Post staff to hold national strikes (22+23 oct)

Pssst

Wow..the posties are going on strike? This i did not know. Thanks for telling us.

Can we perhaps just have one postie thread..?

custardy

cyberbob wrote: »

I'm now a little confused HERE At the weekend the union leader was complaining as RM management wouldn't go to ACAS. RM have now agreed as long as the strikes are suspended. (fair enough I think). But nothing from the union. If the union don't except this offer to go to ACAS it will look so bad and what support they have from the public will go

you may think so Bob but we went through this the last time
RM agree to talk,strikes called off,RM go to the table and basically say the same as before
then the union has to go through the full notification period again blah blah blah
RM ideally would pad this out through xmas and then 'deal' with this in 2010

mazza111

Agreed Custardly. They will go sit round the ACAS table until the threat of strike is lifted, then they won't wanna know again.

Cissi

Well I for one have now made the decision to change to a courier instead (CityLink). Not a huge loss to RM per se, but given that we currently ship around 100 parcels a week, if enough similar businesses do the same I'm pretty sure it will hurt. A pity, but I've just had enough of dealing with customers complaining of delayed/missing parcels!

cyberbob

Cissi wrote: »

Well I for one have now made the decision to change to a courier instead (CityLink). Not a huge loss to RM per se, but given that we currently ship around 100 parcels a week, if enough similar businesses do the same I'm pretty sure it will hurt. A pity, but I've just had enough of dealing with customers complaining of delayed/missing parcels!

We're looking at doing the same

moneypooh

Our local PO is not taking in any post over the next two days - not even special delivery.

cally6008

Postal strikes will go ahead: union

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091021/tuk-postal-strikes-will-go-ahead-union-6323e80.html

National strikes by postal workers will go ahead on Thursday and Friday after hopes of reaching a last minute deal collapsed. Skip related content
Up to 120,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will stage two 24-hour walk-outs, crippling mail deliveries across the country.
The union warned of further strikes in the coming weeks and launched an extraordinary attack on Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, saying he was working "hand in hand with the Royal Mail" to "undermine the dispute".
General secretary Billy Hayes accused him of being the "minister without responsibility".
Earlier, Conservative leader David Cameron accused the Prime Minister of "an appalling display of weakness" by apparently dropping legislation to reform the Royal Mail.
In rowdy exchanges at question time in the Commons, Mr Cameron said it required "leadership, some backbone and some courage" to prevent union militancy - traits which, he insisted, Gordon Brown did not have to offer. And he urged the Prime Minister to "condemn these strikes and join me in sending a direct message to the trade union to call this strike off".


Mr Brown replied: "It's right for us in this House to urge negotiation and mediation. Our role must be to encourage the negotiations that are taking place, to urge those to go to Acas, when that becomes the right thing to do, and make sure we do everything in our power to get a negotiated settlement, to something that arises from the 2007 modernisation plan. It's in nobody's interest that this strike goes ahead."

cyberbob

The RM are still offering to go to ACAS (which the union were asking to do last weekend! and are now refusing to do) if the strikes are suspended. I had sympathy for the strikers but there union has now made them look rather petty. The way the press conference was an excuse for personal attacks did nothing to put forward there case.

As far as I am concerned the union has now hastened the death of the RM and will cause far more Job losses due to this.

RIP Royal Mail 1861-2009

sunnysea83

Ive noticed a lot of the sites i buy from who used to send via royal mail for their standard service are now saying they are not affected by the strikes and are using a courier.

All royal mail workers are doing by striking are making businesses go else where, when they get a better service else where they will stay with them and not return to R.M leading to less post being sent via R.M and job cuts, so they really arent doing themselves any favours.

custardy

cyberbob wrote: »

The RM are still offering to go to ACAS (which the union were asking to do last weekend! and are now refusing to do) if the strikes are suspended. I had sympathy for the strikers but there union has now made them look rather petty. The way the press conference was an excuse for personal attacks did nothing to put forward there case.

As far as I am concerned the union has now hastened the death of the RM and will cause far more Job losses due to this.

RIP Royal Mail 1861-2009

A national postal strike is to begin within hours, crippling mail deliveries across the country.

It comes after the Royal Mail and union bosses failed to reach an agreement in their dispute over pay conditions and modernisation.

Up to 120,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will stage two 24-hour walkouts on Thursday and Friday.

More strikes are planned in the future, the union said.

Leaders of the CWU met today to consider the outcome of marathon talks between the two sides, which ended in the early hours of this morning.

The CWU claimed the Government and Royal Mail were working together to prevent progress in the dispute.

The CWU said "external forces" were trying to "undermine" the talks, citing Royal Mail bosses Mark Higson and Adam Crozier and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.

CWU deputy general-secretary Dave Ward, who led the union's negotiators, said he believed progress had been made and a deal could have been agreed which would have averted the strikes.

But he said a letter sent to the union by Royal Mail managing director Mr Higson had "wiped out" progress made during the talks and scuppered the chances of a deal.


Breaking News

6:16pm UK, Wednesday October 21, 2009
Postal Strike To Go Ahead Within Hours
A national postal strike is to begin within hours, crippling mail deliveries across the country.

It comes after the Royal Mail and union bosses failed to reach an agreement in their dispute over pay conditions and modernisation.

Up to 120,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will stage two 24-hour walkouts on Thursday and Friday.

More strikes are planned in the future, the union said.

Leaders of the CWU met today to consider the outcome of marathon talks between the two sides, which ended in the early hours of this morning.

The CWU claimed the Government and Royal Mail were working together to prevent progress in the dispute.

The CWU said "external forces" were trying to "undermine" the talks, citing Royal Mail bosses Mark Higson and Adam Crozier and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.

CWU deputy general-secretary Dave Ward, who led the union's negotiators, said he believed progress had been made and a deal could have been agreed which would have averted the strikes.

But he said a letter sent to the union by Royal Mail managing director Mr Higson had "wiped out" progress made during the talks and scuppered the chances of a deal.

Royal Mail worker

Post strikes to take place tomorrow and on Friday

In the letter, Mr Higson urged the union to abandon the "totally unjustified" strikes, which he said would have a "damaging and lasting" impact on customers.

And he said the CWU should accept a proposal to provide a "strike free period of calm" in the busy run-up to Christmas so further negotiations could be held.

Mr Higson said the heart of the dispute now centred on concerns of the union in London about changes in line with a pay and modernisation agreement reached two years ago at the end of the last national strike.

Mr Higson noted that the union had already offered a moratorium on strikes in return for talks.

And he agreed that would give an opportunity for officials to "re-engage" to discuss improvements to the changes already made.

Mr Higson proposed that the union did not activate its ballot, saying that the company would agree to suspend the timescale which the CWU has to follow for taking industrial action under employment law.

Mr Higson said he was offering an extension of four weeks to December 1 provided that no industrial action was taken.

obviously i dont know whats going on here but in 2007 RM did the same thing(as i said before) of wanting strikes stopped for negotiations
then they brought nothing new to the table
so the full notification period has to be done again.
as i said RM's goal would be to get xmas clear by delaying or whatever