RMCtv : Letter to CWU urging them to call off strikes, talks next week, and no compulsory redundancy statement

[pinstripe]

As if anyone would be stupid enough to believe these lying bastards without anything in writing

We had lots of agreements and they still break them never trust a man with fork tongue or in today's idiom a scalper a shyster and a charlatan and con man!

We need to get over this bit......they didn't "break" the agreements, they followed through on the agreement that if national IA was called then they could serve notice. That is what has happened. Neither the CWU or RM have come out of this well.

It’s my opinion that RM deliberately instigated the strikes by offering a disgracefully low pay rise, tied to a load of obviously unacceptable changes to terms and conditions, with the intention of ripping up the previous agreements. This also explains their reluctance to offer any meaningful compromise to come to an agreement, when their goal is the destruction of the union.

[freespeech]

As if anyone would be stupid enough to believe these lying bastards without anything in writing

We had lots of agreements and they still break them never trust a man with fork tongue or in today's idiom a scalper a shyster and a charlatan and con man!

We need to get over this bit......they didn't "break" the agreements, they followed through on the agreement that if national IA was called then they could serve notice. That is what has happened. Neither the CWU or RM have come out of this well.

It’s my opinion that RM deliberately instigated the strikes by offering a disgracefully low pay rise, tied to a load of obviously unacceptable changes to terms and conditions, with the intention of ripping up the previous agreements. This also explains their reluctance to offer any meaningful compromise to come to an agreement, when their goal is the destruction of the union.

That may well be the case but I maintain the view that the union have played a few stunts in recent years too. Remember the CWU Comms team travelling to Switzerland to project a big "Yes" on the front of Rico's house? More recently all the talk about RM meeting with VESA when, it transpired, that in the early days it was actually Terry Pullinger that had. The problem is that the dispute has become a bigger thing shaped by strikes in other areas and I'm not sure this has done us any good......they have the superhubs, they've introduced lower pay for new starters and the sick policy is changing from April. We aren't going to be winning anything.

[geordieboy123]

Letter to CWU urging them to call off strikes, talks next week, and no compulsory redundancy statement

This afternoon we have written to the CWU urging them to call off the next week’s strike action in light of our commitments on:

no compulsory redundancy (as announced yesterday), and
removing temporary/agency staff in the event that strikes are called off.

We welcome the fact that the CWU has agreed to meet, and we are in contact with Acas regarding arrangements. We urge CWU to come to those talks with a genuine desire to call off the strikes, and we look forward to hearing what they have to say.

However, based on the lack of progress in talks to date it is imperative that we continue to focus all of our efforts on ensuring that we are delivering Christmas for our customers. So all contingency activity must go ahead, and we thank all the non-operational managers who are dedicating more time next week to help deliver the Christmas post.

Response to CWU LTB issued this afternoon

We are aware that the CWU has issued a Letter to Branches (LTB) this afternoon ( viewtopic.php?f=87&t=108062&p=1022362) stating for our statement on compulsory redundancy “to become a reality, it must form part of a final overall Agreement”.

To be clear, this is not the case. We are making this commitment to you without pre-conditions and it would not need to form part of an agreement with the CWU.

The LTB also repeated false assertions by CWU that Royal Mail has plans for “significantly more than 10,000 job losses.” Once again, this is not true and continues to form part of a campaign of lies from CWU leadership to promote fear.


Clean link of letter...
https://www.myroyalmail.com/sites/defau ... 122022.pdf
Letter to CWU 16122022.pdf

I find the naivety breathtaking and I can see why our negotiators are so angry and frustrated

[Dorset Plodder]

We need to get over this bit......they didn't "break" the agreements, they followed through on the agreement that if national IA was called then they could serve notice. That is what has happened. Neither the CWU or RM have come out of this well.

Jog on Troll

[norris9]

If Royal Mail are serious (which they aren't) - they'd get a deal done before Xmas....

If not...

At what point do they start forcefully making the changes they want without an agreement and how can they get rid of tens of thousands of staff and then replace them with cheap labour without getting into legal issues?

Wouldn't they need to pay us off handsomely in a 'We will pay you X amount of money if you go quietly'.

[stevejm]

As if anyone would be stupid enough to believe these lying bastards without anything in writing

We had lots of agreements and they still break them never trust a man with fork tongue or in today's idiom a scalper a shyster and a charlatan and con man!

We need to get over this bit......they didn't "break" the agreements, they followed through on the agreement that if national IA was called then they could serve notice. That is what has happened. Neither the CWU or RM have come out of this well.

Hmmm. It was stupid of the CWU to agree to such a clause in those contracts just as it would be stupid for RM to agree that there'll never be any CR in the future.
But ... even though the RM "could" break the agreements, they weren't OBLIGATED to break them. By doing so they showed intent to worsen industrial relations, not improve them.

[Martin Walsh]

The only reason that the Postal Executive would consider calling off the strikes on 23rd and 24th would be if Royal Mail agreed to in a joint statement a number of major concessions which last week they did not.

These include no increase in owner drivers , no new recruits , standing down the agency staff and agreed in an agreement no compulsory redundancies.

In addition they would have to ensure that the 9% they are saying is on offer in the pay deal was a true 9% , so the 2% lump sum would have to be consolidated. Equally the 3.5% would have to be backdated to April.

They would have to enter into negotiations over the revision targets . They must commit to no abandoning the AM period and move on their 3 bucket later start plan.

