the union

[fishtank]

I know this is a bit of a topic hijack but I was wondering why a figure of £3 is being bandied around?

When I joined the union, I had to telephone to ask how much I had to pay, (it was requested on the application form). The person didn't know, went off to ask someone and eventually came back with a reply. I used that figure and other than the rises we've all seen, it's nowhere near £3.

The full-time CWU subscription rate is £3.01.

[Martin Walsh]

Its funny how some say opt out the union when every term and condition which they now enjoy has come from reprsentation from the union.

Think about this :

Annual pay rise
UP to 6 weeks per year leave
Sick pay
Paid meal breaks
maternity pay , paternity pay
SA rate
Over time rates
Attendance patterns
night allowance
shift allowance
RRIS payments
London weighting payments
Scottish Distant Island payments
Professional drivers pay
TPM allowance
PBS bonus
Time bonus in mail centres
Ex PHG protection
MTSF pay protection
VR payments
Pension
Driving allowance for above 7.5


All of those issues have been improved on year on year. In 1995 pay was just 10 000 per year for delivery workers working 6 days per week .

Currently pay now stands at £354.56 for national rate , £420.51 outer london and £444.75 for inner london meaning that the national rate is now £18 437 with a permerant addition to basic pay for delivery postman of £20.60 x 52 = £1071.20 and all staff now work a maxiumum of 5 days per week.

[Stormproof]

Its funny how some say opt out the union when every term and condition which they now enjoy has come from reprsentation from the union.

Think about this :

Annual pay rise
UP to 6 weeks per year leave
Sick pay
Paid meal breaks
maternity pay , paternity pay
SA rate
Over time rates
Attendance patterns
night allowance
shift allowance
RRIS payments
London weighting payments
Scottish Distant Island payments
Professional drivers pay
TPM allowance
PBS bonus
Time bonus in mail centres
Ex PHG protection
MTSF pay protection
VR payments
Pension
Driving allowance for above 7.5


All of those issues have been improved on year on year. In 1995 pay was just 10 000 per year for delivery workers working 6 days per week .

Currently pay now stands at £354.56 for national rate , £420.51 outer london and £444.75 for inner london meaning that the national rate is now £18 437 with a permerant addition to basic pay for delivery postman of £20.60 x 52 = £1071.20 and all staff now work a maxiumum of 5 days per week.

Can you now list all the things we have lost over the past few years?

[stokes11eg]

Sorry Dingo, but a lot of things you mention, such as shift allowances are now going down the tube, our night shift was done away with ,evr payments are just a mythical chestnut for most of those who want them, belonging only to preference exercises,maternity/paternity pay is a right anyway,driving allowances are all over the place, and I'm not sure what you mean about pensions. Again, there was a time when this Union did at least try to give fair representation, but
not now, which is why a lot of folks are opting out.

[fishtank]

Almost every single item listed by dingo concerns pay.
I am not knocking pay rises as such but they should not be seen as a solution to all ills.
They should also be seen in context with inflation and a tax credit system that negates most pay rises within 12 months anyway.
The fact is the actual working conditions in this business have been moving backwards since ironically....The Way Forward Agreement.
I think if you asked most long term members if they would swap the pay of today for the conditions of 10 years ago they would probably bite your hand off
Now things have changed and we have to move on but unfortunately our union leadership cannot get past this "It's all about the money" philosophy.
It's not....it certainly wasn't last year....not for me anyway.

[TeeferTiger]

It's not all about the money though. I'm looking elsewhere, where I'd be earning less, but not getting the shite I'm getting now.

[Martin Walsh]

Fishtank the way forward was negotiated against the background of the employee agenda and was completed just after the performance bonus scheme.

The Postal services act had yet to be agreed hence we did not have competiton . No downstream access and no price control.

We still had two deliveries and there was no pension defcit as such.

So trying and compare different times is pointless.

The fact is whether we like it or not Royal Mail is in a worst place now then they were 10 , 20 or 30 years ago.

[randompostman]

Then the cwu should have worked to sort all this out as we went rather than lie about pay rises that are cuts and give anything that made life decent. theve done a shocking job and sold out all the good bits that made the job alright for a few pounds and shown such weekness that royalmail just laugh now and the cwu use its own rules against its own workers to back up royalmail.

[Martin Walsh]

Tell me what all these good bits were which the CWU sold out. Door to Door was not very popular and yet everyone moaned when it went into workload.

Be intrested to know. If its about getting time out of the job then sorry that ship had long gone.

[dblad]

I'd like to know how much the CWU gained out of this deal financially.

[fishtank]

Fishtank the way forward was negotiated against the background of the employee agenda and was completed just after the performance bonus scheme.

The Postal services act had yet to be agreed hence we did not have competiton . No downstream access and no price control.

We still had two deliveries and there was no pension defcit as such.

So trying and compare different times is pointless.

The fact is whether we like it or not Royal Mail is in a worst place now then they were 10 , 20 or 30 years ago.

Stop it dingo you're making me all misty eyed and nostalgic.
I agree you can't compare different times just as you can't compare wages or more importantly....earning opportunities.
I appreciate that my basic pay has increased dramatically over the past 15 years,i remember how hard it was to explain to my bank manager that he should give me such a large mortgage because my basic pay only represented just over half of my take home pay...but that's kind of the problem.
Now my basic represents around 90% of my take home pay as my and everyone else's earning opportunities have declined.
I'm absolutely cream crackered now by the end of my shift so even if overtime was available in the copious amounts it used to be my working conditions have deteriorated so much that i am no longer fit to do it.

[dvbuk55]

Tell me what all these good bits were which the CWU sold out. Door to Door was not very popular and yet everyone moaned when it went into workload.

Be intrested to know. If its about getting time out of the job then sorry that ship had long gone.

Same church, same hymn - everythings great, time chasers fault.

[TeeferTiger]

Well, let's go find this "Time Chaser" bloke and tell him we're not happy!

[POSTMAN]

You just have to read the forums to find the time chasers or those who work in offices with them.
Everybody on here has them at their office.
And everybody on here will know they are the ones who shout and cry the loudest when they have to do that liddle bit extra or changes come in.

I have them at my place,they wanked themseves sore when i got them the 4 day week,and they cried like babies on the FIRST day when they had to sort that little bit extra!
Too many w*****s in the job,yes management are bad,but our colleagues can sometimes be worse.

[fishtank]

You just have to read the forums to find the time chasers or those who work in offices with them.
Everybody on here has them at their office.
And everybody on here will know they are the ones who shout and cry the loudest when they have to do that liddle bit extra or changes come in.

I have them at my place,they wanked themseves sore when i got them the 4 day week,and they cried like babies on the FIRST day when they had to sort that little bit extra!
Too many w*****s in the job,yes management are bad,but our colleagues can sometimes be worse.

There are time chasers in every office but they are very much a small minority.
So...why are the CWU and Royal Mail so fixated by the antics of a small minority?
The obvious answer is because it suits their agenda.