worried

[post_bitch]

[Chelseablue]

Am I the only one here that notices 2 or 3 guys on here (same ones all the time )putting in there sneaky no strike messages .

[ronpetetrevchris]

A bit more on topic - i believe our do will have a record turnout. We are looking at betweenn80% and 90% out.

[Mike1]

Am I the only one here that notices 2 or 3 guys on here (same ones all the time )putting in there sneaky no strike messages .

I don't have any sneaky no strike message. The OP asked a question and I gave him a truthful answer regarding the overall attitude at our DO.

[Sausage70]

Looking at who's coming in on Monday in Stoke DO it looks like half the work force and thats never been known!..frightening if the union call a 2 dayer after monday i really think the numbers on the gate will dwindle.

[barrowc]

I think the Union will struggle to get much support from the PT section: they have not listened and it is obvious they have tended to protect the interest of the old timers and full time staff - their mates and perhaps contemporaries...

I know some people will say that the Union have done this and done that for part-timers and contract staff... Perhaps, but not at the same level or with the same vigour as the put into getting everything pro-rata and creating a work place that is discriminatory and one that can be unfair for part-timers especially in delivery

Actually there were a couple of good years to be a part-timer in the late 90s (I was an AG - associate grade as PT staff used to be called - back then). Some of the most glaring inequalities were fixed then - e.g. allowed to join the pension and backdate to when you first got a contract (although you had to pay a lump sum within a couple of weeks of this happening), allowed to get a uniform, equal consideration for O/T (prior to that it was all O/T to full-time staff and part-time staff only got what was left)

Things started to become skewed against part-time staff with the Way Forward agreement back in 2000. Saturday Premium went entirely (many part-timers worked on Saturdays and in my MC anyway, a Friday night shift was a popular O/T shift for part-timers) and NDA (which was paid equally to FT and PT for each hour worked after 7pm and before a certain time) was replaced with, here's that word you don't like, pro-rata Shift Allowance. Also both Saturday Premium and NDA were paid on all hours (O/T and basic) whereas Shift Allowance is based on basic hours only. OK we get Shift Allowance when on leave unlike the older equivalents but that doesn't take away the fact that it's a worse deal for part-time staff than what went before

The most glaring inequality now is that many PT staff are working full-time hours (and more) every week with overtime so are in effect full-timers but their basic pay is still that of a part-timer. So when it comes to holidays and sick leave - suddenly their wages fall off a cliff. There's also the effect on pension contributions. It seems to be almost impossible for anyone to be made up from part-time to full-time these days. All the PT staff in my section have been there for more than 10 years yet when I started it generally took 2 or 3 years to go from PT to FT.

To me, this (i.e. staff being effectively full-time but paid as part-time) is an area which the union need to do something about. Allowing one section of their membership to be obviously treated less favourably by Royal Mail just weakens the union as time goes on. However, the part-time staff should look to have more involvement with the union and not less. I haven't seen anything in any of RM's proposals which address the particular issues affecting part-time staff so any improvements aren't going to happen unless you push for them

[Acca Dacca]

I'm P/T and only been with RM 10 months, so the strike isn't anything to do with me. I work in a small DO and the strike hasn't been mentioned at all and most aren't even in the union. I guess it will be pretty much business as usual for us on Monday.

I've heard a few stories from the old timers saying what a great job it once was...but this is 2013. It's time to get real...being a postie is an unskilled job and there will be plenty of other people willing to take your place at a lower wage.

One question;

Why do you lie?

[asap]

i think the strike will be supported more than most people think
it's one thing to say your going to cross the picket line and another doing it.

[Wessex]

The seeds of discord and doubt may be planted by :
A- Royal Mail Managers masquerading as posties
B- Specialist firms of strike breakers employed at expense by Royal Mail and big companies to break strikes
C-Propaganda units operated by political parties,government including civil servants.
D- Those posties who think themselves above their colleagues and would crap on any of them given a chance even if ultimately
it is to their long-term detriment.
E.Ars*holes see A-D above.

[banner18]

I'm pretty sure the £300 bribe still stands and is being played down because it will cause a spanner in the works with the talks and with neither side knowing how many will break the strike it is a definite tactical thing to keep quiet about it. As to the legality of it I cite the Xmas bonus which is paid by the very same principle. Now maybe the Xmas bonus hasn't been challenged in a court so maybe it is illegal but either both are legal or both are illegal.

[phronsias]

The seeds of discord and doubt may be planted by :
A- Royal Mail Managers masquerading as posties
B- Specialist firms of strike breakers employed at expense by Royal Mail and big companies to break strikes
C-Propaganda units operated by political parties,government including civil servants.
D- Those posties who think themselves above their colleagues and would crap on any of them given a chance even if ultimately
it is to their long-term detriment.
E.Ars*holes see A-D above.

[Wessex]

[mailman71]

In our office it will be 99 percent out.
In every strike we have had in the last 20 years we have had very very few strike breakers because although sometimes we have,nt always agreed with union when it comes to the crunch we have to stick together or terms and conditions will be decimated.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I was laughing at you because you accepted the free shares...you had the chance of opting out, but you didn't. If I was F/T and felt strongly enough about the situation on T&C's, then I'd have refused them.]

Right.... and I'm sure if you were on the Titanic and felt that the captain had done a shitty job of steering the ship you'd have refused a lifejacket.

You miss my point completely...but funny post!

I'm a very good swimmer and would have given my lifejacket to the most attractive lady on the Titanic.

To be fair you made wiganposties point yourself - I personally accepted the shares, or rather I did not refuse them would be more accurate, but I will be transferring them to my nephew when and as soon as I can.

Why did I accept the shares but still back the strike, well the strike is not on current T&Cs, its about protecting those T&Cs and getting rid of the no strike deal. Therefore as this strike is not about changing the CURRENT T&Cs and the SHARES were given in the CURRENT T&C regime, I saw no conflict of interests in accepting them on behalf of my nephew.

I personally will not benefit from them, but thats my choice, I won't condemn anyone taking shares whether they strike or not. I also won't condemn refuseniks who turned them down. Each and everyone of us has a conscience which they have to answer to, but I am not arrogant enough to say my conscience is better than anyone else's just because they made a different decisions to me, hopefully no one else is either.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I'm pretty sure the £300 bribe still stands and is being played down because it will cause a spanner in the works with the talks and with neither side knowing how many will break the strike it is a definite tactical thing to keep quiet about it. As to the legality of it I cite the Xmas bonus which is paid by the very same principle. Now maybe the Xmas bonus hasn't been challenged in a court so maybe it is illegal but either both are legal or both are illegal.

As I understand it the Christmas bonus is based on the whole office and the strikes have a limited effect 3% for official strikes and 10% of wildcat strikes, thats the difference. Christmas Bonus - everyone and limited effect = No Strike Non bonus - individuals and get or don't get. So the no strike bonus is discriminatory and the christmas bonus isn't.