National Industrial Action Ballot Timetable Announced Ltb

[cloherty1976]

Your right fishtank all they will be doing is collecting from larger customers.

[Martin Walsh]

I think the National Briefing confirmed that this fight is not lost if the company is partial privatised , it is about securing our terms and conditions.

On pensions Royal Mail made a move on in last weeks talks concerning if someone progresses in a CWU grade but the 5 year guarantee has not yet been extended. Only 12 000 members have sent their postcards in concerning their opposition to the pension attack and Royal Mail have recieved another 249 emails. Only 18 supported the pension changes.

Royal Mail did not make a further move on pay but have indicated they will do. Their last move was only an increase of 0.1 % in first year and to increase the rate of the 1st 10 hours of overtime over the 3 years of the deal. clearly pensions and a no strike deal are still in the offer but will not be agreed.

The work place issues and legal guarantees have had both our barristers and Royal Mail's barristers arguing but at this time Royal Mail are unwilling to move beyond a 3 year guarantee on outsourcing , frainaschising , against a 2 tier work force and protection of current terms. The Government has not yet agreed to under write it either.

On the ballot we have a tight timescale and we now need to step up the meetings with members. The membership will recieve a definitive list of what this dispute is about including a fair days workload including a stop to the budget driven absorption levels.

The whole membership will now make the biggest decision they have ever made , fight to protect their conditions by voting yes or agree to worse conditions by voting no. A newly owned Royal Mail who know that a workforce has voted no to protect their jobs and futures will be music to them and will lead to the worst attack on jobs and conditions ever in Royal Mail.

Make sure you think about the issues and don't just think about the BT agreement.

[dodger162]

Dingo which part of RM do you think they want to sell off?

[Martin Walsh]

It will be a partial privatisation of the whole company including parcel force. Clearly you have seen in past privitsations that then outsourcing , franchising etc takes place.

[Bethesda]

quadrant is already kind of privatised as is romec - both are run by other companies but decisions are made by RM.
Yet we are still always in the dark as workers so no change there....

[dodger162]

What is RMs proposal re changes to parcel traffic handling?

[bennny7]

if we get a yes vote hope the union don't make a mess of the deal they get for us like last time I think the vote will be close because of the last deal a lot of postmen lost money striking and not sure they trust the union anymore

[Lounge Lizard]

"The legal notice served to the company on the 13th September 2013" - isn't that the day AFTER Moya addresses all the CWU reps in Birmingham ?
Just a coincidence, or not ?

[dvbuk55]

I think the National Briefing confirmed that this fight is not lost if the company is partial privatised , it is about securing our terms and condition

It's the second time you've indicated a partial sell off as though the union have already come to terms with it BUT it would be interesting to know what proportion of the business is up for grabs. Despite your inference about a partial sell off being on the cards the union should come clean and inform the membership the exact state of affairs and not hold out the hope that privatisation won't happen. I think we all know it isn't if it's when.

If nothing else strike action is going to indicate that the union is back on track hopefully and not a dupe for neither the old nor new owners.

[ronpetetrevchris]

f**k any type of privatisation and it dosent help talking like that on the eve of war!!! Your resigning yourself to losses already, surely with what we are planning and with it supposedly all to play for you are not helping!

[Cut Off King]

Dingo -

The membership will recieve a definitive list of what this dispute is about including a fair days workload including a stop to the budget driven absorption levels.

I seem to remember that being said in the run up to the last strike, that B&H would be addressed, a fair workload for all.
Then the CWU gave in and pushed a woolly worded agreement that allowed RM to continue shafting delivery staff, but now with union approval ( Joint statement anyone ? )
Throw in a take home pay cut & increased workload too.

The CWU have got an uphill struggle to get deliveries to trust them again

[clashcityrocker]

f**k any type of privatisation and it dosent help talking like that on the eve of war!

Agreed.
It's like saying we have lost the war but we are going to fight a few skirmishes in the hope they won't massacre us.

[dvbuk55]

It is what it is - privatisation isn't going away.

[fishtank]

f**k any type of privatisation and it dosent help talking like that on the eve of war!

Agreed.
It's like saying we have lost the war but we are going to fight a few skirmishes in the hope they won't massacre us.

It really makes no difference,the "war" is about protecting our terms and conditions,pensions and fighting against unfair workloads and harassment,that fight will be the same no matter who owns us,If we're sold it makes it more difficult to do it but it doesn't change the fight.

I think you would need to be very naive to believe that the negotiators have not shifted the discussion towards what can be saved from the ashes of privatisation.
Hence the room full of lawyers talking about underpinning a legally binding agreement,so do you pretend to your troops that the war is not lost just to make you feel better about yourself?,just to massage your own ego?
If the union really believed it could have stopped privatisation they would have had us out at the gate months ago.

If the members go out now believing they are trying to stop privatisation and the sale continues undeterred which it will because the government will not be prepared to show any weakness over this.....then moral will collapse.

[halfull]

we must stand strong and support our union as if we dont the job will crumble over the next 2-3 years and we will all be slaves with no start & finish time plus horrendous terms&conditions! Time to fight people!