wanted to write something down about the upcoming ballot but really do not know where to start so here goes
Our beloved (cough) CEO Rico has decided to take executive action on part of our company, he has decided that Parcelforce needs now to be a LTD company to make them more self-reliant and responsible for its own budget. This is a very strange reason to do so as they have always been responsible for its own spending and profit. As part of this he has decided that even though the employer stays the same (Royal Mail Group) all the staff now must have their contracts TUPE’d (Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of employment) so does not seem bad really does it? Well yes it does because as part of being TUPE’d over after 12 months he can then go for an ETO (Economical Technical or Organisational change) in short it would not be too difficult for someone like Rico to find an excuse to enforce this. So where does that leave you? Well basically you have a new contract of employment, new terms and conditions new pay rate and overtime rate, holiday sick pay etc etc etc.
OK so now I can hear some of you saying “it’s ok it’s only Parcelforce I’m alright, and to be fair if you do not work for Parcelforce you are right, until he decides to say, “OK that worked well now lets have a look at deliveries and processing and look logistics is doing rather nicely aren’t they” and before you know it we are all LTD companies of Royal Mail Group and all have nice new contracts that leave us worse of financially than we are before. And now look what comes next, as we are all little companies owned by Royal Mail, we are ripe to sell off to the highest bidder, I am sure you will all be happy working for Amazon or Eddie Stobart and deliveries franchised off to Hermes. This would however make a small fortune for the shareholders!
All of this with no Universal Service Obligation would mean us all on lower income with worsening terms and conditions potentially no sick pay and no job security, a basic pension and no chance of earning a living wage
So, what can I do? I hear you ask, well this is what you can do, VOTE YES to support your union in the upcoming ballot. Support your union leaders by giving them a huge amount of support and bargaining ability with a maximum YES vote as close to 100% as we can
If it is necessary, I will be taking industrial action to secure my job my future and the future of all our CWU members and I ask you to do the same. We may suffer a short-term loss, but it is better than a long-term loss with no future
So, all I ask is that you support your union and vote yes on the 24th September and show Rico you are willing to stand up for your right to a future
Thank you for taking the time to read this
Simon Maxwell
HP Section Secretary
CWU South Central Postal Branch
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