Postal workers to strike! Coventry postie comments on ‘scab’s bonus’ and ballot result

We have received the following comments from a CWU member who will be taking strike action in a few weeks time.

“Postal workers in Royal Mail have voted by 4 to 1 for strike action to defend our jobs, pensions and the services we deliver to the public, who up until last week, used to own Royal Mail. Before the ConDem government sold the profitable state asset on the cheap.

Shares in Royal Mail have rocketed in value by up to 50% since the government sold a majority of the company off, with many small ‘investors’ making £350 on the minimum buy-in of £750. Nice ‘work’ if you can get it!

Its like buying a tenner for a fiver!

This scandalous fire-sale of yet another public utility (think gas, electricity, water, rail, BT) was brought forward in an attempt to dissuade workers from voting ‘Yes’ in the ballot.

And the Chief Executive of Royal Mail, Moya Greene, even pledged to pay workers who cross the picket line a £300 bonus in December!

This ‘scab’s bonus’ would be payable if you crossed the picket line, mounted by your colleagues to defend your job.

But workers realise that we stand to lose a hell of a lot more after the 3 year protection of terms/conditions offered by Royal Mail expires.

Our jobs for a start!

Not to mention the erosion of our pension entitlements. Yes. Entitlements. Because Royal Mail took a pension payment ‘holiday’ for 13 years while we carried on paying in. And now our pensions are under attack again. Even after the government ‘guaranteed’ OUR pensions. In exchange for the £25 BILLION of assets in the fund of course.

Royal Mail may now be a PLC. But the workers still treat your mail with TLC. We care about the service we provide. We always have. And we always will.

And we’re willing to fight to show it.

Initial strike date is 4th November. It will be an all out 24 hour strike, with 24 hour strikes of different functions to follow. i.e deliveries, collections, processing, distribution.

So Royal Mail has 2 weeks to meet our demands. Which include maintaining the service to you the public at the level it is today.

CWU should begin talking to the Fire Brigade Union, the teaching unions and any other union who is in dispute , to co-ordinate future strike action and show the ruling classes who really runs the country.

For a one day General Strike of ALL workers!”

By a Coventry postie