'Stubborn' bosses spark Bristol strike vote
21st November 2012
CWU members at Royal Mail's South East Delivery Office have
voted by over 80 per cent to take strike action amid allegations of
bullying and harassment by managers, who stand accused of breaking
national agreements and procedures .
In an industrial action ballot, which was authorised a fortnight
ago after local union negotiators' attempts to resolve the
issues were foiled by "stubborn" company chiefs, 81 per
cent of postwomen and postmen voted in favour of action.
Explaining the background to the dispute, local branch secretary
Dave Wilshire explained that the problems had
arisen following the implementation of a delivery revision last
year.
"The revision hasn't worked from Day One, but management
have stubbornly refused to carry out a proper review," he
explained, adding that, according to the current national
agreement, a post-implementation review has to be carried out as
Phase Six of the revision process.
"People have got rounds they just can't complete within
their time and we're getting daily complaints from members
alleging bullying and harassment," Dave pointed out.
Under current legislation, after an industrial action ballot has
returned a majority for action, this action must be taken within
four weeks, which means that, unless the company moves to resolve
the issue, Christmas postal services could be affected.
Commenting on the poll, Dave urged company chiefs to "stop
burying your heads in the sand and work with us to resolve these
problems.
"Don't let your stubbornness spoil Bristol's
Christmas," he urged bosses.
CWU national officer for delivery workers Bob
Gibson said: "Royal Mail really need to start sorting
out problems like these, which do seem to be occurring more and
more in various parts of the country.
"We are doing everything we can to ensure that service
standards to the public are maintained and improved where possible
going forward - but this is not helped when managers arbitrarily
make changes and do not comply with national agreements" he
added.
"And they only make things worse when they blame our members,
hard-working postwomen and postmen for the problems, instead of
sitting down with our CWU representative to sort things out
properly."
Are you a Royal Mail delivery worker experiencing
"revision" problems at work? If so, please contact
outdoorsecretary@cwu.org and
let the union know.
