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        General >> Off Topic Subjects >> strike
        
(Message started by: dave82506 on Jul 12^th, 2007, 3:17pm)

Title: strike
Post by dave82506 on Jul 12^th, 2007, 3:17pm

Anyone got any views on our good old postmen (and women) taking strike action

Title: Re: strike
Post by petehull on Jul 12^th, 2007, 3:21pm

2.5% [] with it!

Here's to em Dave.....

;D
Pete

Title: Re: strike
Post by TiberiuS on Jul 12^th, 2007, 3:34pm

I don't really know much about it to be honest. All I know is it's a pain.

I agreed with the firefighters when they went on strike a few years back, all I know is that the postal service is in a mess as a whole

Whether you agree or not, all this action is going to do is plunge Royal Mail further into the red :-/

Again you get the scenario of bosses and shareholders milking the company's profits, it's the customer and the workers who suffer whatever happens, not the people at the top.

Title: Re: strike
Post by petehull on Jul 12^th, 2007, 3:54pm

2.5% of a pittance is a pittance, (and the threat of joblosses is jus rubbing noses in it)
2.5% of a fortune is a fortune.....

Though it doesn't stop at 2.5% for the bosses. :'(

People should wise up!

Title: Re: strike
Post by TRACEYS_LIMO on Jul 12^th, 2007, 3:56pm

a lot of mates of mine work at our local office and they are going to lose £60 and do not know if it will do any good or not :( your right the whole company is a mess and maybe it should be split up. mind you a lot of places abroad are no better.

Title: Re: strike
Post by Matt on Jul 12^th, 2007, 7:45pm

with the 2 postal thingyups they have made with me so far this month i say fine them for every lost parcel >:( >:(

Title: Re: strike
Post by Baz on Jul 13^th, 2007, 12:09pm

TNT, UPS and every other independant postal or courier company will be rubbing their hands with glee the longer this goes on. Many companies are starting to switch bulk mail to the likes of TNT mail and such like. Lloyds TSB now use TNT for their mail service and more will no doubt follow. The postal workers may have only been offered a 2.5% rise, but 2.5% of something is surely better than 2.5% of no job. Sticking to principles comes at a high price at times

The longer the strikes go on, the more the everyday members lose; the union reps never lose out; they get paid to be union reps and they never strike!! It takes an awful lot of percentages to make back weeks of lost earnings; as I found out back in the nineties when I was on strike for 5 weeks, probably still haven't made it back even now!!

Title: Re: strike
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Jul 13^th, 2007, 12:19pm

i havent seen much about it but i did think it was more to do with automated systems/job cuts than wages?

Title: Re: strike
Post by Spannerdemon on Jul 13^th, 2007, 2:59pm

Quote:

TNT, UPS and every other independant postal or courier company will be rubbing their hands with glee the longer this goes on

Says it all.

They can strike all they like, and they can go on striking, but the end result will be NO JOBS. They seem to be too stupid to see it.

Today is another day of cheques not arriving for businesses, Birthday's and Anniversaries ruined, CV's not getting to recruiters, and pay not reaching staff.

It's not on as far as the general public are concerned, and I for one think they should get back to work, stop whingeing, and realise that they are lucky to have jobs.

The longer they throw their toys out of their prams like this, the more public hatred will go against them.

Don't bleat to me about 2.5% being a pittance.

NO business can afford to pay more than it earns.

Title: Re: strike
Post by Scorpio_Mike on Jul 13^th, 2007, 5:42pm

Our posties seem to be working normally - got a delivery this morning and have just seen a postie emptying the post box at the end of my road !

Title: Re: strike
Post by merseyscorp on Jul 13^th, 2007, 7:14pm

Good on them I say. Privatisation/ de-regulation is the worst thing for any industry as in my humble view, it only benefits the rich and just promotes greedy capitolism. Lets not forget, there was a certain country-leader who tried doing away with trade-unions & they have the right to protest in this target meeting, money hungry society we live in. Anyone who works in a de-regulated industry who began as a civil servant will well be aware of much they have had it worked to them. It takes a lot of guts to go on-strike and their courage to stand united for what they believe is the way forward can only be commended. P.s I am not affiliated with the postal sevice

Title: Re: strike
Post by Baz on Jul 13^th, 2007, 8:42pm

But look at the good it did the miners, the steel workers, the car workers (Red Robbo, the working class hero, he was paid all the way through the strikes he instigated at British Leyland while his members got nothing!) Grunwicks, the printers down at Wapping.... the list is endless. Privatisation is the only way a company can survive because without it there is just utter waste of public money which goes to feed the never ending need for finance. Can you imagine what our tax bills would be now if we were still bailing out the mines, the car industry, the railways, the post service? There would be no employment because everyone would be paying 60% tax to fund it all. Take the NHS; the government bang on about how much money they have "invested" in the NHS but what they have done in effect is merely pay for the pay rises and pensions of staff with over 70% of the money they have put in.... very little is getting to the patient care and that is after the hospitals charge for parking, TV channels, phone calls etc....

