Stock shots from the archive: Disputes
It's Tuesday, so it must be time to post another selection of photographs drawn from the BBC News stills archive.
Following the news last week that Royal Mail workers have voted three-to-one in favour of national strike action, I thought I'd dig through the archive pictures under the heading: Labour Disputes/Post Offices.
There are 86 colour slides held in the archives under this heading, but the most interesting are the pictures from the late 1960s and the early 70s.
The first picture on file is simply titled "Strikers and notices (1968)". There is no further information regarding location or the photographer, though the poster in the picture states "two-and-a-half years without a pay rise".
This was also the year that saw the introduction of a new two-tier postal system whereby the Post Office promised overnight delivery for letters with a fivepence stamp on, while fourpence bought you a slower service.
The next picture shown here was taken a year later and is catalogued as "General Post Office (GPO) girls marching, 30 January 1969". No further details are offered, but by October of that year, the Post Office Act signalled the end of the GPO and the office of Postmaster General, followed by the establishment of the Post Office as a publicly owned corporation.
On 27 November 1970, workers gathered outside Waterloo Bridge House to protest at the sacking of Lord Hall who had been removed from his post by the Home Secretary Lord Windlesham.
Hansard records an exchange in the House of Commons in which Windlesham said:
"Having concluded that it is in the best interests of the Post Office and public, I have asked Lord Hall to relinquish his post as Chairman of the Corporation. He has agreed to do so."
An exchange of views continued, and you can read the transcript here.
On 20 January 1971, postal workers went on strike; a few days later on the 23rd, they held a rally in Hyde Park, London, and the scene was captured by a BBC photographer, who is only credited by his surname, Asher. The strike was to last until March when a deal was agreed.
The last picture I have pulled from the files this week is from the strike in 1971. There are no details about the picture, but it's such a great shot I just had to include it.
If you experienced any of these events, or recognize any one in the pictures, then please comment below.
You can see previous posts in this series here:
I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~34~RS~)
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This is crackers. Postal workers should realise that we are in a recession and I'll guarantee that some business owners and self employed people are feeling the pinch more than the posties. They should also note that their jobs are not particularly difficult to do and that there are 3m unemployed people in the UK. Just get on with it.
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john3626, you appear to have written that comment under the assumption this dispute is all about money. It isn't. The Royal Mail have resorted to using bullying tactics to get their workers to do more work than they're supposed to do. The workers are terrified of losing their jobs and find it hard to say no. As it stands, they don't want to strike, but they're stuck between a rock and a hard place - do they admit defeat and effectively sell their souls to the company for the rest of their careers, or do they risk losing a lot of business and stand up to their employers? I understand that the majority of people in the country are annoyed at the decision to strike, but you have to ask yourself what you would do in that situation.
Also, have you ever worked for the Royal Mail john3626? If not, don't make the assumption that the job is "not particularly difficult to do". You'd be surprised. The classic image of a postman out wandering the streets and chatting to people all day is a nice one, but it's far from the truth.
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Strummer84 , You appear to written your comment under the false assumption that Post Office workers should not be under the same daily stress as everyone else ! We're all in the same boat here. Trouble is that the action that post office 'workers' are about to take is going to blast a huge hole in the side of everyone elses boat as well as no doubt bringing forward the sinking of their own.
This strike smacks of the 'Me first' attitude displayed by bankers as they marched us head long into meltdown. The union members should stop listening to the leaders that leach off them and put themselves and their families first. After that they should spare a thought for all the internet based businesses whos daily urgent mail keeps them in the jobs. Businesses who employ the real workers who will be bare the brunt of this selfish action.
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The postal service in the UK is rubbish anyway, Example: I posted a small jiffy bag with 2x CD's in last Thursday costing me the price of a first class stamp, at a post office where the jiffy bag was weighed. It hasn't arrived at it's destination yet 5 days later. I could have got on a bus and paid £4.50 return fare for a local 40 minute bus ride and given it to the person myself.
The post office need to give a better service before they ask for better conditions etc.
Mick1200 Portsmouth. Hants.
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THis is all a ploy by the postal workers to create a huge backlog of mail resulting in them working more overtime just in time for their Christmas pay packets
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Postal workers do not want to strike but at the same time it's not fair that Royal Mail rail road changes and so called modernisation through. Over the years the modernisation I have witness have made the service worse and not better. Yes, we do have to modernise but why change something that works? It's not about qaulity anymore, it's all about qauntity. Seems to be alot of inexperienced people running the company and more interest in their bonuses than safe guarding jobs and services.