They would also have to give ab amnesty for those currently suspended and allow an independent inquiry into the overall behaviour of Royal Mail.

Finally they would have to agree to no executive action whilst the wider agreement was being negotiated.

So until they did this then it is highly unlikely that the strikes will be called off.

[posted]

The only reason that the Postal Executive would consider calling off the strikes on 23rd and 24th would be if Royal Mail agreed to in a joint statement a number of major concessions which last week they did not.

These include no increase in owner drivers , no new recruits , standing down the agency staff and agreed in an agreement no compulsory redundancies.

In addition they would have to ensure that the 9% they are saying is on offer in the pay deal was a true 9% , so the 2% lump sum would have to be consolidated. Equally the 3.5% would have to be backdated to April.

They would have to enter into negotiations over the revision targets . They must commit to no abandoning the AM period and move on their 3 bucket later start plan.

They would also have to give ab amnesty for those currently suspended and allow an independent inquiry into the overall behaviour of Royal Mail.

Finally they would have to agree to no executive action whilst the wider agreement was being negotiated.

So until they did this then it is highly unlikely that the strikes will be called off.

So there’s no way the strikes are being called off then.
Personally I think they’re achievable if RM wants to give in and come back and fight these another day but all they gain if strikes are called off now is clearing the backlog. The revenue lost so far is quite material.

Martin, does the union have something up its sleeve for near year or is it continue as is?
Everyone thought Black Friday and/or Christmas would be a game changer but after next weekend the balance of peer/pressure in negotiations tips in favour of RM.

Unless you/CWU can enlighten us.

[freespeech]

We need to get over this bit......they didn't "break" the agreements, they followed through on the agreement that if national IA was called then they could serve notice. That is what has happened. Neither the CWU or RM have come out of this well.

Jog on Troll

15 years on Royalmail Chat.....hardly a troll but someone with a different opinion to you. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. If you still think they "broke" agreements rather than used the agreement to serve notice why aren't the CWU lawyers all over it?

[redlen]

The only reason that the Postal Executive would consider calling off the strikes on 23rd and 24th would be if Royal Mail agreed to in a joint statement a number of major concessions which last week they did not.

These include no increase in owner drivers , no new recruits , standing down the agency staff and agreed in an agreement no compulsory redundancies.

In addition they would have to ensure that the 9% they are saying is on offer in the pay deal was a true 9% , so the 2% lump sum would have to be consolidated. Equally the 3.5% would have to be backdated to April.

They would have to enter into negotiations over the revision targets . They must commit to no abandoning the AM period and move on their 3 bucket later start plan.

They would also have to give ab amnesty for those currently suspended and allow an independent inquiry into the overall behaviour of Royal Mail.

Finally they would have to agree to no executive action whilst the wider agreement was being negotiated.

So until they did this then it is highly unlikely that the strikes will be called off.

Why do the CWU at a national level despise Angard so much?

They are workers just like Amazon that the CWU should be protecting, not stabbing in the back

[Halfhappy]

The only reason that the Postal Executive would consider calling off the strikes on 23rd and 24th would be if Royal Mail agreed to in a joint statement a number of major concessions which last week they did not.

These include no increase in owner drivers , no new recruits , standing down the agency staff and agreed in an agreement no compulsory redundancies.

In addition they would have to ensure that the 9% they are saying is on offer in the pay deal was a true 9% , so the 2% lump sum would have to be consolidated. Equally the 3.5% would have to be backdated to April.

They would have to enter into negotiations over the revision targets . They must commit to no abandoning the AM period and move on their 3 bucket later start plan.

They would also have to give ab amnesty for those currently suspended and allow an independent inquiry into the overall behaviour of Royal Mail.

Finally they would have to agree to no executive action whilst the wider agreement was being negotiated.

So until they did this then it is highly unlikely that the strikes will be called off.

Why do the CWU at a national level despise Angard so much?

They are workers just like Amazon that the CWU should be protecting, not stabbing in the back

Despise? Get a grip will you. I'm not sure why trade union would want to protect temporary work, with no security, and fewer terms. I'm more that sure the CWU would happily have agency staff integrated into a Royal Mail workforce, as part of the actual workforce, and not a precariously employed source that's used by RM to avoid employing people they have to pay holidays and sick leave to.

[redlen]

Royal Mail has an horrendous staffing crisis at every level within the business. They should be championing Angard workers to be made up with substantive contracts being a trained workforce.

That is what a trade union does, protect its workers from being exploited

[Halfhappy]

Your problem is with RM not the CWU. The CWU don't dictate who RM employs. As, I've said already, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to see jobs created for these staff employed on the same terms as existing staff. The opposite is happening tho, RM are disposing of secure employment for temporary. Supporting temporary, precarious employment, with no rights to holiday pay, sick pay, pension and everything else is not progress. It's a step backwards. I don't know what your actual beef is with the CWU is, but it this one ain't on their shoulders.

[redlen]

But the CWU are happy to put the knife in an Angard workers back. Some have been with Angard for years and CWU members.

The CWU have never championed Angard staff to be made up, never.

If contracted staff want VR, then let them have it, do not use them as a political football, and do not use Angard as an excuse.

[seesred]

Royal Mail has an horrendous staffing crisis at every level within the business. They should be championing Angard workers to be made up with substantive contracts being a trained workforce.

That is what a trade union does, protect its workers from being exploited

I joined the CWU as an Angard worker, and encouraged several of my colleagues to do the same. The union helped us to get permanent contracts with RM, so it has happened in the past.