As I have intimated before.... principles don't pay a mortgage and the dole queues were full of stikers with principles

Title: Re: strike
Post by merseyscorp on Jul 13^th, 2007, 9:13pm

good point, however public money is still being wasted through local government transport schemes, the NHS, grants for this, that and the other. If the government got it right and put the money in the right places for the right people there would be no waste and could continue paying for industries. One example, the local transport authority said that bus subsidy was costing more now than 20 years ago for a lesser service. Lets not forget the revenue that these industries could now be capable of generating? Also, if we consider all these extra stelth taxes we're paying now compared to then it wouldn't make much difference. Ok, the government was perhaps struggling, but is'nt it now? Unemployment rates are not at the desired level and a number of people choose not to work, why? because they can't afford to! so who's subsidising them? As for mortgages, people can't get them now unless earning over the national average wage, so working man loses again even if he drops his principals. In the industry I work in, it's never been worse. Pensions gone, wage decrease, sick pay gone, overtime enhancements including sundays...gone, holiday decrease. The answer, low moral, negative attitude, leading to other problems.
A bit over the top you may think, but there are two sides to every story. I take your comments with the greatest respect, however those who have been in the position will understand but will conceed, I can't agree more about red robbo!
Just to add and to finish, In Denmark, a very wealthy and clued up country, workers DO pay 55% tax out of their wages, but everything is free! dental, etc. Now that would be nice! :)

Title: Re: strike
Post by dave82506 on Jul 14^th, 2007, 1:43pm

Wow, glad I started this post, and nice to see lots of varying views. Well I am in fact a Postman. I think I speak for many Posties out there when I say I was shocked at the move to strike action so soon.
We are being told by our Union that Mr Leighton and Mr Crozier refuse to negotiate, and simply restate their proposals for improvement. Its not just about the 2.5%, in fact i'm sure the majority would have accepted this, but there are strings attached. Later starts being the biggest concern, we won't be starting till after 6.30 (currently 4-5a.m) they have already removed nightshifts. This means that the days of early mail will be well and truely over. Not a problem for everyone, but many people like their mail to arrive early. (especially firms). We will then lose our early shift allowance, though it may be secured for 2 years, then gone, so thats the 2.5% covered. At the moment we deliver to all you lovely people, 3 pieces of door to door material, this is the real junk, you know, things which don't actually have your name and address on, pizza menus for example. We get paid usually about 1.5 pence for each one of these, and it is included as part of our basic pay. (it is not optional, they must be delivered) another string is to stop paying us the 1.5pence for these. Thats another £15-£16 off our weekly wage. Oh and another string is to increase these door to doors to 6 a week for each of you. I can see why Royal mail are trying to increase the amount, because they earn so much profit from them. Thats just a couple of the strings of which there is around 12. I know that lots of people have probably experienced problems with the Royal mail at some point, but we do deliver an awful lot of mail, and around 98% makes it on time. I think its quite impressive to be able to spend 34p and get a letter to the other end of the country for the next day.
We have been told that Royal mail make no money on stamps, and that we are victims of our own success, as many people buy second class because it still arrives promptly.
Anyway, I am not whinging, I just get fed up with hearing 2.5% all the time, when there is far more to it than that.
The crazy thing is, that the competition are getting all the profitable bits such as sorting. They call it downstream sorting. They then pay Royal mail to take it the final mile??

It was quite amusing when we were told that the Management were not having pay rises this year. I know we say that "its all relative" but on £15,192. per week (plus a bonus of £248,000pa) I think our Chief Executive Adam Crozier can probably get by..

;D Dave the postie ;)

Ps I think that if the union had ballotted us on whether we would accept the 2.5% or not, rather than whether to take strike action, the result may have been different!

Title: Re: strike
Post by petehull on Jul 14^th, 2007, 6:46pm

on 07/14/07 at 13:43:44, dave82506 wrote:

Its not just about the 2.5%, in fact i'm sure the majority would have accepted this, but there are strings attached.

Hi Dave, once again, good on you, I knew that the 2.5 wasn't the only issue here, I have relatives within the service and know how it has been manipulated over the years (eaten away from the inside) there are too many fat cats at the "Head" of all these organisations and these "Small" issues are like the lever to open the can so to speak, They have already sold the cleaning side up the river. More profits for shareholders less for the workers.
I say keep it upand good luck in the future... You will need all you can get...

Pete

Title: Re: strike
Post by Spannerdemon on Jul 14^th, 2007, 9:00pm

Quote from the Royal Mail Website:

Quote:

Royal Mail is pleased to report that the 24-hour strike by postal workers is now over and we are working hard to get back to normal as quickly as possible. We apologise to all of our customers for any disruption and inconvenience the strike may have caused.

