04/11/2020 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Hi, find below the Mount Pleasant bulletin of 4 November, as well as the complete bulletin attached (with front page editorial).
Comments are always welcome!

WORRYING
We were a bit shocked by the letter we read informing
us that a distribution driver on Lates tested positive for
C-19 last week... It said that the driver who took over
the van on the next shift was asked to get a test
ONLY if he/she had symptoms! Has management
ever heard of asymptomatic people? Everyone who's
been in contact with a workmate who tests positive
should be sent home to self-isolate and get a test!
PS to our workmate – we hope you get well soon!

WHAT DID THEY EXPECT?
So we heard that one of the morning shift managers
in Processing tested positive? If that's true, what can
we say? Tough, but not surprising, since we've seen
so many managers not taking this pandemic
seriously...

SLAP ON THE WRIST
Oh dear! Apparently Deeside ParcelForce depot boss
got a little slap on the wrist from an HSE inspector last
week... In one of the union's "Letter to Branches", we
read that an inspection resulted in him getting a fine...
And why? Because drivers were not allowed enough
time to clean their vehicles and cleaners didn't have
adequate products. Sound familiar?

WE'LL TAKE OUR TIME
So, in the midst of a second C-19 peak, RM had
nothing better to do than reintroduce voluntary vansharing
on deliveries, collections and distribution
(good luck with finding anyone who wants to share a
van at the moment!). And now, we're told we've not
been cleaning our vans properly? Fine! Since the
virus is airborne, sanitising “touch points” will mean
sanitising the whole van. And that would take our
whole shift!

TIME TO GO SLOW
This is RM in all its splendour... It proposes services
to customers and hopes that the work will just get
done by magic! So now everyone wants tracked-24
and -48 packets, when there aren’t enough of us to do
this work – so who's going to deal with the backlog?
Because we can’t! Managers might want to change
the service to “tracked 72”!

HMP CELLS ARE FULL UP
Ok, we've nothing against the new bullring layout - at
least we can keep a safe distance between us. But
since we've been allocated our own “cells”, us
inmates have noticed (especially on Lates, of course)
that we each get a lot more packets to sort.
Obviously: there are fewer cells per square metre...
So when are managers going to create new cells,
complete with prisoners, somewhere else, in order to
deal with the flow?

HAD ENOUGH OF THEIR MISERLINESS
How petty of the shift manager on Lates to try to
control the number of masks we use by asking us to
sign for each one! It’s not just petty, in fact it’s mad!
And we’re not going to do it. We need masks when
we decide we need them. It’s a covid-security issue,
after all!

PRISONS OVERCROWDED ALREADY...
We hear that our reps here are very worried about
how safe social-distancing can be maintained if that
“record number” of Christmas casuals (which we read
about in the press) is hired. Because presumably it'd
mean a lot more coming here to MP, as well. It
seems the union is implying that they might try to
oppose casuals coming here at all? We hope not...

.... ALWAYS SPACE TO BE FOUND
... yes, while of course, we'd prefer permanent
recruitment, there are lot of casuals who we see year
after year and we’ve come to know some of them
quite well. So it'd be a great pity if they were
prevented from coming back - and of course, they
need the work. Surely there is space, with adequate
distancing, that could be found in the basement - and
even on Lates, in the delivery areas?

A YEAR OR TWO?
Can we ask managers to kindly get lost if they have a
cold? It's already unpleasant to have King Etcetera
breathing down our necks, if in addition he's breathing
and sniffing, we're going to catch it! We're happy to
sign him and others off work for as long as is
needed... and by long, we mean looooooong.

WORTH A PACKET TO THEM
We know RM risks our health for any kind of profit, so
we're not surprised that bosses are now eyeing the
new “Operation Moonshot” contract for £800m…
Which would mean we’re handling 200,000 test kits a
day, for 2 years! We don’t mind delivering them, but
we do mind collecting them – unless it's 100% safe!
And we doubt it can be...

ALL OUT!
This new service collecting packets from people’s
doorsteps, is just crazy. And without so much as a
"by-your-leave"! With more parcels to deliver than
ever, where are we meant to put the extra ones we
pick up while on our rounds? Without more mates to
share this work, it’s undoable! Not to mention the
increased risk for us of handling packets directly from
customers… This could bring everything grinding to a
complete halt..!

[k979aaa]

Tracked 72 don't give them ideas

[Newbie001]

Hi, find below the Mount Pleasant bulletin of 4 November, as well as the complete bulletin attached (with front page editorial).
Comments are always welcome!

WORRYING
We were a bit shocked by the letter we read informing
us that a distribution driver on Lates tested positive for
C-19 last week... It said that the driver who took over
the van on the next shift was asked to get a test
ONLY if he/she had symptoms! Has management
ever heard of asymptomatic people? Everyone who's
been in contact with a workmate who tests positive
should be sent home to self-isolate and get a test!
PS to our workmate – we hope you get well soon!

Same in delivery offices. Duty holder gets it, his partner has to self isolate. But the rest day cover who potentially works with at least 5 different pairings. Only isolates if they've got symptoms.
Erm hello! Who's more likely to spread it. The two who work together all week every week in same van. Or the reserve who jumps from pairing to pairing and from van to van all week.
Know why they have done it, so they dont have to isolate lots of people. But seriously, how stupid are they.

[Grumpyoldmailman]

Same in delivery offices. Duty holder gets it, his partner has to self isolate. But the rest day cover who potentially works with at least 5 different pairings. Only isolates if they've got symptoms.
Erm hello! Who's more likely to spread it. The two who work together all week every week in same van. Or the reserve who jumps from pairing to pairing and from van to van all week.
Know why they have done it, so they dont have to isolate lots of people. But seriously, how stupid are they.[/quote]

That would only be the case if the were van sharing, but nobody is foolish to do that.......

[SpacePhoenix]

Same in delivery offices. Duty holder gets it, his partner has to self isolate. But the rest day cover who potentially works with at least 5 different pairings. Only isolates if they've got symptoms.
Erm hello! Who's more likely to spread it. The two who work together all week every week in same van. Or the reserve who jumps from pairing to pairing and from van to van all week.
Know why they have done it, so they dont have to isolate lots of people. But seriously, how stupid are they.

In MCs depending on what someone is trained on they could potentially end up working in each work area over the course of a shift. What "work areas" do you have in DOs? I'm guessing the callers, SD locker, IPS (flats and letters together?) and walk prep frames. Possibly a packet crash as well