LONDON CALLING UPDATE 5 THE FACTS!

NOT ROYAL MAILS FICTION

Dear Colleague It is said that in any war the first casualty is the truth. That sadly is already the case in our current dispute with Royal Mail. Royal Mails propaganda both in their Comms and on TV is based on total myths. The purpose of this circular is to give you the facts. 1. The reason that CWU decided to ballot the membership for industrial action is that negotiations have been ongoing since March without an agreement. Our pay increase is now almost 7 months overdue. Our pensions are being attacked. Our terms and conditions have no protection going forward from the threat of franchising, outsourcing and the removal of MTSF Agreement. This will also affect our annual leave entitlement, seniority and all our other National Agreements. 2. Royal Mail are hypocrites. In the ballot for the Business Transformation Agreement 64,818 members out of 117,073 voted. This represents a turnout of 54% of which 42,023 voted yes, and 21,820 voted no. Did Royal Mail Management say that 54,000 did not vote and 21,820 voted no so the Business Transformation Agreement was not supported by the CWU membership? Of course they did not. Royal Mail took that ballot result as a green light to close Mail Centres, introduce revisions and D2D into workload. Compare that to the yes vote in the industrial action ballot where 71,963 voted and 56,339 voted yes with only 15,624 voting no. It is clear that the CWU have a far stronger mandate for industrial action than Royal Mail ever had to introduce Business Transformation.

3. As much as the CWU opposed and campaigned against privatisation, the simple fact is that both Royal Mail and the Government were determined to sell the company. In fact, to such an extent that they deliberately undervalued the company and sold it on the cheap as the latest share price shows. This great institution which had provided a service to all the UK at a uniform price has now been sold on the cheap to city profiteers who have no service ethos. 4. In the latest edition of The Courier, Royal Mail claims that the British public do not support the strike and believe that the postal workers should accept the pay deal on offer. However, the question put to the public did not reflect the true pay offer on the table. They did not explain, for example, that by accepting the pay element we would also have to accept a raft of strings which includes pension benefit changes, changes to working patterns, including more flexibility under the agenda for growth, and most importantly being tied to a no strike deal which no union should ever accept. Royal Mail and the Government are very selective over which opinion poll they seek to promote. There have been many polls in which the public have stated in great numbers their opposition to privatisation and still do. Do they listen to them? No. 5. Royal Mail managements disgraceful and divisive tactic of attempting to offer 300 to anyone who did not support the strike shows how low the Royal Mail board has stooped. What they are saying is illegal. The CWU will not accept this disgraceful and discriminating tactic. 6. The differences on pay between the CWU and Royal Mail is that the union believe that Royal Mail can afford more, especially as they now have a ten year exemption from paying Corporation Tax. The union also believe that years two and three of the proposed deal are not guaranteed and Royal Mail can change years two and three if inflation is lower, or if profits are lower than expected. In addition to this Royal Mail want the

union to accept changes to pensions, a no strike deal and changes to working practises as a result of accepting the pay deal. The CWU will not accept these strings. 7. On pensions talks the CWU have made progress on Royal Mails proposed changes as well as proposing improvements to the scheme for new entrants who joined after 2008. There are still a number of differences on pensions including the guarantees about no further changes. 8. The CWU are looking for a guarantee of no outsourcing, no two tier workforce and the protection of our National Agreements including such things as annual leave entitlements, shift payments and seniority. When the Dutch Post Office was privatised they franchised delivery offices, delivery routes, mail centres, collection routes and Logistics and RDCs. The Post Office in Holland has become a part time industry where the average contract is just 11 hours and there are virtually no full timers left. Every year the franchise goes out to tender again and the pay and hours get worse. This is why the CWU are looking for a legally binding agreement which will make franchising of our work or outsourcing illegal. Royal Mail know that just under 50% of the work which is done in offices is actually covered by the USO and can be outsourced to cheaper providers which will mean less jobs and worse conditions. The CWUs aim in getting a legally binding agreement is to stop this from happening. The CWU will not accept the three year offer from Royal Mail which allows franchising and outsourcing after three years. We are looking for long term protections which is worth fighting for. 9. On work places issues, Royal Mail wants a more flexible workforce whereby they staff on a daily basis to workload rather than duties individuals sign for, meaning that people could be moved to offices and change what an individual does on a daily basis.

This is not acceptable. The CWU are determined to achieve an agreement which addresses a fair days work for a fair days pay. The CWU is determined to end the bullying and harassment culture which has become more prevalent due to unrealistic and unachievable management targets produced by budget driven targets. 10. The CWU have acted responsibly with your yes vote and allowed for a period of negotiations with Royal Mail before calling strike action. If the talks do not make progress or reach an agreement then all members will be asked to take strike action on the 4th of November for one shift. It is essential that all postal workers support this strike as your terms and conditions are at stake if you dont. Remember this is a legal dispute, no one can be discriminated against by Royal Mail for taking part including fixed term contract staff. It is also important for FTCs to realise that the CWU in London have ensured over 150 FTCs have been made permanent in the last 2 years and are currently in the process of making more FTCs permanent.
Conclusion

This is the most important fight the CWU have ever had, if we win we will get a ground breaking agreement which will protect our terms and conditions from the impact of privatisation. If you do not support the CWU we will all lose and no one will be exempt from the effect of privatisation which will see our terms and conditions and jobs decimated.

SUPPORT YOUR UNION AND FIGHT FOR YOUR FUTURE

A statement from the London Divisional Committee