Post Office workers vote for strike
Post Office workers have voted for strike action in a dispute with management over pay and job security. Nearly 4,000 staff from 373 Crown were balloted; 93% of those who voted were in favour of industrial action. Turnout was 66%.
The dispute centres around two areas: the lack of any pay increase for counter staff, and concerns over job security as Post Office Ltd has refused to extend a guarantee on the number of Crown offices (the large main offices found mostly in town centres), leading the Communication Workers Union to believe that further closures are planned.
The CWU’s deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said:
this ballot is about more than pay; it is the job security of our members and the future of the Crown office network which is also at stake. We want to see a strong network of Crown offices, but the government and the company appear to be hiding the fact that they are planning a programme of further Post Office closures.
The Union has urged POL to return to talks; no dates for any industrial action have yet been set. The rest of the Post Office network is not involved in this dispute.
photo credit: sludgegulper
Sue Bailey says
11:52 am on 05/03/2011
Annnnd…. welcome to everyone from Royal Mail Chat. Nice to see you again
BigPoppa says
12:56 pm on 05/03/2011
Stories about Royal Mail never cease to amaze me…How dumb can one union be!
Gary says
1:44 pm on 05/03/2011
This is a business that looses money!
If it was a private company it would be doomed.
What ideas do the staff who voted have to turn the business around so that it becomes profit making?
If a business makes a profit then staff deserve a share of that. If the reverse if the case then what?
Cassie says
2:08 pm on 05/03/2011
I am sadly not surprised to hear they voted in favour of striking. Everyone thinks they deserve a pay cut and no one wants to lose their jobs……however, I can never understand why these peple do not understand that they are only harming themselves more. The general public has no sympathy for them and as far as I can see it will only make the government need to close these Crown offices down faster as they lose even more money.
Gerry0007 says
4:28 pm on 05/03/2011
Maybe they should be privatising The Post office, instead of Royal Mail…
Thank God for OBA & PPI…
Warren says
4:34 pm on 05/03/2011
Union do more harm than good. My old Union when I was a Bus Driver ill advised me all the time and then left you when the management come down on me.
I know that most employers are bad, but if I ever employed anyone I’d interact with the employees one to one. If they have a work related problem, I’d want them to come to me.
The Royalmail needs to modernise, and sadly to modernise they’ll have to shed jobs. All the Unions are interested in is Union fees as they know job loses = less Union fees.
Unions only act in there own interest, they don’t seem to care for the individual worker.
Warren says
4:43 pm on March 5th, 2011
I got the sack for refusing to break the speed limit as they never gave me the running time to drive the bus on time. If anyone uses buses in London, you’ll know what I mean by now fast the buses are driven. Although its not company policy to drive faster than the legal requirement, they get rid on drivers who run late and the Union lets them do it.
All I got for my Union membership was a yearly diary that I never used. A complete waste of money.
northumbrian says
5:01 pm on March 5th, 2011
too right full time union reps need stikes and industrial problems to keep them employed
Digby says
6:23 pm on 05/03/2011
Postal services world wide are losing money and those idiots think they deserve a pay rise.
And the average online seller if they’d like a another in in postal charges.
Chris says
10:09 pm on 05/03/2011
There is always the Sub Post Offices where most are happy to provide a quality service even if Lemming like the Crown Office Staff are rushing towards Unemployment
Gerry0007 says
3:13 pm on 06/03/2011
I would’nt mind if they’d stop loosing our stuff…..!!!
James says
9:56 am on March 7th, 2011
Exactly, if the company was Brilliant and making money they deserve a pay rise.
If my company was going down the pan my staff certainly wouldnt be getting a pay rise.
Without being too harsh, if workers want a pay rise go get a different job. Dont just follow the masses and go on strike.
Its got ridiculous now.
Chris says
1:25 pm on 08/03/2011
Reminds me of British Leyland in the 1960′s and 70′s. Always on strike and thinking that the country owed them a living. Then when the country finally gave up with them and they all lost their jobs the sob stories started. But the loss of their jobs was self inflicted. So how long before there are no more Crown Post Offices? Come to that how long before there is no BA as their staff are also Striking hard for Self Inflicted Unemployment.
Jimbo says
2:16 pm on March 8th, 2011
Next stop the Police force.
northumbrian says
2:45 pm on 08/03/2011
send them to the trenches or down the pits we say
Chris says
4:26 pm on March 8th, 2011
Isn’t there a shortage of Pits? I seem to remember that it was Strikes in the Coal Industry that did for many Pits. I thought that while we have something like 300 years supply of coal still under the ground that we now import coal from such places as Poland because we cannot mine enough(because of the lack of Pits). Now if it was possible to re-open a few Pits and man them totally with Union Bosses I would support that idea.
Warren says
4:16 pm on 08/03/2011
The thing that comes to my mind is that the world is constantly changing and the Unions are constantly trying turning the clock back. One of the reasons the buses were privatised in london was because they took the p#ss out of tax payers money. And when I was employed as a bus driver I used to hear all the stories of the good old days. How they got a twenty minute over time docket for moving a bus inside a garage(which would have took a maximum of 5 minutes)
Unions where a good idear in Victorian times when they thought for the worker. How they just want political power.
Chris says
4:22 pm on March 8th, 2011
It seems that most of the Union Bosses have a Political Agenda. They all seem to be Reds of one variety or another with damn all interest in the well being of their Members.
northumbrian says
5:10 pm on March 8th, 2011
yes there fumny buggers those man u supporters
Chris says
11:55 pm on March 8th, 2011
Just like the Unions Man U always seem to blame somebody else(in their case the Referee) when one of their players gets a Red or Yellow Card or if the other team manages to score against them.
James says
8:07 am on March 10th, 2011
Doesnt every football team do this?
Chris says
10:21 am on March 10th, 2011
Probably but the impression I get from Man U is that they have made a speciality of always blaming somebody else(usually the Referee). Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool etc always give me the impression that they will generally accept it if the decision goes against them. But not Man U. In their case they seem always to shout. Before anybody asks I am not a Football Supporter. I enjoy Cricket. After all there is a great deal of skill involved certainly a lot more than Kick and Run Football.
Gary says
1:19 pm on 09/03/2011
John Lewis today have announced the creation of 4000 jobs over the next 2 years and awarded all the staff an 18% performance bonus for this year on the back of excellent results achieved by the staff.
Maybe the 4000 Post Office staff should all seek employment at John Lewis?
Chris says
6:42 pm on March 9th, 2011
I found myself thinking about the ex-Crown Post Office Staff applying for the jobs at John Lewis. Are they honest and put the fact that they are ex-Crown Post Office Staff on their Application Form/CV because if they do I would imagine that they will have no chance of a job. After all John Lewis Staff are always pleasant and helpful(not something that could be said about Crown Post Office Staff). On top of that the John Lewis Staff will try hard to help the customer while the Crown Post Office Staff work very hard to be totally unhelpful and if they show signs of weakening and actually being helpful they close their window and go for Lunch/Teabreak or just go to the back somewhere to ensure that this ambition to be helpful is conquered as soon as possible.
northumbrian says
1:51 pm on 09/03/2011
main post office staffs natural ethos is to hinder and hamper
its no surprise that they voted to strike
jacl says
6:08 pm on 09/03/2011
I am often initially sympathetic to workers who see themselves getting a raw deal while the bosses vote themselves pay rises or bonuses, but in reality most strikes are selfish ie they are about looking after no. one, while the little one man/woman business gets shafted by all and sundry. I never hear about unions or workers in large unionised industries giving a damn about us.