BURSLEM/area/region to be balloted over 12 suspensions

[cjp]

Burslem DO are soon to be balloted over the 12 suspensions that recently took place. An area ballot and regional ballot are to follow soon after.
For those who aren't aware, the suspensions took place over 6 weeks ago 2 days after the breakdown of talks, the 12 members were suspended without any allegations or evidence and have still not received any. Managers have put in statements that no one will come forward out of fear. even though everyone in the office has signed a petition in support of the 12 members who have almost 200 years service between them(most are over 20 year men).
The members have been more than willing to speak out during the investigations and have named the management bullies but as usual nothing is done.
Of the 12 people all current reps were suspended and another 3 were retired reps and all were people who were willing to stand up a complain if they saw management bullying taking place.
This came just a few weeks after a petition was sent in to the divisional manager asking for an IR review to look , particularly, into the management bullying currently taking place.
1 woman recently finished on ill health grounds because of this liverpudlian man (no offense to Liverpool in general, top lads) and another is on long term sick because of his actions. And he is still carrying on these actions.
WE HOPE EVERYONE WILL SUPPORT US IN OUR EFFORTS TO GET JUSTICE FOR THESE PEOPLE IN THE SAME WAY AS THEY AND OUR OFFICE HAS ALWAYS SUPPORTED THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IN THEIR STRUGGLES :cfo :cfo :lfo :lfo
Burslem people please use the BURSLEM LADS thread as I am sure that there will be some talking going on.

[mailsort6]

Under the disciplinary procedures, management must give a reason in writing to why these postmen/women (union reps) were suspended. If the reps have complained about bullying by managers and nothing is done and the reps are targeted by the managers because they have put in a complaint about bullying, this could amount to victimisation. I would go and seek legal advice.

[cjp]

As individuals they are already going down the legal avenues and have already met with D.Ward, N.Candy and several others ,MP's amongst them, but this does not get things sorted quickly and can take years. These people just want their jobs back (god knows why) and all lies and slander cleared.

ps. at the moment it would seem that RM do not care about procedures and are prepared to do anything to take Burslem DO down and aren't bothered how much it will cost in payouts and bad publicity.

We at Burslem have now heard so many people say BUT THEY CAN'T DO THAT just because they can't believe that it would be allowed by law.
FACT; they are doing it
FACT; If you win your case anywhere, RM do not have to give you your job back.

[Ant Midlands]

Can you tell me if the lads in question are suspended with or without pay?

[mailsort6]

As individuals they are already going down the legal avenues and have already met with D.Ward, N.Candy and several others ,MP's amongst them, but this does not get things sorted quickly and can take years. These people just want their jobs back (god knows why) and all lies and slander cleared.

ps. at the moment it would seem that RM do not care about procedures and are prepared to do anything to take Burslem DO down and aren't bothered how much it will cost in payouts and bad publicity.

We at Burslem have now heard so many people say BUT THEY CAN'T DO THAT just because they can't believe that it would be allowed by law.
FACT; they are doing it
FACT; If you win your case anywhere, RM do not have to give you your job back.

If these posties are suspended RM has to follow proper disciplinary procedures by law under the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) 2004 and the Employment Act 2002. If proper procedures are not followed their suspension could be deemed as unfair if their cases go to an employment tribunal. I do believe what you say RM do suspend posties or sack them without even thinking about the law at times. However, if you say that they were suspended without a written statement, stating why they have been suspended this could be deemed as breach of the above Acts.

[lovenotmoney]

JUSTICE FOR BURSLEM 12

WHY NOT A NATIONAL BALLOT?

[goinpostal]

too right instaed of our leaders looking the other way, they should make Burslem our cause, and then RM will think twice before trying to screw a local office.

[L Tommo]

LETS NOT FECK ABOUT HERE.... LETS BACK THE BURSLEM 12 AND BIG DAVE........

WE HEAR OF HOW WE ARE THE UNION... ALL OF US... NOW LETS SHOW THIS TO BE TRUE....

WE ALL KNOW THE WAY RM ACT... ALL OF US WITH A BIT OF TIME ON THIS SITE KNOW HOW BURSLEM HAVE STOOD UP AND TOOK THE FIGHT TO RM AND WE ALL KNOW THIS IS THE REASON RM HAVE NOW SUSPENDED THE GOOD 12 AND TRUE..........


