London's Position - The Facts

[baldrick]

My Branch hasn't made a recommendation as yet. I believe the Committee is meeting tomorrow with a PEC member speaking on the deal.
Personally speaking I will be voting against the proposed agreement, and everyone I know at work is saying the same.
As for Dave Ward, the only time I have ever seen him is on TV during the dispute - probably like you.
I don't know who might replace him, I understand he will have to stand for re-election next year. Who do you suggest might make a better DGS?

[yorkie]

iv met dave ward few times i dont think there is anyone to replace him
cause i believe these so called deals are being forced on us by the goverment.
yes i am dissapointed with dave but believe me the rest of the exec and pec are
not capable of leading us.

[baldrick]

Don't know the man but I certainly think he is better than his predecessor - John Keggie.
If anyone better stands next year I would vote for them, but I don't know most of these people at the top.

[Tom]

when you say these things dont favour any part of the country mate i have to dissagree you guys are on london waiting and no direspect meant but its cheaper to live in parts of london than here in oxford so maybe we could get some of that as i read that oxford is one of the most expensive places to live now.
Any comments?

You are talking out of your hat son,

London is the most expensive place to live in by a mile, and the £60 s week extra I get before tax as my London Weighting is nowhere near enough to deal with the reality of having to live in London,

The Cost of a House in London is just like the Pay and Pension Deal........TOTAL MADNESS..........

[philippo]

It seems like we are all on our own if this deal goes ahead. Survival of the fittest or is it survival of the biggest ( What if they are close to bigger fish). Is the Stockport Mail Centre to lose its (2nd) class outward and 40 duties to go with it. We need support from Manchester. Any offers?

Agreement, NO!
But Hayes and Ward Have To Go.

Exactly what RM want , they've tried to play MC's up against each other for over 2 years now with malicious gossip and hit lists , i.e. Preston up against Bolton , Stockport against Manchester. This is how :lfo the puppet master does the 1970's IBM Command & Control Model, just a more corporate/aggressive version of Royal Fail's Management Control. Can't have people thinking RM have inept Area/Senior Managers ?

The mail has gone and the duties on earlies and nights along with it, lates to follow. We nearly walked out unofficially over this. I am not criticising the posties - the ones I know are supportive. The RM poicy of executive action to consilidate the volume and the lack of support we have had from certain officials.... What did the Manchester branch recommend over the steal - sorry deal?
Again I would ask for support from the ordinary postie and I am not confusing this with the comparison our managers make between our performance and that of Manchester and Oldham. I am not for competition in any shape or form and especially between offices. I give this as a warning of management tactics. This has been their goal for the last 2 years and this tactic will certainly pop up elsewhere.
I apologise if the original posting has been taken in a manner not intended.

IN SOLIDARITY. pb.

[oxboy]

mate your having a laugh if you think London is that more expensive than Oxford the cost of living down here is everybit as expensive as yours so why should you get it and not us.
Im not having a pop im just asking the question,

[POSTMAN]

mate your having a laugh if you think London is that more expensive than Oxford the cost of living down here is everybit as expensive as yours so why should you get it and not us.
Im not having a pop im just asking the question,

Nuffin to do with us,as you probably know anyway.
One minute i read about the great financial north/south divide saying it's getting bigger then another month it's closed.
tbh i understand what you're saying,it seems the further north the cheaper things seem to be.(don't shoot the messenger my flat cap buddies)
There is no doubt it's getting more expensive in certain places,round our way it's Kent,used to be cheap then a lot of londoners moved there now things have risen.
No doubt things are rising in places,it's a hot potato for businesses that's why a lot move out of here.

At the time it was introduced it was very much needed,now tbh,it's still needed but surrounding areas you could say need it as well,or at least a decent f***ing payrise!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Weighting

[jafferpants]

[quote="yorkie"]iv met dave ward few times i dont think there is anyone to replace him
cause i believe these so called deals are being forced on us by the goverment.


So why dosn't he come right out and say so!!!

[norbet colon]

mate your having a laugh if you think London is that more expensive than Oxford the cost of living down here is everybit as expensive as yours so why should you get it and not us.
Im not having a pop im just asking the question,

I was @ Uni in Oxford 9 years ago , Ruskin College not the hooray one !, Oxford was expensive , sometimes certain things were cheaper in London , probably because of all the money around . Oxford is literally divided from the dreaming spires of Morse episodes to another world over the river and down Cowley Road .

