Internal factions

The first strike is looming – it’s just 2 days away now. Lucky that I caught up with the manager who hired me to do my beloved Collections round last week. He told me he’d been trying to call me, and that I was to come to the original depot I first started working for Royal Mail at on Friday, at my normal time, and I’m still doing Collections.

I will probably have to pass a picket line, which will be awkward. But it won’t be a picket line manned by my normal colleagues – although I may recognise someone from my parcels delivery on Sundays – who knows.

I was asked if I was joining the picket line on Friday by Ray yesterday. When I said I’ll be working I was bombarded with all the “are you alright with the boss taking a £120,000 pay rise, then telling us there’s no money left”, etc etc etc. Yes I’m very familiar with ALL of that. But for fuck sake am I not ALLOWED to not want to go on strike??? I know all my colleagues have strong feelings about it. But SO DO I. Are my feelings just irrelevant then?

My feelings are, if I went on strike it would be the equivalent of my saying “Thank you, so much Royal Mail, for taking me on as a new starter at 47, when only a handful of other companies in the country actually would. Thank you for rescuing me from the cold hard drudgery of working in the care home, the constant tension some nights with the violent resident. Thank you for improving my mental health several times over since getting me out of the care home. Thank you for higher wages, guaranteed Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and all Bank Holidays off. Thank you for more holiday entitlement per year. Thank you for looking after me during the hot weather. Thank you for all my free uniform stuff and more. Oh – and here’s a slap in the face”. BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT WOULD FEEL LIKE.

I might not like ALL that is coming down the tracks, but for fuck sake there is a term “adapt or die”. The Union is acting as though Royal Mail is the only fucking delivery service still. Totally and utterly blinkered. Of course they never want to talk about that. All they are fixated on is the CEO is getting loads of money and paying shareholders first before the workers. Yes. Think you’ll find that’s pretty much how every single fucking large national company tends to work, pal. 🙄

I’m not even going to try and get this through to anyone, the woman I have spoken to so far is so blinkered about it too. Just have to hope I won’t be ostracised when the strikes are over.