LETS TELL PEOPLE IN OUR OWN MC's AND DO's AND MEDC's AND anywhere with a CWU member....


Lets back people who stood alone and still backed there members and friends....

ITS TIME WE ALL DONE SOMETHING TO HELP!!!

BURSLEM WE SALUTE YOU!!!












































BIG DAVE....

[cjp]

Just to clear up on a couple of the posts. On the suspension letters the accusations were;
1 Exclusion and/or verbal harrassment of a colleague. normally you might be thinking that could be anyone who doesn't speak to strike breakers BUT WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY. when the 12 asked who they were supposed to have harrassed or excluded the interveiwer said he didn't know. also they asked was it exclusion or are they supposed to have said something again the interviewer said he didn't know.

2. Encouraging colleagues not to co-operate with the management. doh! we are on F@@king strike nobody needs encouragement they are all pissed off. we returned an 88% yes for strike action

3. For the 3 reps only. Miss use of a CWU position. when the reps asked HOW? the standard answer came back from the interveiwer, I don't know.

In several of the interviews the person ,quite rightly, apologised to the lads on suspension for his lack of details to question them with.
After their interviews (by several weeks) they then went into Burslem DO and interviewed about half the staff to try and get a case together. It is no surprise that they also interviewed about 10 managers who all slagged off the 12 which they are now deciding to use as evidence to back up the suspensions by impying that they are also work colleagues.

[goinpostal]

Burslem & Stoke call a national meeting, inviting liverpool, oxford, london and lets creat a rank and file solidarity network, the CWU leadership won't do it.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

POST STRIKE THREAT OVER SUSPENSIONS

HAYLEY HARP

09:40 - 03 November 2007

Postal workers are threatening to go back on strike in support of colleagues suspended from their jobs.Union representatives from Royal Mail's Burslem depot will meet on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of balloting members for strike action.

It comes after unofficial walkouts at the delivery depot in September when 12 colleagues were suspended over allegations of bullying and harassment.

They remain away from work although Royal Mail says three of the suspended workers have been told they can return.

The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) says it feels Royal Mail is not working to resolve the issue and wants it to organise an independent review of the case, with the affected staff returned to their posts while it is carried out.

CWU representatives say those told to return to work have received no explanation or apology so they count them as still being suspended.

Lee Barron, Midlands regional secretary of the CWU, said: "It is unacceptable that these 12 workers are still suspended. To our knowledge Royal Mail has produced no evidence to back up any allegations raised by one member of management. We are not going to put up with it anymore.

"We feel Royal Mail can resolve the issue by conducting an independent review with the union and putting the people back at work while they do that.

"The ball is in their court and if there is any further strike action at the depot it will all be down to them.

"We will notify Royal Mail once we have had the meeting. If action in Burslem cannot get the workers back to work, we will ballot the Stoke area and if that doesn't work we will ballot 18,500 members throughout the Midlands region."

A Royal Mail statement said: "The investigations following the precautionary suspension, on full pay, of 12 Burslem employees is progressing in accordance with the process agreed with the CWU.

"Three of the cases have been concluded and the suspensions involving those employees lifted. Royal Mail has a responsibility to thoroughly and professionally investigate claims of bullying and harassment and would expect the CWU to support this position.

"The threat of further disruption to the service we provide our customers benefits no-one, especially when procedures agreed with the union are being followed."

Mr Barron added: "Three workers have been told they can return to work but they have received no explanation or apology so we are still including them in the figures." Royal Mail workers have been involved in a number of national strikes over pay, pensions and working conditions this year and the CWU has previously said the Burslem suspensions caused further anger among workers.

[mailsort6]

Just to clear up on a couple of the posts. On the suspension letters the accusations were;
1 Exclusion and/or verbal harrassment of a colleague. normally you might be thinking that could be anyone who doesn't speak to strike breakers BUT WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY. when the 12 asked who they were supposed to have harrassed or excluded the interveiwer said he didn't know. also they asked was it exclusion or are they supposed to have said something again the interviewer said he didn't know.

