London postal workers have voted overhwelmingly in favour of strikes, said their union, the CWU. The union said that its members voted 9 to 1 in favour of industrial action, though it’s hoped that all-out strikes can be avoided.
The dispute with Royal Mail is over jobs and conditions, with the union claiming “arbitrary” cuts are being made, while RM say that their changes are covered by an agreement signed with the CWU in 2007, and that the cuts are necessary to modernise the service.
CWU spokesman Martin Walsh said “strike action is a last resort for our members who can ill afford to lose wages”. Dates for industrial action will be set shortly.
11 Responses
Here we go again, i,ve been waiting all year for this.
There is massive grumblings in Liverpool over RM,s plans for the area.
As soon as it starts i,m going on holiday for 4 months 🙂
sack em all!
Well said
Well I can’t decide whether I’m happy or sad about this [as an eBay seller]. On one hand delays aren’t good for customers but on the other hand I’ve got an excuse to have a few days off 😉
They won’t stay out for long, they can’t afford the loss of wages.
I am feeling less and less symphaty for Royal Mail workers. What i dont udnerstand is, if you dont like the bloody job, just leave it, stop complaining and whinging.
I honestly think they are taking Royal Mail at ransom here.
as ebay sellers, we toiled and worked so hard last year with that strike and we tried to understand where they’re coming from.
but not another one again.
in this current economic climate, most of us are just happy to be still trading / hold down a job. their decision now can only be seen as disgustingly selfish, will jeopardise the small business sector no matter how short / small the strike is.
they’re ultimately striking themselves out of a job as more and more sellers look to other companies to deliver their goods. Royal Mail needs to sack them all, recruit better workers and progress ahead.
Royal Mail needs to sack them all, recruit better workers and progress ahead.
My suggestion entirely, trouble is the gap between sacking, recruiting and training new staff would leave mountains of mail in the meantime. Even a one day strike cripples Royal Mail for at least a week after the event. 🙁
@chris and it is this weakness that the workers have found and used to their benefit.
Royal Mail needs to be strong, layoff these workers, cite economic failure and stress that this is largely due to their own current batch of louts for workers, let themselves be bought over by a different company or merge with an exsiting and reputable delivery company and employ their own people.
in other words, give jobs to people who want the job.
that should solve all this drama.
This is the weakness all unions exploit, sad to say, its not legal to just sack every striker and employ people that will do the job.
I have to say i love the Royal Mail, its cheaper and better than any competitor but these ‘Spanish practices’ have to be nipped in the bud.
#9 You’re right, but it is perfectly legal to not recognise a trade union.
its sad because at times like this, we need the support of royal mail, the banks etc to help companies and small businesses grow.