Right to Work Conference 2010

2009 ANNUAL ADMINISTRATION SECTION REPORT

North West Review

This has been an issue since January 2008 with rumours flying around about the closure of Copperas Hill and a move to a new site.
Almost two years later and very little progress has been made with the business.
Despite the Area Admin. Rep’s attempts to engage management, there have been no meetings and nothing discussed about LA jobs and individual preferences.
However, Royal Mail would like an admin. support team at Warrington at least three months ahead of the opening in May 2010. So LAs would have to be in their new posts at the end of January 2010.
Somehow, I can’t see this going to plan.

A number of LAs, who do not directly support the processing operation, also need to know what is happening to them and where they’ll be when Copperas Hill closes. Again, nothing has been discussed despite requests for meetings.

National Review of All Las

This is due to commence in February 2010. At the moment we do not know any more than this; the review will include every LA job in the Letters business.
However, there appears to be a clash of timescales with this and the jobs at the new Mail Centre. We have not been told how long the review will take or what the objectives are.

New Regional Structure

In April 2009 the Letters business moved into a new managerial structure based on regions rather than areas. The new regions are much bigger than the areas were and management lines are divided into discrete functions.
We were told that CWU jobs would remain untouched by this geographical and functional re-organisation; however, the loss of the Area General Manager meant that the Area General Manager’s CWU Support duty went too. So we had an instant CWU surplus.
Further to the above, management have continued to grab whatever LA work they can with a view to padding out their own roles in the new structure.
No LA template is being published until after the National Review has taken place.

Industrial Action / National Negotiations

The LAs have been badly treated by Royal Mail for years and they have had enough. The determination of the LAs to fight the business on all fronts has really impressed me.
All the issues are hugely important: -

Pay
Pensions
Executive action
Ripping up agreements
Job security
Modernisation
Privatisation
Bullying & harassment

The business and the government are determined to turn us into paupers while we are in work,
by making us pay for all the mistakes they have made, and see us in penury in retirement.

It is this government that is also responsible for the thousands of others who are being put out of their jobs and losing their homes.
No one should make the mistake of thinking that the recession is nearly over for us – the worst is yet to come – no matter which government is in power - because we have to pay for their mistakes and greed.
If we had a Tory government in power we would have had riots in the streets by now but, because it’s Labour, trade union leaders accept it.
It looks like the ruling class have found a brilliant way of making us suffer and making sure that we don’t fight back. It’s called the Labour party.

Customer Services

Surplus members currently working in the mail centre will have to be re-housed or offered VR when the mail centre closes.

Parcelforce

One surplus member left in this function.

Summing Up

2009 has seen the LA grade suffer more of the same kind of attacks from the business. We now have the added anxiety of several major change projects all at the same time.
The working class are in for a hell of a time.

Marisa Clarke
Area Admin Rep