Well sorry Royal Mail, but that's simply not good enough. People PAY YOU to process letters and packages which you then don't deliver. In other words, you don't fulfil YOUR side of the deal.

As a member of the GENERAL PUBLIC, I can tell you that most normal hardworking people are sick to bloody death of your strikes. Sick to death of not receiving important household mail. Sick to death of even being bothered about WHY it's happening. Sick to death of having their businesses disrupted, and sick to death of seeing their children, relatives and loved ones disappointed when their Birthday Cards and presents don't arrive.

Rant over, but you postal workers are putting the nails into your own coffins.

Baz is right. Find ANY jobs in Mining, Shipbuilding or Car Manufacture in the Uk now. Find any worthwhile engineering contracts that come to UK firms.

Your Union are KILLING your jobs.

I'm sorry to you guys who are Scorpio owners on this site, but all that apart, my respect for postmen and women totally evaporated yesterday when EXTREMELY important papers failed to arrive, with catastrophic results for the firm that I work for.

There is a 90% chance that I will be out of a job by Monday as a result.

Title: Re: strike
Post by dave82506 on Jul 14^th, 2007, 10:47pm

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it won't come to that. Strike was known about well in advance and most people sent things earlier.

Good luck

Title: Re: strike
Post by petehull on Jul 14^th, 2007, 11:02pm

You need to see your union rep spanners, they can't sack you for someone elses industrial action.....

Pete :-/

Title: Re: strike
Post by Spannerdemon on Jul 15^th, 2007, 10:34pm

Well. As expected, It's been confirmed that on Friday, we lost a very lucrative contract, due to paperwork not arriving by the deadline, and as a result, 8 people are being laid off with effect from the end of July.

Fortunately I am not amongst them, but I am full of FURY towards the Post Office. All these guys are personal friends with mortgages to pay, and families to feed. They are devastated.

Businesses will not wait for the Post Office..........Take good note of that guys.

They go elsewhere with their mail. Permanently.

I'm not making any further comment on this post, because I can tell you that I am absolutely furious about the way these decent guys have been shafted by the Post Office Strike. >:( >:(

Title: Re: strike
Post by dave82506 on Jul 15^th, 2007, 10:50pm

I am sorry, but surely there must be more to this than just a letter failing to arrive. Some serious failure somewhere. Which company is involved. Surely someone somewhere involved must have thought, hang on, as there is so much riding on this, we should either send these critical documents earlier, or perhaps use a different courier. Have these people not been shafted by someone elses incompetence?

Title: Re: strike
Post by jonnycab on Jul 16^th, 2007, 1:59am

Dave82506.... []

....Spanners mate ;)....if the documents were that important & the threat of a postal strike was looming, then why didn't they get them delivered by courier ?

A below inflation pay rise of 2.5% for the guys & galls that (in my opinion) provide a fantastic postal service is frankly an insult, & I think they should be paid more.

I was thinking of changing jobs a while back & becoming a postie, until I saw what they were offering as a starting wage :o....thought I'd stick with the cabbing for the time being ;)

Lets face it, it's dirt cheap to post a letter....30p first class.....bargain.....& it usually gets there pronto, if not pretty quick. What else could you get for 30p that is such value for money ? :D

If people don't trust the Royal Mail to deliver their mail/packages, then they should go for a more expensive courier service....

I've worked for many courier/delivery companies in the past including the Royal Mail (Parcel Force, when it was part of the post office)...& must say that the postal workers wages were no higher than any other delivery company wages....even though you were expected to deliver twice the amount of parcels as a rival company ???

Considering the amount of post that has to be delivered everyday by the biggest postal network in the country, then....Yes....I think the posties should have a decent wage rise in line with inflation :)....

& if the fat cats at management HQ don't agree, then strike action is the only way to make them get out of their 'comfy leather armchairs' & consider the workers & the part they play in keeping this national institution alive :)

After all...it is still endorsed by the Queen ;)

Title: Re: strike
Post by petehull on Jul 16^th, 2007, 6:54am

on 07/15/07 at 22:34:34, Spannerdemon wrote:

This to me stinks, could it be that this action was already pre-planned from the managers side, SURELY a decision to sack 8 people would not or could not be made in this way, if the documents were THAT detrimental SURELY a GOOD management team could have ensured that something like a postal strike would not be able to put the company in jeapody in this way, it is to hard to believe. They have used it to furnish themselves with a reason to make cuts, (it isn't an engineering firm is it) cos they certainly seem to me to have 'Engineered' the demise of your Fellow Workers. A typical management tactic if ever I saw one....

This is where you need the backup of a good union and that's all I can advise....

Tell your mates to seek legal advice...

Pete

Title: Re: strike
Post by Spannerdemon on Jul 16^th, 2007, 5:44pm

Quote:

I'm not making any further comment on this post

:-X

Like I said>J
Just leave it. Enough damage has already been done.