29/11/17 Mount Pleasant Bulletin from Anna and Jim

[jimallen]

Hi there, here's the Mount Pleasant bulletin of the 29th of November... comments are welcome!

STRIKE WHILE THE IRON’S HOT!
Any news re RM’s (negotiated!!) attacks on us? This
week we’re having to gather info from tweets, Facebook
and Royalmailchat! Apparently a “mediator’s report” is
due 30 Nov, but the mediator wanted an extension to write
the report and the CWU said OK! We’re told the talks are
still meant to end 12 Dec. But it means nothing’s being
done about the crazy situation we’re already in - and it’s
getting worse - even before the devastating changes in
our Ts&Cs which RM proposes! We need to strike now!

ALL OUT WITH LIVERPOOL ROAD!
Yes and the fight at St Helens DO (WA9-11) says it all!
Managers suspending workers left right and centre -
mates pushed to deliver up to 8pm, no heating, no loos for
females etc, etc... We can all identify with this! And we
know the only way to get results is to walk out straight
away and stay out until the bosses undertake to meet our
demands! Isn’t that what we should be doing right now,
nationally, instead of waiting for CWU officials to
“negotiate” another sell-out deal with RM... when the iron
has gone cold?

FEWER HOURS? MORE WAGES!
Yet another of managers’ last minute "change of plans":
Xmas overtime here at HMP won't start this week, but only
on the 4th of Dec? They know that many part-timers rely
on these few weeks to work full-time, so cutting us down
to 3 weeks makes life impossible! What about a lastminute
decision to make us full-time. Or else to double
our wages..?

MEAN MACHINE WILL GRIND TO A HALT!
We hear Jubilee has already had Xmas pressure for three
weeks - and they’re still going crazy... So why not here at
HMP? And why are our trusty Xmas casuals only getting
2 week’s work this year?

WHERE'S THE NIGHT GONE?
We're going to see 6 of our mates on nights take EVR,
and this even before Xmas chaos starts… so they'll be
missed even more. But we've heard that another 23
mates are leaving in the next 2 months?! If RM wants to
cut down night shift, it better decrease the workload, not
our numbers!

XMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR
On Lates, managers threw at us international to process...
and told us they didn't see it coming! What can we say?
The day RM plans ahead, especially at Xmas, frogs will
grow hair (Spanish), chickens will grow teeth (French) or
pigs will fly…

... AND SO DOES BLACK FRIDAY!
Same for the chaotic Black Friday: we're swamped to the
point that some of us had to stop doing flats and help with
the flow of packets. Just for the record and in case
managers haven't realised this yet: Black Friday happens
every year and is always the fourth Friday of November…
easy, isn't it?

BLACK MONDAY MADE US SEE RED
Yes Monday night was horrendous! 4 rows of yorks filled
with packets turned into 5 plus 3 more along the top and
stuff had to stay on the platform while another row of yorks
built up downstairs!! And guess what? Still no extra hours
given to part-timers!

XMAS BONUS FOR 2018
We remember, last year RM paid our Xmas bonus on the
22nd of Dec, just 3 days before Xmas! At this rate, they'll
be paying us the bonus after Xmas and claim it is for next
year? We have a solution for them, tho': they can
incorporate the Xmas bonus in our basic pay, once and for
all! And make it pensionable (if we have any pension left,
that is...).

HOW DID FOX GET AMONG US CHICKENS?
We couldn't believe our ears when we heard that an acting
manager was actually challenging Val Peg in the recent
CWU local election… How did this one manage to even
get nominated? Union is about all for one and one for all -
not all for one and none for all.

TRY WITH FLAT TYRES
We couldn't stop laughing when we heard that RM is
ordering a new fleet of vans that will be able to fit... into
the basement van park! Yes, the vans they've got now
are 2 inches too tall and can't park down there… Maybe
RM management needs to be reminded that “size
matters”?

BOUNCING BOB ON HOP BALL
We wonder if it isn't an early Xmas for B the Builder - he
seems to have received one of these hop bouncing
balls… one moment we see him bouncing in flats, a
second later he's bouncing behind our backs! We have
the perfect Xmas present for him: some tranquillizers!

WASH OUT THE DAMNED SMELL!
Note to Elephant-Cleaner-Boss: wet mops will start to
smell - so either throw them out or wash and dry them. In
fact we used to have a washing machine for this purpose.
Where is it?

WE SHOULD SEE YOU ABOUT YOU?
We were amused when we were told in that Cleaners’
meeting 2 weeks ago that we should come and see
managers if we have any issues. Because the only real
issue we have is, precisely, the manager...

STAMP OUT THE EXTORTIONATE PRICE!
Where are the stamps we usually get at Xmas? We
wouldn’t be surprised if RM claims they have become so
expensive (unaccountably and out of the blue!) that RM
bosses can no longer afford them!

[jetblack]

........... they can
incorporate the Xmas bonus in our basic pay, once and for
all! And make it pensionable (if we have any pension left,
that is...).