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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!
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