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i won't be working any overtime olafablunt even at Christmas, i will be cutting off at my finishing time
net trader you know nothing chum so be quiet, other companies are losing money whilst royal mail's profits are increasing, this dispute has nothing to do with money and unlike some workers we still have a backbone
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Strummer84. Do you not think that if this continues and businesses leave Royal mail as they are, see todays news ref Amazon and John Lewis to name but a few, posties wont have a choice about modernising as there will be no work for them and no other choice than compulsary redundantcies in your industry. The whole country is in serious trouble companies are closing their doors permantly on a daily basis, Royal mail is not bullet proof. Who runs the Royal Mail the bosses or the union. I suggest if you are this unhappy working for them try looking else where for employment, simple!
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yammy46: Yet another person believes what they read or see in the media. The whole thing is NOT about redundancies and modernisation. If you did your research you'd find that the Union agreed that redundancies and modernisation were needed to keep up in the market. However the Royal Mail refuses to give any details about the redundancies, or how the modernisation plan is going to work; instead, all they are doing is bullying and harassing the staff, making changes without the Union's consent, and generally lowering the quality of service by not allowing postmen the time to do their jobs anymore. Do you care about the quality of service to you? Because your average postman does. The Royal Mail are only interested in profits.
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It seems there are lots of different versions as to why members of the Postal Service are striking. Having spoken to our local Postie his explanation was thus, "It's staff getting annoyed at having to work their full 40 hour week for which they are paid, rather than the 25 hour week they usually worked but got paid for 40 and then claiming overtime if they were asked to do additional work even though it still fell within their 40 hours."
If you were running a business, would you pay someone for 40 hours work when they only complete 25?
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How about when I'm working 50 hours a week and getting paid for 40?
How about colleagues starting an hour before their because it's the only way the delivery can be completed on time and not getting paid for it?
How about working all the hours you're paid but NOT getting paid all the hours you have worked?
How about the jobs of canteen staff being threatened because posties are under so much pressure from managers to sort and get on delivery that they can't take meal breaks?
How about being told that you expected to walk at an average speed of 4MPH? Not very fast is it, until you realize that you have to keep this up for 3 1/2 hours. By the way 4MPH x 3 1/2hours = a total distance covered of 14 miles - more than a half marathon.
How about h&s being totally ignored? There is a limit to how much weight you can carry but I am often expected double this load - 22Kg in one bag last week as opposed to 12Kg it should have been.
How about not having the basic equipment to do the job? Order a pair of shoes and be prepared to wait weeks. Ask for another delivery pouch because yours has started dropping to pieces after only a few weeks and be told that none are in stock because they all have the same problem.
How about members of the public who still think it's funny when a postie gets chased by a dog?
How about having your pension changed from a final salary scheme to a defined contribution one when Royal Mail didn't pay into it while it was making record profits?
How about being told that the volume of mail is declining when I know that when I started this job 20 years ago I delivered 2 bags of mail and now I deliver at least 6?
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Facts were once that
(to be fair I left in digust, so it may be different now.
.....
Most Processing Centres then worked at only 30% or so effiency. That means that 70% of the time the staff were working at a slower rate than they could or were just having a nap or out jogging or something. Junior Managers were simply too scared to challenge them. Staff who worked hard were picked on (luckily car tyres can be replaced at only a money cost - it was the bodily fluids on the door that got to me).
A delivery that took, say, 4 hours on a weekday took only 3 hours on a Saturday - the so called 'Saturday Miracle'. Nuff said - but I still think those who work in the big sorting and trucking centres do a lot less for more than the guys and gals who do the actual deliveries.
There is no obvious solution. In my day many staff were proud of their position yet many were not and in predictable style small gangs tried to undermine and manage the majority for their agenda's.
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The Government should do what President Regan did when the air traffic controllers went on strike in the US ~ he fired them all. Its about time that the unions were de-clawed and this Victorian practice of striking was either outlawed or the procedure to go on strike was made so onerous that it would be impossible to do so. Enough of these Luddites and Socialist fascism.
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Well - where to start !! Simple really - if they want to strike then we can't stop them. BUT in the present climate the word 'suicidal' has been used. Spot on. I've just listened to the Union leader talking about the contracts at J Lewis and Amazon and saying it needn't happen. IT HAS and so will loads more. Christmas is coming and the only way large retail will 'get fat' is to get the goods out and delivered on time. So - change it is. These retailers care about their workers so they must use every avenue to ensure they trade well.
Oh well - don't ever say we didn't warn you.
Happy Christmas - could be different next year.