Having said that London is one the most expensive cities in the world , I lasted 1 month in Leystonstone and went back to Reading , the commuting was horrendous doing 10 hour shifts , tubes and all that . I'd a priviledge season ticket at 1-4 rate , god knows what it'd been like paying the full fare , and full London Allowance , & yes that is fully deserved & necessary .

The Cockneys are the people that have been forced out of their own city , be it to Kent , Essex , Slough etc .

[johnnyp]

mate your having a laugh if you think London is that more expensive than Oxford the cost of living down here is everybit as expensive as yours so why should you get it and not us.
Im not having a pop im just asking the question,

I was @ Uni in Oxford 9 years ago , Ruskin College not the hooray one !, Oxford was expensive , sometimes certain things were cheaper in London , probably because of all the money around . Oxford is literally divided from the dreaming spires of Morse episodes to another world over the river and down Cowley Road .

Having said that London is one the most expensive cities in the world , I lasted 1 month in Leystonstone and went back to Reading , the commuting was horrendous doing 10 hour shifts , tubes and all that . I'd a priviledge season ticket at 1-4 rate , god knows what it'd been like paying the full fare , and full London Allowance , & yes that is fully deserved & necessary .

The Cockneys are the people that have been forced out of their own city , be it to Kent , Essex , Slough etc .

Exactly what happened to me Born in South London,lived there all my life,had to move out to Kent as we could not get council accommadation,no kids and renting costs a fortune,so we got a Mortage and moved out.

[Malatesta1954]

when you say these things dont favour any part of the country mate i have to dissagree you guys are on london waiting and no direspect meant but its cheaper to live in parts of london than here in oxford so maybe we could get some of that as i read that oxford is one of the most expensive places to live now.
Any comments?

Makes you wonder if there is new London Weighting deal in the offing - course that wouldn't affect the rest of us 100,000

London pay ranges rise in line with the percentages in the deal

[zaphod]

Why IS there London Weighting in any instance?
It is just as expensive to live in various parts of the country.

[davidessex]

a lot of postmen working in london don,t live there. they commute from the home counties. perhaps they should subsidise the ones that actually live in london by handing over their london weighting. ps i work in the essex town i live in, 5 doors away is a postman who works in mount pleasant, his choice. i rest my case.

[lovejoy]

It never ceases to amaze me how rumours spread based on paranoia. The fact is that the deal does not favour any part of the country and it is simply untrue and vindictive to suggest that London has some kind of deal on bonus payments. The truth is that the highest budget target savings are in London and the efficiency part of the agreement only allows for a bonus once you have achieved savings above budget, hardly a bonus for London.

As for the London reps being quiet at the briefing, the simple truth was that all divisional reps and regional secretaries had a four hour meeting with Dave Ward two days before the National briefing where our questions and views were stated. There was no point in asking the same questions two days later, it would of wasted the opportunity for branches to make their views known. Moreover, at that point in time, London branches had not met as a division and therefore we did not have a united position. Indeed, we are awaiting branches committee decisions to see if their is a concensus of opinions.

However, what London is united on is that this agreement is neither the deal of the century or the sale out of the century. The fact is after 8 days of strike action and some days of unofficial action, you have to decide whether you can use the deal to your advantage or not. We believe that this dispute was about wiping out the CWU within the workplace, but we have now enshrined thoughout the agreement that we can now negotiate on all local issues. If the agreement is endorsed, then we in London will have strong policies in place to ensure we protect local offices against the worst aspects of Royal Mail Plans.

As far as comments that London are only supporting the deal because of our loyalty to Dave is garbage. Good gossip but no substance. We have supported Dave and the PEC when they have been right and criticised them when they have been wrong. In fact, in all likelyhood, London will oppose the joint statement on pensions, not because we don't recognise that some change will have to happen or that our negotiators have not made some improvements, our opposition will be based on that we should put more pressure on the government and force more concessions from Royal Mail, even if further industrial action is needed.

It is important that whatever way Branches or divisions decide to go on this agreement, that it is done constructively and is based on the facts. The danger is that if we don't and we get into another internal dog fight as we did under the way forward, then we may well achieve Royal Mail`s orginal strategy of destroying the CWU ourselves.

I hope this puts the record straight. There are no secret deals, it is a judgement call.

I think the above is a sensible approach. Yes on pay and modernisation because any decent branch could easily handle the contents of that document but over next 60days if position on pensions doesn't change vote NO in that ballot

[Edward Hunter]

I know people who work in sunbury, teddington etc also get an allowance, and its virtually the same as the outer London weighting payment. Inner London is about £30 more.They should pay everybody within the M25 the inner London Money. House prices/rent is ridiculous down here.