overtime paid.
5, bullying and harassment in many offices.
and many more unresolved issues.

I do not agree with that list!

1. My pension is not under attack
2. There is a pay rise
3. RM do not lay people off - they have not done so. Let folks move into delivery or take VR - we cannot stop change. And why should employer automatically pay or encourage overtime. Resource management, it is called.
4. We do not know what owning workload means but if it means working for the hours you are paid - then what is the problem? As for OT - it is better to employ more people than same old same people getting OT. A lot of people now hate the job so why do they want OT?
5. Bullying and Harassment - it depends on posties and office. Moreover, there are procedures in place and CWU could do more to encourage people to do job properly, encourage equal and fairer workload and go after bullies - either in management or amongst posties.
If we all look out for each other especially newer and more vulnerable staff, we can reduce bullying

1. Some people's pensions are under attack, no-one disputes pensions are going to change but there just needs to be agreement around pensions so we can move on.
2. Why is the pay rise not linked to inflation? We know the public sector is only getting 1% but we aren't in the public sector anymore and plenty in higher positions in RM have had generous pay rises so why not the rest? Any pay rise above inflation can have strings attached, no worries.
3. There are other ways to capture extra business than by just moving the whole operation later. We all know RM is going to move the pipeline in a piecemeal fashion regardless so we might as well try and get something for it.
4. Owning the workload means what it says, it is about the work and not about the hours so working till your time will be very problematic sometimes under such a system.
5. People doing the job properly are the ones being bullied and harassed so your statement has no meaning.

[UrbanPirate]

You were being asked to strike because:
1, our pensions are under attack
2, no payrise after record profits
3, later pipeline will cause major job losses
4, owning workload, means no more overtime paid.
5, bullying and harassment in many offices.
and many more unresolved issues.

I do not agree with that list!

1. My pension is not under attack
2. There is a pay rise
3. RM do not lay people off - they have not done so. Let folks move into delivery or take VR - we cannot stop change. And why should employer automatically pay or encourage overtime. Resource management, it is called.
4. We do not know what owning workload means but if it means working for the hours you are paid - then what is the problem? As for OT - it is better to employ more people than same old same people getting OT. A lot of people now hate the job so why do they want OT?
5. Bullying and Harassment - it depends on posties and office. Moreover, there are procedures in place and CWU could do more to encourage people to do job properly, encourage equal and fairer workload and go after bullies - either in management or amongst posties.
If we all look out for each other especially newer and more vulnerable staff, we can reduce bullying

Couldn't agree more with you Chris. Unfortunately not everyone shares your pragmatic approach and just want to strike for the sake of throwing some toys out of the pram. I told the guys in my office today that if the union think il be striking over the xmas period they have another thing coming. It would hurt my wallet when I need it the most and do irreversible damage to our reputation, losing countless customers who quite frankly wouldn't return. Why should they. I know I wouldny trust a company with my business after pulling a stunt like that. Plus, it would achieve sweet FA.

[daveyeff]

obviously the people who come on here and slate the union don't think their future/job is under threat.