WHY IS THERE A POSTAL DISPUTE? (aka WAR & PEACE)

The History of Modernisation (NOT) by Royal Mail & the Govt

• All Royal Mails profits taken by successive Govts till 2002 - £2.4 billion - no investment.
• Price of stamps held back by Govts to keep inflation (RPI) low until recently - no investment.
• Postcomm Regulator introduces competition who take the most profitable business direct from big firms, and leave Royal Mail to deliver it (as that is not profitable) - no investment.
• Pension crisis is sapping all the profits of RM. Royal Mails pension holiday of 13 yrs, added to Browns' continued removal of tax inducements for pensions, which threaten all final salary schemes - no investment.
• The £1.2 billion LOAN from the Govt 3 yrs ago ( at commercial interest rates) has been used partly to fund redundancies rather than new technology.

The CWU has accepted without taking industrial action:

• Changes to the Pension scheme - ending its final salary scheme to ALL existing members.
• Closure of mail centres without negotiation - Stockport, Oldham, Reading, Oxford, and Bolton, Crewe, Liverpool, Northampton and Milton Keynes soon to follow.
• Removal of 2nd delivery, and turning first delivery into a 2nd delivery unless you are willing to pay more for an early delivery. Which straw broke the camel's back?
• A pay freeze after record profits this year - It used to be if you made a loss!!
• Delivery posties who used their own cars and work their breaks so they could finish early are now being told they have to do more rounds now, as RM have slashed duties (and still use their cars).
• RM have broken the last strike agreement were after dealing with Phases 1, 2, & 3 (which RM paid and congratulated us for) they were supposed to deal with modernisation via Phase 4 with the CWU by agreement. We have not had one Joint Working Group set-up, let alone had a meeting.
• Imposed fixed shifts have been promised to RM's Ops Director, RM are in denial, yet moves have already been made in one office.

Who did you believe?????

• BBC Newsnight exposed a leaked "In strictest confidence" Royal Mail document prior to the strikes, which spoke of a "strike being an enabler to their objectives" - no wonder RM denied it was genuine. The document is unmistakably genuine. So it's 2 fingers to small businesses and the public from RM.
• The same document spoke of "stakeholder support" - there is only one stakeholder the Govt - no wonder Mandelson denied it - enough said.
• BBC newsnight showed 2 letters - one were the CWU talked of local negotiations to the executive action being agreed, and one from RMs Man. Director categorically stating "their was no going back over any previous action," after the negotiations. The Ops director claimed on TV the CWU negotiators were unable to negotiate as their executive threw out the deal.
• This caused the second day of National action to go ahead, but RM's Man. Director got involved for the first time in the negotiations as he could not risk his negotiators agreeing to something he would later have to overturn.
• RM accused the CWU of changing their position, and coming up with some new proposals - what else are NEGOTIATORS expected to do if there is deadlock in talks????

Who was telling the truth and what was the outcome?????

• An interim agreement was struck were (wait for it) RM agreed that where executive action was carried out - local negotiations would take place to seek agreed change.
• Retributive disciplinary cases were to be dealt with by the CWU and RM at national level.
• ACAS were to provide monitoring support at all stages of the interim agreement which is to initiate Phase 4 of the 2007 agreement which RM had previously claimed we had broken !!!
• ACAS are to preside over fortnightly meetings starting 26th Nov. between RM & the CWU to check progression.
• The Managing Surpluses agreement was to be updated to reflect the massive changes ahead which the CWU had always accepted would occur. Why else were we involved in the NW review which had already seen 2 Mail Centres close with another 3 to follow next year?
• Modernisation was to CONTINUE, but this time hopefully by agreement.

What is happening now ?????

• Dealing with the NW review which is the closure of Mail Centres Royal Mail have advised engineers of changes to their Voluntary redundancy terms without consulting our union nationally.
• Our Preston engineers are being asked to change their shifts without reason, simply because the interim agreement, which made no mention of engineering shift patterns.
• Real suspicions are that this is the first step to fixed shifts, which would mean some of our Preston engineers would simply leave the job.
• Bullying by managers who were promised this was the end of the CWU is causing problems.

Watch this space !!!!!