09/03/22 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Hi there! As usual, you can find below the Mount Pleasant bulletin of this week (09/03/22). We welcome your comments!

THE NEW BB
We had round-the-clock meetings with The (new) Boss Baby last week, who wanted to "personally" tell us about the big changes coming to HMP... So they finally decided to take on new recruits and end overtime? To raise wages? Bring in the 35-hour shorter working week without loss of pay?? Nope... the "big changes" were about the Parcel Sorting Machines coming in June/July, but he only told us about what we already knew...

QUESTIONS UNANSWERED
We didn't get a chance to get the answers we were looking for - like he went on and on about new duties coming up in the next fit-up for the PSMs... We've heard only bad things about these monstrous machines, and that there might not even be a machine allowance, as there should be. So tell us (again!) why we should "choose" to work on them!

WHAT A CHEEK
But then, Boss Baby came up with this gem: apparently, we didn't perform well during Xmas and we need to improve! Easy to say for someone who sits in his high chair babbling all day. But he has nothing to say about the most obvious problem here, which is the worker-shortage.
PS: And by the way, there were lower packet volumes this year compared to last year, but that's probably because people couldn't afford to go wild this Xmas! Something that could be improved by everyone getting a pay rise!

AGAINST OVERTIME!
Some workmates at HMP are doing over 50 hours in a 6-day working week. So it is not so much why we've got to this, but how we get out of it? Because one of our demands was the 35-hour working week, and we're far from it! Maybe it should be even shorter!

LET THE WAGES KEEP UP WITH PRICES!
Apparently, the CWU has made its pay claim to management… but did they ask us what we wanted? Of course not! They say they've asked for a "one-off" pay deal. What does that mean? TeePee says he wants our pay to "keep pace" with inflation. So with inflation at 7.8% (RPI) and rising, how can this rise be a "one off"? Pay would have to increase every month, wouldn't it?

EVRS = JOB CUTS!
Some of us will be happy to take an EVR in the latest round, which was announced by managers last week. But of course, another round of EVRs means another round of job cuts! They claim the jobs won't be needed when the PSM arrives… but there will be plenty of parcels to manually sort, not to mention when the machine breaks down… Every worker who leaves needs replacing.

THAT'S REALLY A BIT MUCH
We also had our meeting with the Elephant on the cleaners side a couple of weeks ago and we have nothing good to say about it! The Elephant definitely likes the sounds coming out of his trunk, accusing us of sleeping at work, of gossiping, of not following orders, you name it! And after the meeting, he decided to shadow some of us while at work... Can anyone tell us how to get an elephant off one's back?

HE MAKES THEM, WE BREAK THEM
And what about those documents the Elephant distributed during the meeting? Under the ridiculous title "subjects for discussion" (which can't be discussed), we were told in great detail when our shifts start and end; when we must put the rubbish out; what's appropriate and what isn't; to avoid leaving via 185; sleeping inappropriately etc., etc.... We should put this rubbish out!

WE NEED OUR OWN REP
And by the way, since we don't have our own rep, a senior union official sat in on the meeting, apparently. But he didn't say anything about all of this offensive stuff. Obviously, we need to get our own union rep elected, and soon.

WELL DONE BOSS!
We don't need proof that we're short of processing staff, but this is telling: managers brought in casuals due to absences on the two tube strike days. Because a few absences is all it would have taken for the work to grind to a halt.

NOT SURPRISING
So apparently the Mount has a storage capability issue... No wonder, when these management bright sparks have decided to squash us all onto the first floor, with the basement busy with tracks and priorities (and van/truck parking). And they don't know where to put all these high piles of packets, but that's not our problem, sorry.

BRING IN SOME PERMANENT HELP
When our dear fellow night worker from the canteen took her well-earned leave, guess what? They brought in a chef and a helper and we got freshly cooked food. So why was she left on her own all this time?

AGAINST THE WAR
When the conflict started in Ukraine, someone on the W1 shop floor started playing "War (what is it good for?)" by Edwin Starr. Good on you mate.

[Jack1960]

Clocks go forward in a couple of weeks