Post Office ‘no pay rise’ message to staff provokes anger!
Postal, Post Office (PO) February 1 2022Angela Williams, group chief people officer, sparks outrage with communication to hard-working employees refusing to increase wages…
CWU News about some of the angry social media posts he had seen from frustrated Post Office workers yesterday.
“The Post Office is in profit – thanks to the hard work and dedication of staff and Postmasters. The Post Office has continued providing essential services for the past two years to the Great British public throughout this extremely challenging time – again thanks to the conscientious and tireless efforts of the workforce.
“But yet when they ask for a fair pay rise, they are told: ‘No’. When our members point to the rising cost of living and the highest inflation levels for many years, the senior Post Office management stubbornly refuse to budge.
“So, when Ms Williams sends out a message to staff about this refusal – she and her senior colleagues cannot be surprised that so many members of the workforce react with anger.
“Among the many negative comments I’ve read on a closed, member-only facebook page, the words ‘disgraceful’ and ‘disgusting’ were perhaps the most frequent. One person described the management’s attitude as: ‘…totally disgusting and shameful words’ and added: ‘…that is supposed to be from the chief people officer!’ While another enraged worker felt that the message showed: ‘…lack of respect when the cost of everything is going up…’
“And yet another ‘Disgraceful!’ comment was followed by: ‘Such a lovely thank you for working through the pandemic. They should be ashamed.’,” Andy told us.
“It’s clear that feelings are running high on the frontline,” Andy said. “If one reads Ms Williams’s message, the reason is obvious. She tries to justify the pay freeze by referring to the Government’s public-sector pay policy, but then she admits that the Post Office is not obliged to follow it!
“She then switches to commercial considerations, telling our members about the challenges within the retail sector – but fails to mention that the Post Office is actually profitable and remained open for business throughout the pandemic when much of the high street was closed.”
After New Year talks hosted by independent arbitrator ACAS failed to resolve the pay dispute, CWU executive members met last week and formally approved Andy’s request to move towards a statutory industrial action ballot.
“This is where we are right now – we’ve met with our senior representatives and we’re currently working up the strike ballot timetable.
“And seeing the widespread anger among our members, it’s looking like there’s going to be a huge vote for action.”