This week it’s possible that Royal Mail workers who belong to the CWU may move one step closer to strike action.
CWU Deputy General Secretary Terry Pullinger has given a deadline of the 15th of August for the Union and the Royal Mail to agree some firm principles in talks, otherwise the Postal Executive of the Union will consider setting a timetable for industrial action.
The Union are call for their ‘Four Pillars’ which are: A pension solution for all; a shorter working week; extending legal protections; and a redesigned operational pipeline.
Personally I’m not too fussed on the hours deliveries take place. Gone are the days when your post arrived in time for breakfast and whether a letter is delivered before lunch or late in the afternoon it makes very little difference for the majority of households who are out at work all day. However I can understand that posties traditionally have started work early in the day and naturally also prefer to knock off early.
On Pensions Royal Mail have had one of the best pensions going but in today’s world it’s increasingly unrealistic for a “wage in retirement” which is what the CWU want to remain in place. Most pensions are now a contribution scheme and it’s up to the person retiring to decide if they want a lump sum and which annuity provider they choose to provide their retirement income. This is a major sticking point for the union.
It’s been a few years since the CWU regularly called strikes which at one point took place every two years in the run up to Christmas. 2017 could well be the year that widespread postal strikes kick off again which frankly is in on one’s interest. Consumers don’t want strikes, online retailers will simply take their business to alternative providers where they can and probably never return and Royal Mail’s business and reputation will be in tatters.
Realistically the CWU probably don’t want strikes either, the threat of a strike is many time more powerful than walking out as once strikes start taking place there’s no more powerful levers left for them to pull.
If you want to catch up on the state of negotiations, watch the CWU video below.
11 Responses
If you worked for Royal Mail…You`d fully understand….If you don`t…THEN GOOD FOR YOU…Don`t make the mistake of joining !!!!
I would gladly take a pay cut for less hours, working for royal mail is a real drain, the management keep banging on about the same stuff like a child. I used to be proud to work there now I’m ashamed to say I do.
After 26 years in royal mail, the job is draining,no break eating standing up,not alife,money crap how u work,no weekends, and now 8 till 5 day.no tnk you
Would the union full time officials talk about striking, if they lost their income suffering debt and stress for months afterwards
This is one fight we have all got to back the Union I work for Royal Mail for 39 years none of us like going on strike and losing money in this day and age people can’t afford to do it but if you don’t stand up to these paying conditions they are going to walk all over us this is a big test for all of us and for the Union to say for this private company now that you will not walk all over us to keep the shareholders happy at the end of the day if we get a huge vote for industrial action this will scare the top management and Moira green into thinking twice about pushing this unfair working practice into place
Our RM account manager is always out of the office by 3pm and forever going on holiday. Our COSS contacts are nearly always impossible to get through to unless I call them on their mobiles at which point they’re usually down the pub.
Sure must be hard working for Royal Mail.
Billy –
“none of us like going on strike and losing money in this day and age people can’t afford to do it”
Yet us, your customers are expected to lose money as a strike will cost us dearly, as a small business it is money we can ill afford to lose.
It’s about time the Unions and staff such as yourself woke up to the real world, no company can afford to offer the pensions you feel you are entitled to.
For 10 years we have had a postie who spends half an hour delivering post to 15 warehouses, he stops and chats to anyone who will listen to him, if he can’t find anyone to chat to he sits in his van. When as is frequent he is off with ‘stress’ his cover delivers to the estate and is gone in less than 5 minutes.
Our collections guy took over our route 2 years ago, on his 2nd day collecting from us he insisted our collection time was an hour earlier (3pm rather than 4pm) and this had come from the collections manager. After a phone call we discovered he had lied to my face. 2 Years later he still turns up at our warehouse at 2.50pm and sits there till 3.50pm reading in his lorry as he has “nowt else to do” Sadly despite the fact he has to scan a collection and managers must know how much time is wasted, nothing is done.
I will be so pleased when a carrier finally comes in to compete with the RM for Large Letter sized items, then maybe the RM will be forced to get rid of the dead wood.
I’m a postie 15 years now,and the job is great thanks to the cwu this is why we pay are subs so they look after us and get us good pay and working conditions,I’m 100% behind the cwu and if I’m told strike I will