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Can confirm what Oli says. I used to get the 'leadership allowance' in my old office as I did the callers until 7pm and locked the building up. It's the same in my current office but I'm not the person doing it now. Basically the managers leave at 2pm or thereabouts on Mon- Sat and the office is open as late as 8pm doing collections / callers office etc so one of the (what we used to call PHGs) gets the allowance. We don't get any managers coming in at all on Sundays so one of the three posties that come in gets the allowance to handle the agency staff and callers. It's somewhere in the region of £6 - £7 a shift.
With the managers strike my understanding is all they need to do is have someone in charge for a few hours a day and things can carry on. I don't know if they plan on dropping in non-striking managers to sit in each office every day or what. It'll be fun seeing what happens though. Most of us will probably just get on with our jobs but what about the spares we have to cover absence? I guess they can just come in and choose which walk to cover.
I don't think the managers strike will affect the delivery of mail as much as Unite say, but we'll see. I suppose a lot depends on what happens at the Mail Centres.
Correction.... Chancellor of the Exchequer is no longer up for grabs...
Ispy, the CWU ballot result is due to be announced on the 19th of July which is the day of the RMG AGM.
Coincidence???
@ Oli G.
That's interesting. We have 2 WPC's who get an allowance of sorts. Whether or not this is leadership allowance, i'm not sure.
In my office, i'm sure that nobody else gets leadership allowance. Hopefully that's the case. 3 days off, full pay. Thanks Simon. I'm warming to you.
And if the managers walk, one day after our ballot result, my 100p gets ever closer.
JB, Ispy, it is my belief that each office requires a "person in charge" in the building during working hours although this does not necessarily need to be a manager. The MPUs operate at night with a small OPG crew and a team leader who is an OPG with a leadership allowances and is effectively the "person in charge".
As for MrT..... He has already stated his disappointment in the managers and UNITE as he thinks that they have been offered a good deal. He didn't state that about the OPGs and the CWU thought as he stated that he expected a massive turnout and a massive yes vote however he still stands by his actions so no doubt that he is expecting industrial action.
What has he got to lose? If it all heads South and he is sacked then he will get a big payout and move on to his next position (Chancellor of the Exchequer is up for grabs). RM will get an interim CEO before appointing a new CEO and this could take us round to Christmas, however the savings would be massive as the pay negotiations still won't have been resolved. Perhaps that's the plan?
@ JBT.
Those hours are banked and paid as leave, i believe. Much like they are trying to do to posties. But not part of this ballot.
FWIW. If the managers are allowed to walk, it will be a sad indictment of where the company is going. It's always been them and us. Maybe Mr T is trying to change this. But it ain't gonna work.
I would like to let everyone here know, that i do not know of a single postie who wants IA. And i do not know of a single postie, apart from those people who are not part of the CWU, who are not prepared to strike.
Ispy one of the other comments I picked up was they weren't happy with the unpaid additional hours they had to put in. I am not so sure about not letting them walk. As I said earlier will be quite an indicator of how firm his stance is going to be. I am still hoping for a resolution to all the disputes. We live in hope.
@ JBT. Didn't even see that. (crying with laughter emoji).
Let's see where this goes. I cannot believe that Simon will let his managers walk.
The funny thing is, i don't know the reason they're striking. Some bits about having a 12 week notice period written into their contracts. Unconditional, if they don't meet spec.
Ispy thanks yes I saw the dates in the news tab above. I am not sure about the H&S aspect but most managers do H&S training and if they draft in people from other functions that may cover it. As I said the other day it will be logistically very difficult. It may be support managers will be sent in before the strike days to be brought up to speed.
Many have said the offices would run better without managers so shouldn't be an issue for most. LOL
We will just need to wait and see but not good news for most.
@ JBT.
20th, 21st and 22nd, with a work to rule from the 19th.
I understand the CMA are paying strikers £70 per day. The managers i have spoken to welcome this action.
I wonder how this affects the daily operation? Do the blue collar workers just turn up and do what they have to?
I'm certain that without a "senior person" in the office, then us posties would not be allowed to work. Under health and safety. I could be wrong, but it's something i'm looking into. The bummer for RMG is that if i'm right, we get paid.
