The Schizo-Stroller

> Sent: 18 October 2009 17:44
>
> Subject: Why we are going on strike
>
> We think it’s fair to say that you our customers are not interested in why we
> are once again striking.It is also fair to say that some of the problems we are
> going through does not affect you either.
>
> What you are interested in is you getting your mail and whatever mail you send
> getting there within the allotted time depending on what service was paid for.
>
> But we do think that it is fair to inform you of part of the reason as to why
> we are striking as it affects you in a big way.
>
> But before we go on let’s get one thing out 1st,it’s not about a pay rise,far
> from it,a pay rise if we are to be truthful is in the mix but is not as a high
> priority as other concerns we have.
>
> Please just take a minute to see what we have to say.
>
>
> What’s affecting you then?
>
> In 2007 we signed an agreement with Royal Mail called the Pay & Modernisation
> deal,in that deal there are, amongst other things, a new working practice
> called ‘absorption’.
>
> This is one of YOUR biggest problems,whether you are a domestic or business
> customer!
>
> Before the deal any postal workers rounds that weren’t covered due to staff
> sickness,holidays,or general shortage would be covered by other postal workers
> on overtime.
>
> There would be no shortage of posties willing to do this,so there was never a
> major problem getting the mail delivered.
>
> But now we have ‘absorption’,what this now means is that any rounds now that
> does not have a postal worker allocated to it is now absorbed by the rest of
> the postal workers in the office.
>
> With Royal Mail insisting that mail volumes are falling they are under the
> impression that we know have a lot of spare time in which to absorb other
> posties work.
>
> This is not the case,not only have we lost 60,000 staff in the business in the
> last few years (our CEO Adam Crozier has publicly admitted this) but we now
> have a large proportion of part-time workers which affects the way the mail
> pipeline works.
>
> Mail is being delayed regularly and in vast amounts around the country in the
> name of absorption,so managers can report that absorption has happened and the
> savings have been made,some posties have to leave part of their round in the
> office,they also are being forced to ‘cut off’ or stop their deliveries as they
> have run out of time.
>
> Royal Mail drivers have been taken off their packet routes to help absorption,
> hence packets are left undelivered for days.
>
> This is a mass abuse of the deal we signed in 07,and posties are being bullied
> and threatened with taken off pay if they either refuse to do this or happen to
> cut off.
>
>
> Later deliveries
>
> A few years back Royal Mail ceased the 2nd delivery and you now only get one,
> but the truth is Royal Mail did not stop the 2nd delivery they cancelled the
> 1st.
>
> We now start our rounds at the time that we started the 2nd delivery years ago
> and now, Royal Mail want even later start times. So while today, if you’re one
> of the lucky ones, you might meet your postman before you go to lunch, you will
> soon be meeting him just before dinner. We are aware that this causes big
> problems for businesses all over the UK more especially those that work from
> home.
>
> But that does not seem to matter to Royal Mail, later start times and later
> deliveries are all down to modernisation, or in other words, new sorting
> machines being brought in which, would you believe, take even longer to sort
> the mail.
>
> This will also affect our own work/life balance and there are childcare issues,
> and school run problems, already rising because of it.
>
> You may also be aware before we went to Single Daily Delivery, you could pick
> up any packets or signed for letters left in the morning around 2 hours or so
> later at your local office. That, as some of you may be aware has changed, some
> places you have to wait 24 hours, most 48 but there are some where you can’t
> get the packet for nearly 72hrs.
>
> That’s if your office is local instead of on some industrial estate somewhere,
> and of course if it does not close before lunch.
>
> This is Royal Mail modernisation.
>
>
> If you don’t like your job,then leave
>
> This is what we read about all the time from alleged customers on the Internet
> news stories comment sections, and, regrettably Royal Mail management.
>
> But who says that we don’t like our job. You will find that most posties love
> their job, but are finding it harder and harder to provide the service they
> want and their customers expect, not just because of the work levels, but more
> so the bullying and harassment by managers at all levels of the business.