2. Encouraging colleagues not to co-operate with the management. doh! we are on F@@king strike nobody needs encouragement they are all pissed off. we returned an 88% yes for strike action

3. For the 3 reps only. Miss use of a CWU position. when the reps asked HOW? the standard answer came back from the interveiwer, I don't know.

In several of the interviews the person ,quite rightly, apologised to the lads on suspension for his lack of details to question them with.
After their interviews (by several weeks) they then went into Burslem DO and interviewed about half the staff to try and get a case together. It is no surprise that they also interviewed about 10 managers who all slagged off the 12 which they are now deciding to use as evidence to back up the suspensions by impying that they are also work colleagues.

From what I can gather the union reps are being victimised and harassed by the managers and the reps should use this has their argument for unfair suspension. Have the union reps put grievances in regarding how they have been victimised and harassed by the managers? For starters 10 managers interviewed they are not going to give evidence in their favour, are they? All I can say is that the reps get the names of all the managers that gave statements. If they get the right legal advice they have a very good chance of winning their case.

[johno47]

Staff at Burslem feel really frustrated, because we are doing as much as we can to help the 12 suspended but theres only so much you can do, the people who can really help the 12 is Dave Ward and the legal team at the CWU, the office manager the area manager and his sidekick woman assistant and i use the word woman very loosely have created this situation because they couldnt get their own way within the office, basicly the reps and others were far more inteligent than they were, and knew more about local and national agreements than them, and they didnt like it,
so they come out with bullying and harrassment claims, and yet the questions that were asked of the staff they interviewed were all generalised questions and did not relate to any specific incident, which means they havnt got anything specific to charge them with but we will try to find something, which i think you will find is entrapment.
RM play with peoples lives and livelyhoods as if they were toys, it is totaly wrong and its about time the CWU got to grips with this blatent harrasment by RM and told them in uncetrtain terms that it will not be tolerated, RM think they are a law unto themselves and think they can get away with anything, but there is a legal system outside RM that wont let them get away with it, COME ON MR WARD, GET YOUR FINGER OUT AND DO SOMETHING...UNITY IS STRENGTH.

[mailsort6]

Staff at Burslem feel really frustrated, because we are doing as much as we can to help the 12 suspended but theres only so much you can do, the people who can really help the 12 is Dave Ward and the legal team at the CWU, the office manager the area manager and his sidekick woman assistant and i use the word woman very loosely have created this situation because they couldnt get their own way within the office, basicly the reps and others were far more inteligent than they were, and knew more about local and national agreements than them, and they didnt like it,
so they come out with bullying and harrassment claims, and yet the questions that were asked of the staff they interviewed were all generalised questions and did not relate to any specific incident, which means they havnt got anything specific to charge them with but we will try to find something, which i think you will find is entrapment.
RM play with peoples lives and livelyhoods as if they were toys, it is totaly wrong and its about time the CWU got to grips with this blatent harrasment by RM and told them in uncetrtain terms that it will not be tolerated, RM think they are a law unto themselves and think they can get away with anything, but there is a legal system outside RM that wont let them get away with it, COME ON MR WARD, GET YOUR FINGER OUT AND DO SOMETHING...UNITY IS STRENGTH.

I totally agree with you johno47, its about time some thing was done about this type of behaviour by management, it is unacceptable which tends to be a nationwide issue.

[cjp]

We have now had our ballot authorised and are expecting a good yes vote for strike action.
It is action that we do not want to take unless we have to and the national union have made a sensible offer to RM to reinstate the 12 suspended people and do a thorough review of all the IR problems in Burslem with a national CWU rep and national RM manager. However, with the current stupidity of RM that is unlikely to happen so we expect to have to fight to get it.

So far we have taken over 4 weeks strike action in the last 11 months and things are getting tight so if anyone out there feels like organising a collection please get in touch with your branch as I know that letters have been sent to all branches from CWU headquarters asking for donations to support the striking workers. We aren't charity cases and we will be out regardless in support of our 12 colleagues and hopefully to stop this type of bullying taking place in other offices. (This no1 bully is heading to Sheffield shortly by the way).

Thanks for all the support we have received already.