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 Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:30 pm |
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The News Line: Editorial Saturday, 7 November 2009
Royal Mail getting ready for New Year war!
BRENDAN Barber has won another battle honour from the employers.
His first was at Gate Gourmet, which publicly congratulated him on its
website for the way that he helped to push through a deal that allowed
it to sack over 600 Gate Gourmet workers, and cut the wages and
worsened the conditions of employment for all new starters.
As far as the Gate Gourmet bosses (Texas Pacific) are concerned, he
has star quality. They could not have done it without him.
Yesterday, the Royal Mail was also full of praise for the TUC leader,
and the way he worked to get them their Interim Agreement with the CWU
leaders.
Mark Higson, Managing Director of Royal Mail Letters, said: ‘I’m
extremely grateful to Brendan Barber for the tremendous help and
support he has given over the last few weeks.’
After paying this moving tribute to Barber’s work, Higson went on to
stress that ‘the future of the Royal Mail pension scheme does not and
cannot form any part of this agreement’.
Barber, Ward and Hayes have delivered for Royal Mail an Interim
Agreement that stipulates that there will be no local or national
strike action over the Xmas period, and that the period up to December
31 will be filled with frenzied modernisation negotiations, so that by
January 1, 2010, Royal Mail and the union leaders will be ready to
impose a new modernisation deal onto the membership of the CWU.
There is no doubt that from Jan 1, 2010 the struggle will erupt
volcano-like as Royal Mail imposes its new deal, agreed with the CWU.
The Interim Agreement makes clear that there is to be ‘a period of
calm, free of industrial action during which the parties are committed
to work together intensively, to reach agreements that will enable
further change and modernisation to be implemented from the beginning
of 2010 onward’.
It adds: ‘Both parties have agreed to accelerate and complete the
modernisation programme, jointly resolving all issues from phase 4 of
the Pay and Modernisation Agreement of 2007 by agreeing key principles
and milestones and reaching further National Agreements, recognising
the scale and pace of change that will be needed.’
Royal Mail is not done with Brendan Barber either.
The agreement states that, ‘To assist the parties in reaching a full
and final agreement they will seek the assistance of Acas and the TUC
in nominating an appropriate agreed person to work together with
them.’
The first review of the progress of the negotiations will be on
November 16 ‘and fortnightly thereafter’.
Further: ‘The intention of both parties is to make significant
progress by early December with the aim of concluding a final
agreement by the end of 2009.’ It is to be a forced march!
The agreement stipulates that where there has been forced
implementation of ‘modernisation’ there will be no restoration of the
status quo.
The Agreement states: ‘In offices where change has been implemented
without agreement the local parties will engage in genuine
negotiations to reach local agreement.’
It also states in clause 2.5: ‘Other people issues arising out of such
changes, including any opportunity to offer voluntary redundancy, any
reduction in pay or allowances or potential office transfer will be
addressed in line with the Managing The Surplus Framework agreement.’
It adds in clause 2.8: ‘If Royal Mail believes people are not working
normally this will be raised with the union before any action is taken
against employees.’
The implication is that the union, having made the necessary
agreements, will have to impose them alongside the management,
including giving the go-head to management to sack or otherwise
discipline workers!
The Royal Mail is preparing a New Year shock for CWU members. To meet
this shock the CWU needs a new leadership. Ward and Hayes must be
sacked and replaced by leaders who will fight.
http://www.wrp.org.uk/news/4726
http://www.revolutionarybooks.co.uk |
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