17/05/23 Mount Pleasant Bulletin

[jimallen]

Hi, here is the Mount Pleasant bulletin of 17 May. Comments welcomed!

WHY TALK TO TOXIC BOSSES?
CWU leaders have decided that the ballot over their
"agreement" with RM is postponed. We're now told it
opens on 25 May and closes 14 June. They said the
reason is that they "have seen no material change in
attitude from management". So this isn't the "right
environment for the ballot to be conducted". Ward says
the atmosphere is "toxic". So perhaps it's the "right
environment" for us to strike..?

THE DESTRUCTION OF ILLUSIONS
While Dave Ward acknowledges that many of us think
the offer is no good, he said that voting against the offer
would put both the union and RM on a "path to self destruction"...
In fact, the only thing it might destroy is
the "partnership" that he hopes to rebuild with the
bosses. Which would not be a bad thing.

RE-NATIONALISATION!
Actually it seems there's a campaign to try to
demoralise us and get us to give up our resistance. The
argument that voting NO and going back on strike would
damage our futures is nonsense. How else do we
protect our futures, except by fighting for them?
PS: We know that the statutory USO/Letters business
isn't profitable. So in the end renationalisation might be
the only way for the government/RM to go. And we're
certainly for it - as long as it's under our control.

WHAT MOST OF US THINK
In Deliveries a poster recommending the offer was put
up on the union board... But most of us think the offer is
rubbish, especially in Deliveries. So what about
expressing what we think, on this board?

RUNNING TO KEEP UP
One more thing (among many) that the "agreement"
isn't clear on, is what it means to "expand the role of a
postal worker"? They're already getting us to do even
more work, like collecting on deliveries etc.! Sure, we
used to help out on our rounds with many different
things. But today our rounds are double-time!

TIN HANDSHAKE FOR HIM!
Ok, Simon Thompson's on his way out… but not till
October. His total ineptitude was exposed at the
parliamentary select committee, and we were all happy
to see him embarrassed like that! Good - delayed -
riddance! But of course, as the Who song goes "meet
the new boss, same as the old boss".

CLOUD CUCKOO-LAND
On the other hand we heard that Ward&Co think that
there's such a thing as a CEO who could "understand"
us and take advice from us on the shopfloor... Sorry,
but we're not living on that planet!

NO PROFITS? NATIONALISE!
The financial results are due on Thursday – we're told
that investors are expecting a loss of half a billion
pounds for the financial year. They'll no doubt blame
the strike. But we know that their cuts have dug into all
jobs and that there's a cost of living crisis - which means
hardly anybody can afford to buy online anymore...

BAD MARKS
Only 73.7% 1st Class delivered next day (target=93%)
and 90.7% 2nd Class delivered within 3 days
(target=98.5%)! And the bosses have the cheek to
blame our strike action? Of course our strike had an
impact, that's the point! What they don't say is that
thanks to their cuts, they haven't met delivery targets in
2021-22, 2020-21, 2019-20...

COME AND ASK!
Ofcom is opening another "investigation" into RM's
quality of service? But why don't they come to the
shop-floor and ask us? Since the "revisions" (read
cuts!) in Deliveries, managers have left out some walks
for 2-3 days for lack of hands... With all these cuts, the
fact that there are still 73.7% of 1st Class delivered next
day is a miracle!

NO TO THIS WAGE CUT!
And by the way, what's happening with our driving
allowance on Deliveries? This was a £25 per week
wage cut! Now union officials have taken RM to court
over it... But we know which side the courts are on, and
that's not ours! So what else can we do to reinstate the
driving allowance?

WE AREN'T COPS
We couldn't get our usual siesta during Work Time
Sleeping this week, as we had to sign 3 safety forms...
Managers were all wound up about some thieves
jumping the barrier and trying to steal parcels. And
what did they ask? That we should approach anyone
suspicious and ask them for their pass! As if we'd help
them police this place!

BRING THEM BACK!
The obvious answer to random people jumping the
barrier would be to bring back the many door keepers
and security staff! But of course, management's been
too busy trying to get rid of them instead... So now they
have intruders on site? Their problem, not ours!

WHO AGREED THAT?
Workmates are still taking VR/EVR, and it's time to say
goodbye yet again! We wish them all the best. But the
only VR packages on offer are those with the
substandard 9 months pay! These were imposed by the
bosses last year, and not even mentioned in the
"agreement". Does that mean Ward&Co agreed to it?
PS: There may be "no compulsory redundancies", but
an EVR/VR without hiring is still a job cut!