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If at the end of the strike I will start getting post before 3pm then i'm all for it (and no i dont live in the middle of nowhere!) If not then get back to work and thank your lucky stars you have a job at the moment!!!
Postmen get paid a fair wage to do a job. So get on with it. There is a very real danger here of the postman losing public support, if they actually have any at the moment. I dont know anyone who supports this strike (including postmen I know!).
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As a Royal Mail manager i feel i have to put forward some facts to some of the rubbish that has been written ,
How about barstaff going on strike because ,the breweries introduced electric pumps,therefore less barstaff needed as the job is done quicker!!
How about "clippies" going on strike because a automatic ticket dispenser does the job of the "clippie" .
How about doing the job you are paid to do ,without abandoning the company who pays your wages ,yes they do pay your wages !!.
How about bringing to the attention of your manager the fact (which i very much doubt )that your bag was 22kg i assure you that if you had a accident, you would be to blame ,as you stated its 11kg maximum,maybe you do this so you can knock off early and go to your second job like a lot of the delivery staff,
How about the fact that, yes you get more mail because instead of 100 people delivering say 10,00 items and all getting off 3 hours early 60 people now do the job and finish on time ,thats getting paid for the job you are paid to do like the rest of the population .
How about getting real ,public support is Zero.At this point i will point out that on the last strike i thought you had a point ,but this is laughable and just makes the CWU look so out of touch with the real world ,we need to modernise ,we need to adapt(yes there will be teething problems) but most of all we need the staff to be at work or the decision to strike will be out of the posties hands ,as i dont think striking over dole money will achieve much !!
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i use to be a postman for 23 years and every year the confidence between the royal mail managers and delivery staff deteriated year after year.royal mail say that they care about the customer when myself and other delivery staff witnessed mail which was held back deliberatly so they did'nt have to pay overtime.also a yearly audit inspection team informing delivery offices when they were coming, so the managers could move the undelivered mail (hide it in vans and tell the driver to drive around for a couple of hours).I wonder how much of the public know of what is really happening behind closed doors from a company that says all the time it cares about it's customers.
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I suggest everone have a read of this on a chatsite for posties and customers, (please moderator let it through we need to get our message across, if you remove the web address then please leave fact i have mentioned it was lifted from a chatsite) there are a few major points at the end of the post, but the full text cn be read here.
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/we_dont_want_to_strike.html
We posties just want to protect our jobs and this service for OUR customers, the Government and RM seem to want it stripped bare and ready for privatisation. Then everyone can say bye bye to Universal Service Obligation and hello to a late afternoon delivery every 3 days, possibly worse in rural areas and we can all be recontracted on national minimum wage.
We are not against modernisation
WE ARE NOT AGAINST CHANGE - We signed up to the Pay and Mod Agreement. RM ignored Phase 4 until we started local strikes.
WE ARE AWARE THERE WILL BE JOB LOSSES - 60,000 gone in recent years already.
WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A PAY RISE PER SE - We had a pay freeze this year which was imposed against the spirit of the 2007 agreement – managers and executives received massive bonuses on the back of the business returning large a profit earlier this year.
WE ARE NOT AGAINST MODERNISATION - But we haven't seen it in deliveries unless you count fewer full time posts, longer routes with heavier bags.
WE OFFERED A MORATORIUM ON STRIKES IF ROYAL MAIL DISCUSSED CHANGES - Royal Mail refused saying it was a stalling tactic but now they want it when non agreed systems are in place.
WE ARE NOT AGAINST WORKING HARD - The Union suggested having independent organisations help both sides come up with a fair and balanced way of measuring workload and standard - Royal Mail refused.
The 2007 agreement allowed local units to have innovative attendance patterns, and these were agreed in some units with full Royal Mail involvement. Yet without consulting the CWU (as per the agreement) they unilaterally enforced change on these agreed working arrangements.
The agreement also allowed a local earnings package, this has been taken away by Royal Mail.
We are and we will strike against - Bullying and Harassment such as:
• Being suspended for pointing out Health & Safety concerns.
• Being sent home without pay when we can't complete a delivery in the time allotted especially if managers are not willing to walk test us or check individual posties frames to see how busy they are.
• Genuine overtime being struck off when you go over your contracted hours on a busy day.
• Being sent home without pay when you can't do the half hour flexibility when asked - even though personal reasons are meant to be taken into account as per the 07 agreement.
• When you do the 1/2hr flexibility not being able to claw it back or be paid it on overtime as per the 07 agreement. Or being given it back in 5 minute chunks.
