Member Info for Scampthedog

Very interesting information you gave us, OliGarch.

I have always thought that when the axe falls it would fall first in processing and delivery.

Networking won't be immune though...an overtime reduction here in the very near future also.

Agency are going to have a lean time of it come Christmas...and lots of idle posties in for a bl..dy big shock by the look of things. Lol!

Maximas1: "Having worked heavily with regional as a rep, I can tell you that the poor reps who work on the ground will have no clue of what’s actually going on."

Contained within this one sentence lies all the wisdom of Solomon.

That is the problem: your average CWU rep on the ground is indeed -- completely clueless!!

Ask any one of them anything at all to do with the present strike or possible negotiations...and all you get is a blank stare.

Lions led by donkeys!

Your last post has the undeniable ring of truth to it.

I have seen (and heard about) some really quite astonishing things of late regarding the appointing of new managers. One place in particular comes to mind: overlooking established managers for promotion and even recruting new managers straight from the ranks of inexperienced agency workers. Why? Because R.M are slowly but surely having a comprehensive clear out. They want to break this conspiracy of complicity between manager and worker: "you can have as much unproductive overtime as you want...but just don't **** on my parade or try to grass me up".

Royal mail is rife with nepotism, cronyism...and managers turning a blind eye to the unacceptable antics and liberty-taking of the 'old guard'. Anything for an easy life. Far better to pick on a new-starter or young, easily intimidated kid and get them to do the majority of the work. And as long as the work gets done...then who really cares?

If it was the managers own small business they was running and that manager had to rely on those same people to provide them with enough profit to pay their bills and taxes, money to continually reinvest into their company (and thus help provide their family with a decent living standard) ...then I very much doubt if that particular manager would put up with any of the nonsense a Royal Mail manager puts up with. They couldn't afford to!

A shocking business model in every sense of the word. The waste is astronomical!!

But therein lies the problem: it's not the managers money -- so they don't care!!

They only care about their bonus. And as they are all massaging the figures on that one (a long accepted practice from the very top down) ...then they don't need to worry about whether they actually get the bonus or not. Because 97% of the time -- they will.

The whole thing just doesn't need a shake up...it wants dismantling and putting back together again. Piece by piece.

Your last two posts are bang on!

Strike fund perhaps? I wonder? ...worth millions apparently. Or several million.

Have to admit youv'e nailed it there with your remarks regarding Thompson...A narcissist, in my opinion also, he certainly appears to be; at the very least definitely displays some narcissistic qualities for sure.

Must have missed this one...but nothing much of interest to be honest. I do wonder though what Terry Pullinger thinks when he looks back to that session? I reckon he might be feeling rather betrayed and foolish after listening to it myself.

I will have to insist that you redo your post and put a big space between numbers 1 and number 2 position...the fellow in number 1 position is well in front and far, far away out there on his own...and deservedly so.

I am not disputing many of you are fully convinced that Simon Thompson and the Board are in league with Vesa...I have read plenty of the comments; I have to remark though...it is not a belief I subscribe to.

I am sure that many long moons ago the Board sat down and started discussing how to deal with a powerful and militant union who have always been under the impression that they know best how to run this company.

It is my opinion, though, the Board would not have directly colluded with Kretinsky on how best to do this (I very much doubt Kretinsky would have allowed himself to be involved in any such way...for all the many obvious reasons) but I am quite sure Kretinsky (as the biggest shareholder) would have sent them the odd email here and there 'suggesting' that 'perhaps' this or that might or should be considered.

All that is happening now has been foreseen by the Board long before they enforced that 2% pay rise upon the posties. Do you honestly think that any member of that Board was the slightest bit surprised by the reactions and deafening outrage that resulted by it? The Board deliberately imposed that 2% to get exactly the desired effect they wanted...and the CWU fell for it.

Every response, every manoeuvre, every new announcement by the Board to every new development or every new initiative by the CWU was pre-empted, thought out and planned months ago...if not several years ago.

And yet all I hear (regarding the main instigator of the CWU woes) on here is: Thompson - Thompson -Thompson!

It is not Simon Thompson alone who makes Royal Mail policy or decides how or if to take on the union...it is a collective decision by the RMG Board which is heavily influenced by Keith Williams...the man who sacked Rico Back...and more than likely the man who will sack Simon Thompson if things go badly wrong for all of them.

And if Thompson does get sacked by Williams, it won't be for imcompetence or failing to achieve his (supposedly) single-minded objectives...it will simply be that he is the poor sap in the hot seat...and, therefore, the person who must fall onto his sword.

This is not a Thompson thing...it is a carefully staged and cleverly calculated plan of attack by Royal Mail's Board of directors who saw an opportunity that had arisen compliments of the P&O outcome and rising inflation to provoke an unsuspecting union to fight on ground that is not of their choosing. And as history shows us...for most armies, under these circumstances...it tends not to end well.