>
> Why should we have to put up with the constant B&H and worsening of our terms
> and conditions, when all we want to do is get on with our job and provide a
> service to our customers.
>
> We will not be hounded out of a job we love in the name of profit, or be made
> to feel guilty because we decide to defend our current Conditions of service,
> instead of allowing them to be decimated because of the inherently unfair bonus
> culture of Royal Mail.
>
>
> National strike
>
> The 1st strike was in London N18 Edmonton against introduction of part-time
> duties by executive action on 7th March. Cowdenbeath DO was the first among
> many in Scotland to strike against Executive Action on 27th March. The whole of
> London took action throughout June, and over 500 other offices around the
> country either went out on strike or requested a strike ballot.
>
> Previously to all of this some Mail Centres around the country took strike
> action over their closures, and the lack of real consultation.
>
> London, since June have taken over 16 days of action.
>
> During all that time we have repeatedly asked Royal Mail to negotiate with our
> Union about, not only the problems that you have so far read about and will
> read about below, but more importantly the fact that previous agreements are
> either being ignored or abused.
>
> It has now come to the time where enough is enough and now we have,
> unfortunately, the national strikes.
>
>
> No more efficiency changes this year
>
> This is what Royal Mail have claimed but this is not the case,there are many
> cases on the site where Royal Mail are still pushing ahead with with their
> changes. Including later start times,full-time positions going to
> part-time,Pegasus 2 revisions (flawed computer program),night staff being moved
> to days,full-time staff to prep part-time staff walks,more hours to go from
> delivery offices…
>
>
> You the tax payer
>
> You are being mislead by the media and the Government regarding Billions of
> pounds of tax payers money being used to prop up Royal Mail and our
> pensions,this is not the case and a blatant lie by all.
>
> For many years the treasury have taken our profits from us for their own gain,
> add nearly 13 years when due to tax reasons Royal Mail did not pay into our
> pension scheme, and yes the treasury got that money as well, you the tax payer
> owes Royal Mail Billions of pounds.
>
> Any money recently received by Royal Mail from tax payers has been a loan and
> has to be paid back at commercial loan rates which means that the tax payer has
> once again benefited from us.
>
>
> Privatisation
>
> This is a simple one,the Government have said that they will take over our
> pension deficit only if we get part-privatised.
>
> The crux of this,is that you the tax payer will pay for our pensions,but a
> private investor will not have to so they will just get the profits. Our Union
> Leader remarked on this at the Labour Conference by saying the Government were
> Privatising the Profit and Nationalising the debt.
>
> The tax payer will have the debt, while the private investor will get the
> profit!
>
> We, us the humble posties do not need to tell you what happens after a company
> is privatised, you only need to look at your utility bills, train fares and
> your bank statements for that.
>
>
> Mail volumes
>
> We agree that mail volumes are down,but not as much as Royal Mail say, we
> accept the recession has had an effect, but again, not as much that Royal Mail
> has said.
>
> With 60,00 jobs gone, bigger rounds,over 1 Million new homes built in the last
> few years with more to come, a few letters less in our post bag, when you add
> the mass increase in packets due to e-commerce,there is no leeway in our duties
> like Royal Mail think.
>
> Add the fact that Royal Mail now count the mail differently with an un agreed
> and flawed process,then you have false traffic figures.
>
> What is in the boxes that they send the mail down to Delivery Offices, is very
> much under estimated and has been shown to be so by royalmailchat members
> counting individual boxes.
>
>
> Independent report on Royal Mail
>
> Last year the Government requested an independent report on Royal Mail (The
> Hooper report) this found many flaws with the way the business is being
> run,including lack of transparency by the business with its figures and the
> fact that Royal Mail management were not up to the job.
> We are not against modernisation
>
> WE ARE NOT AGAINST CHANGE – We signed up to the Pay and Mod Agreement. RM
> ignored Phase 4 till we started local strikes.
>
> WE ARE AWARE THERE WILL BE JOB LOSSES – 60,000 gone in recent years.
>
> WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A PAY RISE PER SE – We had a pay freeze this year which
> was imposed against the spirit of the 2007 agreement.
