27/03/2019 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Hi, find below the Mount Pleasant bulletin of the 27th of March. The entire back and front pages are also attached - Comments welcome!

LET'S CALL A CUT A CUT...
Yes, next week's our 2% pay “increase”... Which is very,
very far from what would be needed to keep up with the
rising cost of living! And of course, RM managers tell us
we're “lucky” to get an increase at all when compared to
other mail couriers... Only this isn't an increase, but a pay
cut, since RPI inflation has been above 3% from April to
November last year and 2.5% from last December to
February this year! Whatever happens to the rate of
inflation shouldn't be our problem. Our pay rise has to be
well above it to make ends meet, and that's it!

RACE TO THE BOTTOM 1
Oh yes, and we've heard the latest regarding our pensions
from DGS Terry Pullinger's Facebook video last week...
We're supposed to be “pioneers” after DWP secretary
Amber Rudd announced the government would be
introducing the new CDC scheme. “Pioneers”? Yes, of a
pension scheme that is far worse than the previous
Defined Benefit scheme! And of course, we agree that all
of us should be on the same pension scheme – but our
mates on the lousy DC scheme don't need to join us in a
risky CDC scheme either!
What we need is to all be on decent pensions. RM
bosses may claim that they cannot afford this – but what is
“unaffordable” for us is their shareholders' juicy dividends!

RACE TO THE BOTTOM 2
We now hear that the 6 casual jobs in W1/EC processing
in the basement weren't offered as SA duties on the resign
but had been advertised in the docket. And so what?
This doesn't make it any more acceptable! We don't agree
with casuals being brought in, period! If HMP top
managers want to cover jobs, they'd better get new,
permanent hands – on the same Ts&Cs as the rest of us!

NOT ACCEPTABLE HERE EITHER!
And by the way, RM-PFS managers bringing in casual
cleaners to cover for a lack of hands is nothing new.
They've been doing this for yonks! Has the union forgotten
that we're part of the RM workforce too? When we say
“equal pay for equal work”, it also applies for us at RMPFS!

ROYAL AMAZON?
We know RM bosses would like to get us on cheaper and
more flexible Ts&Cs – and they're certainly looking to use
the same tricks as Amazon, Yodel, Hermes and Co. to turn
the screw on us. No wonder RM bosses bought eCourier in
2015... “Self-employed” couriers there do deliveries as we
do, only that they're on barely £9/hr, with no sick or holiday
pay. As RM seeks to drag all of our conditions to the
bottom, we'll all have to fight against this, together!

WHERE ARE OUR FULL-TIME CONTRACTS?
It is only now that us Part-Timers are being called to sign for
our part-time duties. And yes, it's good that those among us
on less than 25 hrs/wk can choose to increase our hours to
25. But still, who can get by on part-time pay anyway?
We've been saying this for some time now but we'll keep
repeating it: those among us that want to increase our hours
to full-time should be able to do so!

HEADLESS CHICKENS
We see that managers are now in a frenzy trying to find
enough senior mates to sign up for a second wave of
EVRs... And yet, no mention of much-needed recruitment to
fill in the gaps! We know that RM bosses' aim is to get more
out of fewer of us. But unlike the managers, we're not going
to rush around for the sake of RM's profits...

SQUARING THE CIRCLE
We're glad to see a few more duties allocated to PSA to
share out some of the work in here... but of course, we can't
help thinking that this is thanks to managers cutting duties
somewhere else in HMP. How could it be otherwise, when
RM's grand re-sign is all about cutting our overall numbers?!

WE'RE NOT STRETCH ARMSTRONG
Now we hear that the number of flexible reserve duties in
driving distribution will increase to 8... Which means that 8
of our mates will have to cover any shift, Earlies, Lates or
Nights, with only 2 weeks' notice from managers. And of
course, the duty allowance might be there to sweeten the
pill, but is still a very bitter one to swallow! Because it might
be 8 of our mates on these new Ts&Cs today... but how
many of us in future? We can't allow RM to get away with
this!

WHEN RM PAYS QUICKLY
RM has bought a whole new fleet of 7.5T vans for HMP
Distribution – which meet the standard of the new 'ultra low
emission zone' coming into force on the 8th of April...
otherwise RM would have had to pay the ULEZ daily
charge. Which goes to show that when RM is afraid to lose
money, it can decide to take some from its own pocket!

“AUTOMATIC” TRAINING
RM managers have now ordered new vans that are actually
able to fit into the basement van park... They learned their
lesson the hard way, as the previous ones were 2 inches
too tall... That being said, these new vans are also
automatic and we need proper training before we start
driving them – it goes without saying!

HEALTHY PROFITS, HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS
We hear that we're to get the £200 compensation for the
building works in our first April payslip. But how is this
payout supposed to mend our lungs, after hours of exposure
to fine dust and fumes, for months?! This isn't acceptable!

SUMMER'S COME EARLY...?
Speaking of unacceptable conditions, they keep leaving the
heating on in here while the weather's mild! The heat may
be on for managers as the financial year comes to an end...
Seems like they've taken the idea of putting us in the
“pressure cooker” literally... Maybe the solution is for us all
to step outside, for some fresh air?

[Yamr1]

HEALTHY PROFITS, HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS
We hear that we're to get the £200 compensation for the
building works in our first April payslip


What's this???????

[rogersh]

Hi, find below the Mount Pleasant bulletin of the 27th of March. The entire back and front pages are also attached - Comments welcome!



RACE TO THE BOTTOM 1
Oh yes, and we've heard the latest regarding our pensions
from DGS Terry Pullinger's Facebook video last week...
We're supposed to be “pioneers” after DWP secretary
Amber Rudd announced the government would be
introducing the new CDC scheme. “Pioneers”? Yes, of a
pension scheme that is far worse than the previous
Defined Benefit scheme! And of course, we agree that all
of us should be on the same pension scheme – but our
mates on the lousy DC scheme don't need to join us in a
risky CDC scheme either!

Jimallen can you please clarify the source of part of your post "but our mates on the lousy DC scheme don't need to join us in a risky CDC scheme either!"

I am in the DC scheme & was convinced everyone in that scheme (& DBCB transitional) would automatically be transferred to the CDC scheme when implemented.