17/01/18 Mount Pleasant Bulletin from Anna and Jim

[jimallen]

Hi there, here's the Mount Pleasant bulletin of the 17th of Jan. Comments always welcome!

HIS BIG DEAL, NOT OUR BIG DEAL
We’re told by Terry Pullinger in his Facebook video that
the union is on the "cusp of agreeing something very
special" even if "nothing is agreed until everything is
agreed" (like Brexit)? He makes out it will be something
incredible, referring to participating in the (bosses’) “4th
Industrial Revolution”!? Actually, he sounded a bit like a
cross between Trump and Theresa May...

THE DEVIL’S NOT ONLY IN THE DETAIL
Obviously, even from what little TP says - and it’s very
little - they want to agree a cut in pensions for those of
us on a DB scheme (he says the new single scheme
would have an “element" of DB). As for pay - if he
doesn’t say “above inflation rise” it means RM ain’t
offering one... Conditions of work? What’ll he dare to
offer in return for 1 hour off the working week? And will
he insist on recruitment and for all part-timers to go fulltime
if they wish? We suspect TP is going to live to eat
his every Facebook word.

THEY CAN PAY
By the way, let’s be clear. RM has plenty to give us.
They’re paying the shareholders, no problem! Nor was
the pension fund ever in the dire state they claimed; this
was an actuarial “forecast” which had no base in reality.
And now we hear RM had a record Xmas due to online
retail... Which we already knew given our blood, sweat
and tears over the “fester” season...

REMEMBER ROMEC
A good thing we hear is that the union side is trying to
get Romec pensioners included in "the one pension for
all" deal. This has to mean that it’s a net gain for
everyone, however!

SHOULD I STAY, OR SHOULD I STAY
Sadly, Thursday was the last day for casuals in here,
after managers had already asked some of them to stay
longer than expected… Of course, they'd have to be
bloody blind not to see how short of hands we've been
the past weeks! So these extra days with our casual
mates were welcome… In fact, we’d like to welcome
them on a permanent basis (if they wouldn’t mind...)!

THE JOB ISSUE
Talking of casuals - the dire labour shortage across the
board already means that in many offices casuals are
employed routinely and even so, overtime is needed for
the work to be done. Isn’t this one of the biggest issues
for “negotiators” to be discussing?

GETTING OUT OF HAND...
What a demonstration of managerial skills! Their latest
strategy has been to shuffle us around so much, that on
occasion we ended up on duties that weren't ours, while
casuals were replacing us! With such shuffling skills,
managers may one day end up with the entire pack of
cards flying out onto the street!

...SO, PLANNING FOR HAND-GRAFTS?
Oh dear, the mini fit-up scheduled for the 26th of January
is already a shambles! For a start, how the hell are
managers going to fit up the duties of our 100 mates who
have left recently on EVR, without recruiting? One thing’s
for sure, we won't grow new pairs of hands!

SHARING THE WORK!
But also, why should the mini fit-up be restricted to fulltimers,
when part-timers struggle to make ends meet?
There is enough work for all the part-time mates in HMP
who want to have a decent full-time job - to have one right
now!

FROM TOP FLOOR...
Managers are getting on our nerves with their obsession
with clearing extra work to get their bloody bonuses!
Especially when we've done our work and could go home!
So if they want to clear 2nd class on days, we can show
them (exactly) where they can go and jump!

A BEE-CHANGE?
B*gger. We heard Bob the Bee might come onto late shift.
It seems this swop was deliberately left till after Xmas, for
obvious reasons. Well, he won’t be able to do what he
does on nights, as we leave all the lights on... In the
meantime, he’s trying to prevent mates finishing at their
usual 5.40am, just because he’s unable to organise
logistics... Before moving anywhere he needs to move
back to school.

STOP PICKING!
Also, that manager nicknamed Casper because he’s
creepy like a ghost, should probably be renamed the
Hound, given the way he keeps hounding (certain
selected, hard-working) workmates. And we should hound
(or haunt?) him back.

NEVER ENOUGH OF THIS!
We've seen that mates are walking out from
delivery/sorting offices all over, against the behaviour of
managers. On the 21 December, 100 walked out of St
Austell sorting office after a mate who’d had been having
sickness issues, was sacked. Same day, another 100
mates went on strike at Greenock DO, when a worker was
given a warning for taking “too much time off” after his
mother passed away! Yes, managers are just the same,
East, West, North and South!

BUM DUM!
Plus Wallasey DO workers used their feet last Thursday to
answer a DUM who can't hold his tongue nor mind his
manners. We agree, it's the only way!

TALKING OF REVOLUTION...
We see the new uniform is only just being “advertised” in
the RM magazine. It’s been a helluva long time in coming
especially for cleaners. But we see a lot of grey fabric
there, replacing the lovely vibrant red.
What’s that about? RM getting old... or uncomfortable
with the colour of workers’ revolution?