LONDON POSTAL workers will be on 24-hour strike on 1 October, as part of their campaign for a £4,000 London weighting allowance.
At present they get £3,282 in inner London and £2,038 in outer London. This is when the police get over £6,000.
Postal workers’ wages have gone up 27% since 1997 but the cost of living, including housing, has gone up 40%.
As the article below shows, Royal Mail management are treating this dispute very seriously and are preparing to take on the union.
Solidarity is strength so the plans to link with other workers seeking higher London weighting payments must be made concrete. This means an all-London public sector strike and demonstration on 16 October, when UNISON members working for local councils have planned their next strike.
A London postal worker writes: “I have another threatening letter from Allan Leighton. It says …if you do choose to continue to work, this is our commitment to you: …Where people choose to cross a picket line we will make sure it is safe to do so: There will always be a manager present on the picket line.
“We will look at providing escorts. We will look at providing transport into the site…
“We will take any allegations of harassment and intimidation very seriously and will take disciplinary action against anyone behaving in an unacceptable way – including dismissal if appropriate.
“Some workers have been offered up to two years pay to take redundancy.
“As one of my work mates put it: ‘It’s an offer you can’t refuse – like the Mafia!'”
