DGH wrote:The essential problem is that Royal Mail always end up being unreasonable in their actions, but the union are unrealistic in their ambitions.
Letters are in terminal decline. In another ten years we could easily see another 50% fall. Whatever the optimists might wish, more and more will be done by email, and as less tech-savvy older people die off, that will accelerate. There's absolutely no way a growth in packets is going to compensate for that, especially not in a 'competitive' marketplace.
Looking to make RM manage decline and the inevitable loss of jobs in a sensible way should be top of the union's list.
However, it's true that we're our own worst enemies. All this backbiting about 'runners' or 'snails', people with easy jobs, whatever, just puts the blame in the wrong places. Wider UK politics, technology and RM senior management are the real issues driving this change.
It doesn't help if someone's coming in an hour early and going home two hours before their time, neither does it help if someone drags out their delivery to occupy all their hours. Both things happen.
We do need to take action to stop Back trampling all over our T&Cs. But RM have been undermining them for years and years (employing P/T staff on fewer hours than they're regularly expected to work, regular use of 'casuals' in mail centres, etc etc).
Pullinger's tub-thumping is, in my view, unnecessary. The workforce don't need rousing speeches to support the union, they need the union to have a clear, structured plan. And wanting everything in the '4 Pillars' to be honoured seems to me to be to be living in the past. Back's essentially torn up that agreement (RM always backslide on agreements). We need a union who can clearly and calmly articulate the essential problem to the general public. Otherwise we won't get much public support (and of course a strike at the time of year when traffic is lightest may not have a terrific effect on RM anyway - beyond perhaps showing that we can do 6 days work in 5, or even 4).
This is exactly what I mean. The average man in the sreeet who hears about 4 pillars won’t have a clue and won’t care what it means.
On the other hand, make it known to the public RM are failing to pay average holiday pay as required by law, and have bullying/racist management and people will listen. Just look at everyone getting offended at what he or she has done on social media. The union need to play the game - manager X from the depot in Joeblogsville took an employee down the conduct route for having a heart attack on delivery and was openly racist to another employee and people will listen. Reach out to the amazon and Hermes couriers who are having to pee in their vans.
Stop tub thumping over four pillars and put it into simple terms and something can be done.
I’m in the minority and I’ll be shot down here but I’d settle for a ‘written in stone and legal law’ deal like the following:
-An end to ghost overtime. All hours to be worked but a slightly higher rate for those doing above their contracted hours - still rewarding those who are doing extra loops.
-Start/finish times to move by no more than a half hour.
-Paid breaks to remain.
—Managers to be subjected to the same conduct code as us.
-Average holiday pay to be paid out at 75% of what is owed, on the one hand no long complicated claims, on the other hand everyone who’s worked above their hours get a nice stress free amount added to their next wage packet.
And all this to be secured for 5 years, no reneging or backtracking giving mid term security to us all.
I think that’s firmly meeting RM in the middle.
The day is gonna come when we’re all gonna have to testify.
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