USO & takeover bid.

[scotchy1962]

This morning as i prepped my frame i had a strange feeling that someone was on my shoulder, low and behold there was Martin Walsh standing, now we have been having a few problems in the larger office which my wee sub-office is now part of, but the big guns of the union hmmm overkill.
No i didn't get all starry eyed as i remember who was trying to sell us the last deal, but none the less i had a cordial discussion and waited to see what the visit was all about.
Apparently the building we are in is not fit for purpose, walks are to big and the company are expecting to much from us..... no surprise so far.
And then comes the big sell, after a brief overview of the last agreement and why they had to accept it, he went on to inform us of the future with the USO changes and sell off both happening next year and that the union where already talking to the Czech about what the future holds and how they intend to implement any changes in the USO, plus they are trying to get an agreement to get the new starts parity with the rest of the workforce, so now's the time to join the union.
Hmm if i was a newbie i would see if they get the agreement first and yes i am a union member.
Overall thoughts..... a lot of talk, but not sure if i can trust you, and i will see where it goes and if anything you said actually happens.

[chickenwittle]

That’s all I hear from Martin Walsh and the CWU , we are in negotiations or we have a meeting with Royal Mail this week, nothing ever comes from it.

[Valentina@1]

Hate to say, CWU are now just an extension of the management,looking after their own nice little numbers,absolutely sold rest out,especially the delivery’s

[Valentina@1]

By not using our 96% ballot result,they got us into this mess, unfortunately nobody trusts them to get us out of it

[NWpostie]

I can imagine RM under the new ownership would like to buy out the old contract holders or at least offer voluntary redundancy terms and fill the vacancies with newbies on new contracts.

[Barnacle]

Did anyone raise their head above the parapet and tell him that the leadership are completely out of touch with members ?

[Acca Dacca]

Still waiting on Ward telling us all his plans for '' expanding the role of the postal worker''

[A2B]

I can imagine RM under the new ownership would like to buy out the old contract holders or at least offer voluntary redundancy terms and fill the vacancies with newbies on new contracts.

No need to offer incentives, there are plenty leaving every week

[Zicomurphy]

I can imagine RM under the new ownership would like to buy out the old contract holders or at least offer voluntary redundancy terms and fill the vacancies with newbies on new contracts.

No need to offer incentives, there are plenty leaving every week

Not at our office. Over 130 staff and very few with over 5 years seniority leave. Most are settled on their own duties and happy to just plod on. It’s the new starters who are expected to work longer hours for less money and get messed around every day that don’t last longer than a few weeks before jacking it in.

[Duesouth]

What ever happens there's only so much that the union can do and say the rest is up to the business to really call the shots.

Heard it all before from the union that they will have talks to resolve issues whether it's pay or working conditions within a workplace.

If it's anything like the last deal, I really can't see the union doing any better than before. Ward has had ideas over the past couple of years but nothing has come to fruition. It's all talk especially on social platforms. It becomes so frustrating listening to the same spiel and seems like some of the videos are repeats.

[stevejm]

Still waiting on Ward telling us all his plans for '' expanding the role of the postal worker''

I've heard this for 6 years now. We never get an idea much less a proposal. I would say there is a need for social out-reach but that will only happen if we are re-nationalised.

[Martin Walsh]

Scotchy it was nice to meet you and yes next year will see the USO changing and we are in discussions with Royal Mail over this. In addition we are also having discussions with EP group as we want to have an agreed way forward if they become the new owners.

[Valentina@1]

Scotchy it was nice to meet you and yes next year will see the USO changing and we are in discussions with Royal Mail over this. In addition we are also having discussions with EP group as we want to have an agreed way forward if they become the new owners.

You gonna write another “strongly worded” letter again?….mate wake up,that’s going straight in bin …..you lost all negotiation power when allowing business to attack our t &c’s despite having a 96% yes vote for strike action.
In the words of Conor mcgregor “ you’ll do niffink”

[Valentina@1]

Stop patronising members

[Martin Walsh]

I do not patronise members. I regularly visit offices across the UK and talks to members and hold meetings with them.

Virtually everywhere I go our members are happy to discuss their concerns and we have sensible conversation.

Unlike on social media where individuals want to be rude and make accusations.

For the record the agreement was not by any way perfect but let’s be crystal clear if there was no agreement and we carried on striking we would have tipped the company into administration.

The Government would have protected the USO which is 14% of what is currently delivered and processed today. All the rest of the mail DSA, Parcels tracked and specials the government could not touch as they could not use state money to fund a private company or every parcel company would have run to the high court.

Truth was we would have lost 30 thousand jobs overnight at statuary redundancy pay and that would have been the start of the job losses not the end of it.

The truth is Royal Mail was not going to be signed of by the analysts as a going concern unless there was a business plan. That business plan was either the agreement with the benefits ie pay and which reduced the impact on start times or it was an imposed business plan.

Royal Mail had served notice on the planes so the question was did the union get an agreement which limited start times to a maximum of 60 minutes with a default of 90 minutes or did you have no agreement which meant everyone moved 3 hours later.

On new terms and conditions the union never agreed these they were imposed. Why Royal Mail wanted Sundays to be a normal working day and therefore all delivery staff would have to work a number of Sundays per week which was their original proposal. As soon as the union stopped this from happening Royal Mail imposed the new entrants contracts.

They did not want them to be in the union and they wanted to move the growth in parcels to the new entrants. The union’s position is that we will improve the new entrants contracts.

On sick leave , Royal Mail made it clear that sick leave was costing over 250 million per year and that they wanted to introduce SSP for a week after the second absence. They were considering giving 3 months notice and changing everyone’s contacts to introduce it.

Only a third of postmen and women have more than one absence. So we agreed to the after the SSP would only be 2 days after the second absence and if sick absence went below 5.5 percent for a six month period then it would come off the table for the next 6 months. 7 out of 12 ROD areas are now under 5.5%.

We also secured 7% pay for 23/24 and 2% for 24/25 and £500 lump sum. We also agreed for the £1038 escrow payment to be paid.

In addition to this under the Lord Faulkner review we got justice for 200 reps and members.

The members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the agreement.

It was by no means perfect but it was better than the alternative.

We are now in discussions to improve a range of issues including over the USO.