RMG CEO Simon Thompson has responded to CWU GS Dave Ward's letter offering talks. A meeting will now take place tomorrow. Dave Ward and Andy Furey will attend on behalf of the CWU

[Walter sobchak]

Who instigated these talks??

If it was Royal Mail then there’s a good chance of the strikes being called off.

If it was the cwu then there’s no chance imo.

CWU sent Simon a letter and Simon responded

Can’t see the strikes being called off then unfortunately.

[daveyeff]

They knew fine well what would happen by doing the things they were doing....deliberate and planned imo. They want us to strike for some reason, and that reason is probably vesa

[TopperGas]

They knew fine well what would happen by doing the things they were doing....deliberate and planned imo. They want us to strike for some reason, and that reason is probably vesa

So far the strikes probably haven't cost RM a lot, in relative terms, if they start losing the Black Friday business then it could really hit their profits, I guess we'll know this time tomorrow if RM want to try and avoid further strikes or are content for them to go ahead.

[aiden01]

I wonder what can happen in this one meeting with Simon Thompson that hasn't happened in the last 5 months??

Has Simon whittled down his Xmas wishlist of late starts/finishes, Sunday working, a two tier workforce, analised hours and reduced sick leave?

Will there be more money offered even though the business is still losing approximately one measured million pounds a day?

Where is the main man Keith Williams? Has he been taken hostage somewhere as he's not answering his calls or responding to messages? We urgently need to hear from him regarding this alleged takeover from Vesa.

Hes in secret talks with terry

[sindba]

Everyone cool your jets.

There's talks. That's good. We have to start somewhere.

But we'll be out Fri and Sat.

[Wolf91]

Not a chance the strikes this week will be called off.
It would be suicidal for the CWU to do so without an agreement and solely based on trust.

Read between the lines it is already as good as called off v

Royal Mail Group CEO Simon Thompson has responded to CWU General Secretary Dave Ward’s letter offering talks. A meeting will now take place tomorrow. Dave Ward and Andy Furey will attend on behalf of the CWU.

We will of course update you on all developments but reps and members should continue preparations for strike action on Friday and Saturday #StandByYourPost

No offence pal, but you’re a moron. Every post you ever make is completely full of shite so I fully expect this one to follow suit.

[walthmstowman]

I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you . I don't trust RMG on single bit . Simon Thompson probably just wants to serve notice on any remaining national agreements we have . I bet you this meeting is all about RMG laying down the law and a complete waste of time for Dave and Andy .

[wowiezowie]

Like it or not but we HAVE to change to keep up with customers demands and competition.
It's no good thinking things can never change when the whole postal industry is changing. We are now a parcels company and need to deal with it. I'm not pro RM or a manager but we have to face facts, customers want Sunday deliveries. Most other couriers do this but we don't. RM's prices are the highest in the industry yet we don't offer what our competitors do. It makes no sense.
We have the best terms and conditions in the industry ( due to the amazing work over the years by the CWU) and I think a lot of us take that for granted.
Unfortunately we're going to have to give up certain things in order to change, it happens and has happened in every industry out there.
Things don't stay the same in full time employment. No matter how much we want them to.

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree and that's fine, let's just keep it civil and discuss it like adults.

[twoloops]

Like it or not but we HAVE to change

Welcome to Royal Mail Chat Simon‘Team’ Thompson

[LaggyBand]

Change is one thing but it feels like it’s being done either to purposely compromise the financials of the USO or to rid itself of union input during a cost of living crisis when it thinks (thought) the union wouldn’t be able to defend itself.

[Woody Guthrie]

Strikes will only be called off if there is genuine evidence of real progress towards a mutually acceptable solution.
That's unlikely to happen today or even in the next week.
Today could be the shortest meeting in history.

What members do have to understand though is that escalating the industrial action is an attempt to resolve the dispute not a means to punish Simon Thompson so in an ideal world the further action will be cancelled because we've found enough common ground to move forward.

Will that be possible?
Who knows.

[Martin Walsh]

Something we can agree on :

The PE agreed those 19 days of strike action over 8 weeks which will result in any member losing a maximum of 9 days pay via strike action as a series signal to Royal Mail that if you don’t change tact then Christmas is cancelled and the backlog would last well into January/ February.

Any strike or strike announcement is based on trying to get an agreement and the 19 days was a crystal clear signal that if you want to prevent the planned action then you need to come to the table and talk seriously and withdraw your executive action and threats.

Let’s see what happens today. However if you discount Saturday a and Sundays there are only 6 days in November where one function is not on strike. So the message is clear if Royal Mail wants to save Christmas and the boost to their finances which they get during this period then they better start negotiating.

The CWU and the members know there has to be change but Royal Mail’s proposals will not work and are totally unacceptable. It seems that Senior Royal Mail managers believe their plans can work based on data and theories and ignoring the fact that in reality things like sickness , adverse weather , traffic fluctuations, machine break downs , vehicle breakdowns and the level of vacancies make that data completely flawed and unworkable.

Remember we have a chief operations office whose claim to fame is that he cut the conveying line in Land Rover Jaguar from 3 to 1 with certain weeks on 2. It is simply not the same in Royal Mail.

[Mickeybrowneyes]

Like it or not but we HAVE to change to keep up with customers demands and competition.
It's no good thinking things can never change when the whole postal industry is changing. We are now a parcels company and need to deal with it. I'm not pro RM or a manager but we have to face facts, customers want Sunday deliveries. Most other couriers do this but we don't. RM's prices are the highest in the industry yet we don't offer what our competitors do. It makes no sense.
We have the best terms and conditions in the industry ( due to the amazing work over the years by the CWU) and I think a lot of us take that for granted.
Unfortunately we're going to have to give up certain things in order to change, it happens and has happened in every industry out there.
Things don't stay the same in full time employment. No matter how much we want them to.

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree and that's fine, let's just keep it civil and discuss it like adults.

We have changed in the past 15 years though haven't we....
We have adapted massively form the days of 10 to 15 packets on a daily round and pretty much letters to every door...
Now we might not be going to every door every day, (although some days we are) but not we have untold signatures, packets, parcels or parcel collects...
This notion that we haven't adapted and the union is at fault for not changing and that is why we are losing 1million pound a day is nonsense to be fair.
Even collections in allot of areas now are delivering huge amounts of LATs on their rounds...
Granted their might be areas where money could be saved and certain elements of the job that are not as essential as they were 20 years ago but the CWU have been open to change all the way to be fair.
This time last year we were recording record figures and profit....
Does that sound like a business model that is failing and stuck in the past?
Unless we see the actual figures we don't know how much of this is propaganda and scaremongering....
We are in a cost of living crisis and the pandemic has finished. Granted packets are down but still their are days when you still can't get the work done....
Working with the union to find ways of becoming more cost effective while keeping the hardworking people of this company respected and appreciated is the only way to keep turning over a healthy profit.

Not to dismiss them as dinosaurs and out of touch while taking away their power and right to influence change at a local level.

From my experience half these offices would be on their knees with the resources and influence of local reps...

Half the guvors would fall apart like a cheap suit without them.

Couldn't disagree more with your post

[Wolf91]

Called off already Simon Thompson refusing to attend meeting “too busy”.

[stoneybroke]

Called off already Simon Thompson refusing to attend meeting “too busy”.

where have you heared this mate?