And it won't end well here either.

I will repeat what I have stated before. The CWU needs to make concessions...then come to the table -- and negotiate hard!!

Before its too bl..dy late.

"I personally can’t see Simon going anywhere. I think it’s a business decision with input from VESA."

FINALLY -- someone else can see it too!!

Admittedly, it is not looking good at the present for Royal Mail.

But stocks aren't just traded on fundamentals...sentiment plays a big (sometimes - the bigger!) part when valuing a stock also...and there is an awful lot of sentiment priced in here at this fragile moment in time.

Get a good deal struck which keeps the employer and union happy...and gets the city analysts on board...and we will see £2.35 again very quickly.

Thats probably though not going to happen now...most regrettably.

Those 10,000 job losses were not an idle threat or a knee-jerk reaction...the Board obviously knew these jobs would have to go a long time back.

It is my contention, and have mentioned this several times over the last several weeks, that Kretinsky won't be allowed to increase his holding until all chance of mediation and reconciliation between both parties is exhausted...I think that is why Thompson has encouraged this, when suggesting ACAS, more than just once over the course of this dispute.

I should also think that the company is trying to get this all resolved by November 17th...it won't go down too well with the posties when they announce that next dividend. Lol!

Who can say with any certainty...but not in time for a new Labour government to try and influence the outcome of this dispute thats for sure.

It is what we are actually GOING to get. And it certainly won't be a General Election.

There won't be a general election. Does a turkey vote for an early Christmas?

Liz Truss going doesn't change a thing...not in the present politics or for the CWU.

The CWU is now at its high-water mark.

Its their choice...ours too when it finally comes down to a vote.

The CWU can start NEGOTIATING hard, today...or they can continue to stick their heads in the sand and get buried deep.

They might, hopefully, win some major concessions...if they stay at the table. But whether they like it or not...that is what negotiating is all about -- concessions!

If they want to dictate terms, then I suppose, seemingly, they would appear to be adopting that particular sort of stance: winner takes all. But they need to remember...only the victor dictates terms. The loser does as they are bid.

Best to take an honourable second -- than to get slam-dunked head first right into the foulest stinking sh.t!!

No coming back from that.

Looks like Keir starmer did exactly what I didn't expect him to do. Stand on a picket line.

Well...its not a fringe apolitical subject now. Far from it. Is this a wise move by Starmer?

I might have been wrong about Starmer not allowing himself to get involved like this...but I am now firmly convinced I will be right, concerning what I have been consistantly remarking on, about what is happening regarding the present Kretinsky situation: told that he cannot increase his stake until both parties have been offered the chance of taking the opportunity when considering whether to go to mediation or not.

This, I feel, may well be the high-water mark for the CWU.

Walk away from ACAS now...and the tiger will be let loose. Don't go...and it will then become a forgone conclusion regarding those job losses: a lot more than five or six thousand. And there WILL be a reduction in jobs...strike or no strike they were always going to do it anyway.

Thompson, as I have previously stated, is speaking for the Board...or to be more precise...he is speaking for Keith 'The Hatchet-Man' Williams.

This Board is too committed now to turn around and reverse course. To do so would see them lose all credibility...not just with Kretinsky and the other major shareholders (posties apart that is)...but with every market analyst that covers RMG. They would be a laughing stock. They would have to sack themselves!!

But Williams is not the real bogeyman. Beware you the Ice-Man...for soon -- the Ice-Man cometh!!

Get around the table lads (putting your Marxist-styled ideologies aside) and start doing what we pay you for -- negotiating hard to minimize the inevitable cuts!!

"Dave Ward looks like he's been on the Charlie. Sniffing like made last interview. He's got a big hooter, wouldn't share any of mine with him."

Ha, ha, haaa -- howl!!!

Ward and his new sidekick are convinced that Thompson, and Thompson alone, is the one calling all the shots in this dispute. That he, Thompson, has gone completely off his rocker...and is only, therefore, days away from being sacked.

They may well be right about him getting sacked...but only if Williams decides to take the heat of the Board and offer the poor sap up as a sacrificial lamb.

The way R.M are conducting themselves during this dispute is not a Thompson strategy...it is a Board strategy...and one worked out sometime back at that.

Eventually the CWU are going to wake up to this...but by then, unfortunately...it will be far to late.

Looks like the CWU may well be blundering right into that next big elephant trap.

But cheer up...Big Dave had a final word few inspiring words for everyone. Something along the lines: "we are going to get a good deal for the public, a good deal for the future of the company...and most importantly...a better deal for you, the posties."

A most unfortunate way of putting it, Dave. But there again...true to form. I think this unfortunate choice of words and the emphasis placed upon the final few may well come back to haunt him.

Not the cleverest Dave way of summing it up Dave.

Not at all old chap. Just been a bit preoccupied today. Will get up to speed with latest developments in a bit.