• Changing our start and finish times on a weekly basis without negotiation.
• Using a flawed computer program to work out rounds with un-agreed walk speeds.
• No independent Health & Safety review after accidents at work - Staff being blamed for accidents without thorough and external review of all pertinent matters by an independent body.
Many many part-timers are bullied by managers into doing unpaid over time day in day out.
All OT has to be authorised by management and most posties are too intimidated to go see their manager to ask for it.
A lot of our fellow posties do hours of overtime per week for nothing.
Give the Public a service – Yes that's Royal Mails job and guess how they do that:
1. Close 3,500 Post Offices.
2. Reduce the service at 1000s of others.
3. Allow the Government to withdraw some of the services you used to be able to get at Post Offices.
4. Ceased Sunday Collections (now for anyone to get anything on Monday you need to send it before 1230 on Saturday.
5. Cancelled Bank Holiday Collections.
6. Cancelled 2nd Delivery
7. Made the 1st delivery later than the 2nd ever was.
8. Laid off 60,000 workers through various means.
9. Close delivery offices and amalgamate them into Super Delivery Offices on industrial estates miles from bus routes.
10. Bring in a complicated and expensive postage system. (Pricing in Proportion).
11. Increase handling fees for Import from £4 to £8.
12. Increase the surcharge of underpaid items to £1.
13. Increase stamp prices above inflation.
14. Agree a price with DSA competitors to use our network which means we subsidise them to the tune of 2p per item.
15. Take 5 years to spend half of the 1.2billion the government loaned them, but we are still yet to see the machines in use on a UK wide basis even though trials are going well according to Royal Mail.
16. Removing Mail Cycles and replacing them with cars and then claiming they are doing everything to reduce carbon emissions.
17. Half day closing for all Callers Offices and a delay of up to 72 hours before you can collect parcels/letters after getting a "Sorry you were out Card"
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I can remember the 1971 postal strike very well I was about 11 at the time & I can remember my Mum waiting everyday for the next 2 months to come through with the delays of child benefits etc,
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Having spent 18 years working for The Post Office (POCL and RM), I can state, with authority, that this Union driven strike is nothing more than an attempt to avoid modernisation, increase pay, and bring the business to its knees. Do your members not realise that in doing what you propose, you will lose key contracts (Amazon already on its way out), and any public support you feel you still have. I have worked in deliveries, distribution and processing (amongst other areas of the business), and know very well that there is so much slack that needs to be removed from the operation.
I left a couple of years ago, and am so glad that I did. That said, life is much tougher and more rewarding in the real world of business, and you will certainly face a major wake up call if you think you've got the rough end of the stick.
About time your management took a hard line on this, and the unionisation that is crippling what was once a proud business.
Another miners strike situation in the offing I feel.
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These are the facts;
1. It is up to the Roayl Mail how it uses it's workforce.
2. It is up to the Royal Mail how much it pays it's workforce.
3. It is up to the Royal Mail when and how to modernise it's processes.
I have never, ever worked anywhere where it is the work force who decide any of these things. Sure, ask the work force what they think, but in the end the management decide.
If you work for the Royal Mail and do not like any of these things, do what any of us in private industry would have to do and GO AND GET ANOTHER JOB.
The strike is self defeating and does not have public support. You are contributing to the downfall of my business and many others by taking this action. The unions have sensed a weakness in the government and are capitalising on it - it will be their last chance to flex their muscles before we get a decent government next year. You think I am angry about this srike, you bet I am.
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It's quite simple - if post office workers don't like their working conditions or hours, get out and find another job - if you can of course. There are plenty of unemployed people out there who would love the job and how many of us actually work the hours we are supposed to? very few, most of us work longer - so get real and get on with your job - or as I said, jump ship! It's about time this government had the guts and sense to stop this once and for all, or is this going to be another 'Austin Rover' complete mess. Sack the lot of you, if I had my chance.
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ive been a post man for 9 years and like everyone else's life it is not easy. theres 3 million people not in work, we all have bills to pay i get that but people dont understand how royal mail work, people saying that our job is not hard and anyone can do it!! id like to see how you feel getting in to work at 5am sort out a walk up then go and post to 3-400 plus addresses with 16kg on your shoulder 6 days aweek. the strikes are not about money its about working in a fair enviroment where managers dont bully staff and we are treated like people not dogs, yes we need to change, yes we must move on, royal mail was a job to be proud about.I and im sure the rest of the royal mail staff want to be proud again and give our customers a service they deserve. no one wants to strike but if we let royal mail do what they want then there wont be a postal service at all.
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