City Link strike possible

frugalmike

From the RMT website

CITY LINK WORKERS VOTE FOR STRIKE ACTION OVER PAY & CONDITON
City Link Workers Vote For Strike Action Over Pay & Conditon
3 September 2013
Geoff Martin

Transport union RMT announced today that hundreds of staff working for City Link have voted by more than nine to one for strike action in a dispute over pay, working conditions and an attempt by the company management to bulldoze through changes to contracts.

City Link was flogged off earlier this year to private equity group Better Capital for a pound by Rentokil Initial and that sell off to Jon Moulton’s aggressive, anti-worker outfit has coincided with an all-out assault on terms and conditions.

In separate ballots of both driver and non-driver staff , which concluded today , majorities in favour of strike action of more than nine to one have been recorded. The results will now be considered by RMT’s executive as the union plans the next stage in the campaign to defend pay and working conditions.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“The assault on pay and conditions by the new, private equity owners of City Link has sparked a surge in recruitment and hundreds of workers are now actively engaged in the fight back at City Link depots across the country.

“This massive majority in favour of strike action shows that the workforce at City Link will not stand by and take this bullying attempt to force new contracts down their throats by the asset-strippers from Better Capital.

“The campaign at City Link is a national fight against a national, high-profile company and represents an important battle for the whole trade union movement against private equity companies who think they can treat their workers like dirt. RMT will now consider the next move and as always we remain available for talks.”

ENDS


http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/city-link-workers-vote-for-strike-action-over-pay-and-conditon/

chucky

Bob Crow is a genius.

Graham_Devon

Good for them. The race to the bottom in courier land is visible to any of us look at jobs.

It almost as if being a courier is seen by the company as doing a favour for the person doing the job.

Buy your own van, pay your own insurance (or guess what, you can hire a van from the company, gee, thats generous), you'll get some fuel costs (gee, ta) and can be expected to deliver 40-50 parcels per day, allowing absolutely no time for a simple traffic jam. If you don't achieve your, frankly, extremly difficult target, you are basically running around under minimum wage.

I'm sure some companies are better than others, but in this day and age, companies should be doing better.

The latest thing in the courier business is getting people to turn up just incase they need a driver. Alright if you are getting a retainer as it used to be, but even those are being phased out.

Idiophreak

City Link striking.

How will anyone notice

chris_m

chucky wrote: »

Bob Crow is a genius.

I don't spell the last word like that
:D:D

grizzly1911

frugalmike wrote: »

City Link was flogged off earlier this year to private equity group Better Capital for a pound by Rentokil Initial and that sell off to Jon Moulton’s aggressive, anti-worker outfit has coincided with an all-out assault on terms and conditions.

What assets do City Link have?

Loughton_Monkey

grizzly1911 wrote: »

What assets do City Link have?

They're loaded. Worth a packet.

vivatifosi

Crow is an idiot. He needs to learn that this is not an oligopoly or the public sector, the type of organisation he normally deals with, it is an industry that has low barriers to entry and hence is extremely competitive and low margin.

Companies don't get sold for a pound unless there are debts involved. If they can't make it turn a profit it will likely be shut down. Who benefits from that? Yes PE companies can be hard nosed and what's happening to workers probably not good, but sledgehammer and nut spring to mind.

Matt1977

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Buy your own van, pay your own insurance (or guess what, you can hire a van from the company, gee, thats generous), you'll get some fuel costs (gee, ta) and can be expected to deliver 40-50 parcels per day, allowing absolutely no time for a simple traffic jam. If you don't achieve your, frankly, extremly difficult target, you are basically running around under minimum wage.

I worked for DHL in the 2000s as an courier. I was one of the last employed couriers to be hired. After that, you either had to be self employed or and agency worker to do the job.

I remember one of the self employed drivers discouraging me from going self employed if I ever considered doing so. The charges per drop remained the same but fuel always increased (they had to pay for their own fuel, iirc). Pretty much a 10 - 12 hour job for some of them and can be as much as 80 - 90 drops per day. I just don't know how they do it, especially when these drivers' routes started 30 miles away from the depot.

The next time you are driving and you see a parcel delivery van right on your back bumper, it will be because the driver is running on pure adrenylin to try and clear a heavy workload.

CLAPTON

gosh

One wonders why Bob Crow didn't buy the company for a pound, then doubled every ones wages, reduced their hours of work and improved the working conditions

what a tragic missed opportunity

System

Idiophreak wrote: »

City Link striking.

How will anyone notice

Indeed, it's not like they ever actually turn up. I have a passionate hatred for city link.