>
> WE ARE NOT AGAINST MODERNISATION – But we haven’t seen it in deliveries unless
> you count longer routes with heavier bags.
>
> WE OFFERED A MORATORIUM ON STRIKES IF ROYAL MAIL DISCUSSED CHANGES – Royal Mail
> refused saying it was a stalling tactic but now they want it when un agreed
> systems are in place.
>
> WE ARE NOT AGAINST WORKING HARD – The Union suggested having independent
> organisations help both sides come up with a fair and balanced way of measuring
> workload and standard – Royal Mail refused.
>
> The 2007 agreement allowed local units to have innovative attendance patterns,
> and these were agreed in some units with full Royal Mail involvement. Yet
> without consulting the CWU (as per the agreement) they unilaterally enforced
> change on these working arrangements.
>
> The agreement also allowed a local earnings package,this has been taken away by
> Royal Mail.
>
>
> We are and we will strike against – Bullying and Harassment such as
>
> • Being suspended for pointing out H&S concerns.
>
> • Being sent home without pay when we can’t complete a delivery in the time
> allotted especially if managers are not willing to walk test us or check
> individual posties frames to see how busy they are.
>
> • Genuine overtime being struck off when you go over your contracted hours on
> a busy day.
>
> • Being sent home without pay when you can’t do the half hour flexibility
> when asked – even though personal reasons are meant to be taken into account as
> per the 07 agreement.
>
> • When you do the 1/2hr flexibility not being able to claw it back or be paid
> it on overtime as per the 07 agreement. Or being given it back in 5 minute
> chunks.
>
> • Changing our start and finish times on a weekly basis without negotiation.
>
> • Using a flawed computer program to work out rounds with un-agreed walk
> speeds.
>
> • No independent H&S review after accidents at work – Staff being blamed for
> accidents without thorough and external review of all pertinent matters by an
> independent body.
>
>
> Spanish practices do not exist
>
> The reality in modern delivery offices is that the posties slogs their guts out
> everyday under the gaze of managers ready to sack them for the slightest
> indiscretion.
>
> Many many part-timers are bullied by managers into doing unpaid over time day
> in day out.
>
> All OT has to be OK’ed by management and most posties are too intimidated to go
> see their manager to ask for it.
>
> A lot of our guys do hrs of OT per week for nothing.
> Give the Public a service – Yep that’s Royal Mails job and guess how they do
> that
>
> 1. Close 3,500 Post Offices.
>
> 2. Reduce the service at 1000s of others.
>
> 3. Allow the Government to withdraw some of the services you used to be able to
> get at POs.
>
> 4. Ceased Sunday Collections (now for anyone to get anything on Monday you need
> to send it before 1230 on Saturday.
>
> 5. Cancelled Bank Holiday Collections.
>
> 6. Cancelled 2nd Delivery
>
> 7. Made the 1st delivery later than the 2nd ever was.
>
> 8. Laid off 60,000 workers through various means.
>
> 9. Close delivery offices and amalgamate them into Super DOs on industrial
> estates miles from bus routes.
>
> 10. Bring in a complicated and expensive postage system. (Pricing in
> Proportion).
>
> 11. Increase handling fees for Import from £4 to £8.
>
> 12. Increase the surcharge of underpaid items to £1.
>
> 13. Increase stamp prices above inflation.
>
> 14. Agree a price with DSA competitors to use our network which means we
> subsidise them to the tune of 2p per item.
>
> 15. Take 5 years to spend half of the 1.2billion the government loaned them,
> but we are still yet to see the machines in use on a UK wide basis even though
> trials are going well according to Royal Mail.
>
> 16. Removing Mail Cycles and replacing them with cars and then claiming they
> are doing everything to reduce carbon emissions.
>
> 17. Half day closing for all Callers Offices and a delay of up to 72 hours
> before you can collect parcels/letters after getting a “Sorry you were out
> Card”
>
> All of the above is not exhaustive, but we are, thank you for taking the time to
> read it.
>
>
>
>
> Please send this on to all your contacts ta very much.