"It's not our fault."
Now. Where have i heard that before?
@Anger - i always think its a mistake to base past events on future ones, i done a quick NAV check a couple weeks back and worked it out to be about 502p, so i agree massively under valued at present and things could look very different in 3-6 months time.
I keep seeing videos on the ultimate doomsday thats coming, the perfect storm they say, i traded through that in 2008, this is nothing more than a breeze atm. If anything i see the market sucking lots more people back in before any black swan event, if it ever happens. A recession is likely but it may not be anywhere near as the doom monger'ers are predicting.
We are currently trading above the 9ema, 20 and 50MA, so looking bullish on the 15 minute chart atm
@Anger do you not think some of this IA is already factored into the price, i see people making predictions of £1 etc which i think is way off the mark, we cannot base SP predictions on previous events, that was then and this is now, different market forces at play and many people like yourself now getting ready to re-invest. No big capitulation as of yet....
Just seeing the dates of the managers proposed action. Will be quite an indicator of the business stance if they don't change tact. Of course they are talking about contingency actions but that will only cover so much.
Looks like the wider markets are taking a bit of a hammering with more news about future inflation etc etc. We are escaping relatively lightly today with others like IAG, BOO, RR, LLoy and others down up to 6%.
Perhaps staying in cash just now is the best/only option (unless trading) and looks like there will be many bargains out there, just when to invest will be the key question.
Islewirth thanks for the heads up Strike it is then May just have to wait a bit longer Cheers I hope they can find a resolution
@ Arsenal17.
Wait for the 2nd ballot. I do not know of any postie who would accept some of the things being bandied about.
Back in the day i had a 12 grand order at about 110p in place. That was around the last IA vote. The price hit 119p at it's lowest. Obviously it never got fillled. I may put something similar in at 100p.
2 rounds of IA potentially. If the first one goes through the 2nd is a certainty.
And do not forget the line managers. They are angrier than me.
Keep your money in your pocket. For now, anyway. IMO.
Isleworth looks like you are right regarding IA when I asked you a couple of weeks ago , I will wait for a lower entry point then because this is definitely going to be lower once the union gives the outcome of the vote , I hope I get in before dividend date though
Ispy thanks for your response. I think your views are very clear. Some I agree with some I don't. Not many positives in there but understand it is your opinion. The RMG world will keep spinning.
@ Anger.
He just paid himself a bonus of 135 grand (i think). Now that doesn't mitigate his losses from that purchase, but i'm sure that the shareholders have voted to keep him in post. And then he can give himself and his mates more bonuses. And pay rises. Maybe the shareholders could agree to a shares option package for productivity? If he doesn't meet targets, he'll get them anyway.
You see where i'm going with this.
@ Redceo.
"""I don't see shareholders wringing their hands and blaming others for their own decisions."""
Really? That's all you do, regarding posties. Leave the job. Be grateful you have a job. You get paid. Blah, blah blah.
Please read your nonsense before you post
And this:
"""We are looking at a typical case of it always being the others fault."""
What are you talking about? Do you actually know?
@ JBT.
Pay rise: Inflation based. So i assume that 2% is not inflation based. IA ballot because of the enforced pay rise, which is now meant to be final. Which will contribute towards my strike fund. Cheers Si.
Screwing up the lives of posties: Directed at the very people who think that RMG's proposals for the extreme change in t's and c's should be accepted. That's how i read it. Hypocritical for your blue collar workers who would like to see the price much higher. I expect the proof will be in the outcome of the 2nd ballot. No. I don't own shares. Sold mine at about 350p. Before the rise to 600p.
Privatisation should never have happened, IMO. It made an excellent service a useless one. Money led.
Colleagues losing money because of IA: Do you think that they don't know that? Personally, i don't actually care. Maybe the shareholders who are CWU members will vote no to IA because of this. As for those people who aren't CWU members, LOL.
DSA: We get paid peanuts for this. How much more profit could there be if this didn't exist? Thanks OFCOM.
My gripes: With the business and there forward looking plans and upper level management getting paid fortunes for making these ridiculous plans. My COMs actually know how we feel now.
