I'm Working For The Cash Machine

Well who would've thought it? The judge sided with the banks after all thus maintaining that cushy £2.6bn revenue stream.

But that was only for the unauthorised overdrafts.

The authorised overdrafts are proving to be a money spinner as well with the average rate at its highest since the mid-90s: 18.96%

So, they have our money thanks to the Treasury and the law courts, they can get away with charging what they like and there ain't jack-shit you can do about it. Looks like those bonuses will be back on the cards soon enough.

Zig Zag Dec 1980 - Motorhead

Plastic Not So Fantastic

Because my daughter and I both take packed lunches I have accumulated a few plastic spoons which we re-use. (It saves my daughter losing our teaspoons at school - not that I think she would).

So I was washing the dishes this evening when I broke one of these plastic spoons. "Don't know my own strength," I remarked wittily to Mrs H and, as I dropped the two halves of spoon in the bin, I started thinking how many people would regard plastic cutlery as throwaway? How many would regard washing plastic cutlery as just a bit sad?

But at the root of this pondering was the nagging echo of a quote, "Every piece of plastic ever made is still with us." Or something along those lines. And that lead me to think that maybe plastic should, due to its inherently resilient properties, really be regarded as hazardous waste. I mean, never mind when the bastard plastic eventually breaks down, it only forms small particulates that then enter the fucking food chain. It doesn't go away.

I wasn't sure about that quote though so Google was the most obvious next step (a surprisingly common answer in many situations these days) and I came up with this headline in the Independent from Feb 2008: The world's rubbish dump. The hit is due to this quote from Tony Andrady, a chemist,"Every little piece of plastic manufactured in the past 50 years that made it into the ocean is still out there somewhere," as he describes a vast expanse of plastic debris floating in the Pacific Ocean. The story is appalling in its depiction of how careless we have been in our treatment of the environment and how our own rubbish may eventually find its way back to our homes - as part of the food on our plates.

Another site I discovered was Midway Journey where, in their own words, "Five media artists, led by photographer Chris Jordan, traveled to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge to witness the catastrophic effect of our disposable culture". The Atoll "serves as a lens into one of the most profound and symbolic environmental tragedies of our time: the deaths by starvation of thousands of albatrosses who mistake floating plastic trash for food." The picture at the top is the stomach contents of a dead bird, which have been deposited as the bird decayed, and has been photographed exactly as it was found.

And there you go. For anybody still thinking its a bit sad to wash up plastic cutlery for re-use, I'd rather do that than feed it to the birds or eat it myself for that matter.

Chatshow - Shake It Down (EP)

My union is again, much to my continued dismay, extolling the virtues of New Labour. This time under the guise of the Unite4Labour website.

Having lived under successive Labour/Tory governments from 1971 onwards I am quite confident in my ability to state that there is very little to choose between them. They meddle and they muddle and they try their very best but, in truth, I doubt they make little impact as capitalism rolls on in its circular orbit of growth and recession. They take turns taking credit for the good times and blaming others for the bad times.

The problems inherent in capitalism have always been here and will always be here. That has to be the case for as long as capitalism exists - it is inevitable because history demonstrates as much. Every generation of do-gooder politicians wishes to reform this or that particular area of legislation, dependent upon their particular lobby/politics/side-business/interest, but the problems remain generally the same. Then, give or take a few years, they swap a few seats round and it begins again.

In The Road To Wigan Pier, by George Orwell, he relates the poor diet of an unemployed miner and his wife and makes reference to the campaign of the time (the book was written in 1936) to improve the eating habits of those on low incomes: "Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw?" He goes on, "And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food."

The similarity to the current vogue for the promotion of healthy eating among the masses, in the face of the Obesity Epidemic™, is striking.

Orwell also makes reference to the plight of the elderly and, more significantly, the unemployed. Both of which remain problems today albeit for possibly different reasons. And he also highlights the rise of Fascism as a response to these problems and now, 70 years later on, the BNP are getting elected.

Casting my own mind back to the 1980's the predominant themes are (Cold) War, unemployment, the NF, the disparity between rich and poor, manufacturing recession/financial growth and the failure of the Labour party to mount a challenge to Tory dominance. Swap some of the words around and they could be current headlines and I daresay anybody born from around 1920 onwards could say the same.

So if we accept then that there are certain problems inherent in capitalism that are, in some cases, essential for it to function- do we cease to regard them as problems or do we tackle them side-on with all our parliamentary power, legislate like we have never legislated before and then subject them to a less-than-thorough, temporary reform?

Or do we just face the simple fact that you can't polish a turd. And never have been able to.


I originally had a copy of this record from the long-defunct 1978's Attic which started promisingly but tailed off quick.

Chatshow - Shake It Down (EP) (Federation Records FED007 1986) 320kbps

1. Shake It Down
2. Betrayal
3. Shake It (Gaddafi Mix)
4. Junk City
   

Reform is futile - pwd: c4ctusm0uth

Zig Zag Dec 1980 - Toyah & John Stalin

Ignorance

Ignorance

Strange to know nothing, never to be sure
Of what is true or right or real,
But forced to qualify or so I feel,
Or Well, it does seem so:
Someone must know.

Strange to be ignorant of the way things work:
Their skill at finding what they need,
Their sense of shape, and punctual spread of seed,
And willingness to change;
Yes, it is strange,

Even to wear such knowledge - for our flesh
Surrounds us with its own decisions -
And yet spend all our life on imprecisions,
That when we start to die
Have no idea why.

