Short Report From A London Postal Picket Line
www.prol-position.net | 31.10.2003 11:57 | Social Struggles | London
Ciao
Just a short report from the postal picket line, Mount Pleasant Postal
Centre London.
We went at 8 this morning, around 20 middle aged man were standing in front of the entrance, quite a lot of people entered the building, most of them admin workers. A security guy was standing at the entrance, but he had an easy job, there was no attempt to stop people from entering. We talked to a guy who seemed to be a union official. He more or less told us what we already knew from the news
or what you would tell some 'strangers’ who ask you questions: “We tried to prevend the strike the last two years, but after the lost strike ballot the management now feels in the position to introduce new work measures. The management also threatened people during the strike ballot to vote against the strike. Here in Mount Pleasant about 99% of the people participate in the strike. This is all organised by the rank and file members, not by the union leaders.”. We talked to some other guys, they said that the company brought in managers from
Birmingham to do scab work, they stay at a Holiday Inn around the corner.
They all said that the management is putting a lot of pressure on people. The ‘security’ guys are part of a kind of internal postal police, which has a more or less free hand to snoop around in people private sphere. They also told us that there are managers standing at all the gates to let people in, so they don’t have to go to the main entrance. Royal Mail hires a lot of staff through agencies, these people are not allowed to go on strike, they could be sacked, so that further weakens the strike. The whole atmosphere was rather dominated by fear than by a feeling of unity. Apart from us ‘visistors’ there were only to media women with a camera.
We saw one poster of the ‘Postworkers’, a SWP influenced rank and file group. Another ‘odd’ thing: just opposite of the postal building is a fire station, but no poster, banner or whatever symbolic sign of solidarity…
Any other impressions...?
For Proletarian Circulation!
Just a short report from the postal picket line, Mount Pleasant Postal
Centre London.
We went at 8 this morning, around 20 middle aged man were standing in front of the entrance, quite a lot of people entered the building, most of them admin workers. A security guy was standing at the entrance, but he had an easy job, there was no attempt to stop people from entering. We talked to a guy who seemed to be a union official. He more or less told us what we already knew from the news
or what you would tell some 'strangers’ who ask you questions: “We tried to prevend the strike the last two years, but after the lost strike ballot the management now feels in the position to introduce new work measures. The management also threatened people during the strike ballot to vote against the strike. Here in Mount Pleasant about 99% of the people participate in the strike. This is all organised by the rank and file members, not by the union leaders.”. We talked to some other guys, they said that the company brought in managers from
Birmingham to do scab work, they stay at a Holiday Inn around the corner.
They all said that the management is putting a lot of pressure on people. The ‘security’ guys are part of a kind of internal postal police, which has a more or less free hand to snoop around in people private sphere. They also told us that there are managers standing at all the gates to let people in, so they don’t have to go to the main entrance. Royal Mail hires a lot of staff through agencies, these people are not allowed to go on strike, they could be sacked, so that further weakens the strike. The whole atmosphere was rather dominated by fear than by a feeling of unity. Apart from us ‘visistors’ there were only to media women with a camera.
We saw one poster of the ‘Postworkers’, a SWP influenced rank and file group. Another ‘odd’ thing: just opposite of the postal building is a fire station, but no poster, banner or whatever symbolic sign of solidarity…
Any other impressions...?
For Proletarian Circulation!
www.prol-position.net
e-mail:
antoniamautempo@gmx.net
Comments
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Current list of striking areas
31.10.2003 15:02
Central London, EC1-4, WC1&2
West London, all W postcodes
North London, N1-3, N5-8, N10-13, N16, N19, N21
North West London, NW1-6, NW8-11
South West London, SW1-2, SW4-6, SW8-20
South East London, SE1-5, SE7-10, SE13-16, SE19-28
East London, E1, E3-4, E6, E10-14, E16-17
Ilford, IG1-6, IG8, IG11
Dartford, DA1-5
Romford, RM1-2, RM4, RM7, RM9, RM12, RM13, RM15
Greenford, HA, UB
OUTSIDE LONDON:
Chelmsford, CM1-99
Colchester, CO1-4
Coventry, CV
Maidstone, ME
Milton Keynes, MK1-7, MK9, MK10, MK15, MK17
Oxford, OX
Portsmouth, PO
Slough, SL1-0
Southend, SS3-5, SS9, SS13-17
Swindon, SN
Updates on enrager.net newswire -
rah rah
Homepage:
http://enrager.net
Good timing
01.11.2003 09:44
Paul Edwards
The Royal Mail
01.11.2003 10:14
Posted by: Ilyan
Monarchists will be asking whether the Management have been bribed by the free enterprise privateers to wreck the Royal Mail.
Republicans will be wondering how far up the management pyramid the bribery goes. Does it
include Blair?
Blair and his cohorts are determined to destroy the Social Cohesion of the UK. They are determined to make people work in ways that destroy the family life that creates sociable communities. The only concievable benefit from that is that there will be far more criminality in future so Blair's friends who are building private enterprise prisons will have plenty of trade.
Whether they are actually paying Blair, or the Post Office managers cannot easily be determined in these days of offshore Bank accounts and Globalization. But those Managers are all educated intelligent people. They may have nice fat contracts lined up with the privateers, good salaries and share options.
There are plenty of corrupt people in private business. There are Managers who mismanage the business so it appears to be making a loss, perhaps by salting away assets. The Managers then team up with the Nations' parasites in the City and mount a Management takeover, paying far less than the true value of an efficiently managed Comany. It is an old trick, one of the standard practices in the world of Capitalist competition.
If it can be proven there has been bribery there are Judges who will imprison for the offense if the prosecution service has not also been bribed to present ineffectual cases.
But the modern world makes it easy to cover up financial wrongdoing, so there should be legislation that any Company that takes over a public service must maintain that public service. And to ensure that, Limited liability is done away with so that anyone who is a shareholder in a company when it takes on the work of a public service is liable to the full extent of their property to maintain that service. Even after they have sold their shares. The purcheaser of the shares shall also be liable.
The bullies who become incompetent managers in British industry should all be sacked and replaced my people who understand what Robertson was talking about in his book management.. back inthe 1940s was it?
I hear that Chinese workers have found an answer for for bullying avaricious dishonest Managers. When the apparatus of the State has become corrupted by the politicians there is no other solution.
In case you think this is an anti Chinese statement: Viva Chu Teh ! We all need to learn from his example.
Copied from Indycymru
Homepage:
http://www.indycymru.org.uk
so soon after the war, too
01.11.2003 13:00
mrs funn