The USO? I love it. It protects my job. It is a millstone around RMGs neck, but not mine.
My workload? What i do is determined by my time. If i finish at 2.30pm, i don't need to go over. So, give me another 1,000 delivery points and i will still work to my time. The more the better. A crap service for my customers, but it's not my fault. And it protects my job.
Shareholders? Don't really care about them. Apart from the ones on here and other forums who try to tell me what i should be doing and thinking, regarding the job. I do like to make my opinions known in my defence.
I don't really care about the pay rise. What galls me is that Mr Thompson pleads RMG poverty after 400 million quid worth of handouts. Takes a hefty bonus for abject failure too. Pays lower level managers a bonus as well, despite missing their targets.
I tell you what i do care about though. The job. My customers.
And these pathetic plans for taking the company forward are ridiculous. I can't even see how they would be beneficial to the share price.
OliGarch agree with you that it does look pretty ominous particularly around T&C's. The CEO is quite vocal and does seem very determined to proceed with his agenda. I wonder if he is being pressurised from elsewhere or other BOD members.
As you say it is okay for those of us who can reinvest or average up/down etc and the dividend will happen whether that changes is definitely up for debate. There will be many to whom this may prove costly if they decide to sell including many employees. The CEO will of course pay a price if he fails.
JB, it's true that an exact pay rise percentage request hasn't been released by the CWU, however the BoD have "gifted" a 2% increment to staff. I say "gifted" because this has been imposed and hasn't been negotiated. The BoD now consider the matter closed and are now asking the workforce to change it's longstanding Ts&C's in order to find future pay rises therefore the terms that we originally accepted when we joined RM will be worse going forward. In my opinion, this will be a much bigger issue compared to the pay issue and will almost certainly see a separate second ballot for IA.
The AGM is being held on the 19th of July (coinciding with the pay ballot results announcement) and I am in no doubt that the 13.3p dividend payment will be rubber stamped at a cost of £126m however those of a nervous disposition may wish to hope for a SP rise above their average soon so that they can bail out. If you're a LTH then it probably won't be an issue however what are the chances of a dividend payment in 2023 if it all goes Pete Tong?
JB. You took the words from my mouth. I would of course, have been more eloquent. Perhaps wasted on your audience.
We are looking at a typical case of it always being the others fault.
Our fault we invested in our 500 year old history yes. But strangely despite what's being said by the Union member. I don't see shareholders wringing their hands and blaming others for their own decisions.
I'm a shareholder and wasn't forced to invest. To be honest I'm not in the least concerned about the SP.
I believe it wil right itself eventually. Should it not, then it's down to me. Would quite simply be a case of making a poor choice.
Oh well another week without much happening.
Ispy thanks for your response about the pay claim. I agree no one seems to know what has actually been asked for just generic references to inflation rates. What would the union find acceptable 4%, 7% or 10% more importantly what would the employees agree?
I guess if you don't name a figure you cant say whether you have achieved or failed in your negotiations. So the IA will be based on what has been awarded not what has been requested and refused.
Ispy I must also say I found your comment about shareholders wanting to what was it "screw up the lives of posties for a few pounds" extreme. So your thousands of colleagues who hold shares and contribute monthly are screwing up their own lives in your opinion. I cant recall if you said you still own the free shares you were given so it must apply to you as well.
What would you have shareholders do sell up and have the business just ignore that privatisation happened many years ago now and go back to the way things were? You go on about shareholders losing money if IA happens again I will remind you that applies to your colleagues as the third largest shareholders in the business.
Re your comments about DSA again why would the business give up a profitable work stream? I do agree with you about the USO it has become a milestone and hopefully the current review will put some changes in place. I am not sure who your gripe is actually with. the business, the managers, the USO, your workload, the shareholders.
I appreciate how hard some people work and expect them to be rewarded through pay, bonuses and progression within the business if they choose. I truly hope you get some satisfaction from what you put into your role as it comes across as you are unhappy with your current role and everyone else is to blame. I am not having a go Ispy just giving my opinion on your comments. I genuinely hope things improve for you.