Philip Larkin

The Brilliant Corners - Joy Ride (LP)

Looks like The Brilliant Corners might finally be getting some of the reissues they deserve.

That can only mean one thing: the corresponding downloads available from this blog are now living a very precarious existence.

Don't say you haven't been warned.


Davey Woodward - Singer, Electric Guitar
Robert D Morris - Drums
Christopher Galvin - Electric Bass
Antony Forbes - Electric Guitar

Clare Mactaggart - Violin
John Parish - Acoustic Guitar


The Brilliant Corners - Joy Ride (LP) (McQueen Records MCQLP4 1989) 320kbps

1. You Don't Know How Lucky You Are
2. Emily
3. This Girl
4. Nothing
5. Grow Cold
6. Hemingway's Back
7. I Didn't See You
8. Accused By The Angels

Joy Ride - pwd: c4ctusm0uth

Lowest Of The Low

In one way those who cross picket lines are to be admired.

And I am not talking about temp labour bought in for the duration of any strike but those employees of the company who are not members of the union and do not wish to take part in action.

They, at least, have the courage of their convictions and possess the balls to turn up for work and face down the picket line in order to do what they think is right.

They are not pretend members of the union who enjoy the opportunity to moan about the company and decry every new policy implemented to reduce the employees terms and conditions.

Those people who profess support for the union but, when push comes to shove, are unwilling to take part in democratically called-for action.

They come out with such excuses as:

"I didn't vote for strike action therefore I am not striking" - No, you didn't. But the majority of members did and, as such, you should be willing to support your fellow members and your union.

"I'll be taking part in non-strike action" - Yes, on strike days. So where those who are willing to give up their pay to fight for what they consider to be worth fighting for will be doing so, you will be quite happy to draw your pay and answer "How High?" when some manager or other barks "Jump!" down the 'phone at you.

The sort of person who maintains their union credentials while scabbing quietly and discretely from the comfort of their own home. Like a coward.

Capitalism Makes You Sick

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have calculated the cost of stress related workplace absence at £28bn. That figure being a total derived from the 13 million working days lost a year to depression and other mental illness.

Apparently lousy managers were the single biggest problem but such simple solutions as thanking someone for a job well done or flexible working could significantly reduce the problem.

A system which induces people to forget such simple things as manners surely has to be rotten to the core. But I interject...

Another recent survey by the Chartered Institue of Personnel and Development confirmed these findings: "a quarter of UK workers describe their mental health as moderate or poor, yet nearly all continued to work regularly."

So the constant pressure to produce, coupled with the recession, the bad debts and whatever else baggage you're carrying does not a happy worker make. But that's OK. The system can patch you up with anti-depressants, not fix you mind, and send you back out to work. By the millions. Apart from the unemployed of course, who are a faceless commodity under capitalism, an unpalatable necessity useful only for their role in the supression of wages (full employment not being desirous you see).

The fact that it is individuals, and their friends and families, who are suffering is lost somehow in the fact that someone had to slap a figure on it to make it easier for the businessmen to understand.


Can anyone really say they are surprised by (yet) another survey which showed that Monday was the most common sick day? I'm no doctor but if I had to put money on it...

The research showed that 35% of all sick leave is taken on a Monday. We're not all exactly leaping out of bed to get there then. Researcher Phiroze Bilimoria said: "Monday sickness and frequent short-term absences can be a symptom of low employee engagement and morale within certain teams or departments."


As long as we endure in a state of endless, mindless, soulless, production and consumption through to the eventual destruction of the planet according to the economic laws of low wages, debt, privatisation and the free market and the states laws of surveillance, force, coercion and bribery then I suspect there will always be mental health and employment reforms to discuss.

Capitalism as a possible cause is unlikely to be bought up.

Zig Zag Dec 1980 - Theatre Of Hate & Tenpole Tudor

Feel Good Hit Of The Summer

"Tell the truth and lose your job." is the latest government anti-drugs message.

Professor David Nutt, head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the governments chief drugs guru, has lost his job for explaining the risks involved with ecstasy and cannabis in comparative terms. Ecstasy was "no more dangerous than riding a horse" while cannabis has caused "no upswing in schizophrenia" despite the recent 'Skunk' scare.

Still mustn't let the truth get in the way of your Anti-Drugs message, eh Alan?

Home Secretary Alan Johnson explained the sacking in a letter, "It is important that the government's messages on drugs are clear and as an advisor you do nothing to undermine public understanding of them."

The sub-text is clear as day, "Your job as an advisor is to go along with the messages we want to promote and shut the fuck up with your whole 'educating the public with evidence based facts' crap!"

The hypocrisy of the State in its legitimisation of one groups of drugs over another is an entirely humourless joke. "Alcohol is a drug but its OK. In moderation of course. After all, there are risks involved. Smoking is a (combination of) drug(s). Its bad for you but we'll allow you to do it as your dirty little secret. Because of the money we make out of it. Caffeine is a drug. Coffee's OK. In moderation of course. Minor risks involved. Nurofen. Yup, it's a drug. Good for headaches but bad if you take too many. Gotta watch those risks. Cannabis. Permanently turn you into a dribbling moron on your first puff. GUARANTEED. Ecstasy. IT'LL KILL YOU. RUN!!"

The last thing a completely irrelevant legislative overlord needs, in this case: the government, is some hot-shot Science Beardy Weirdy running around trying to break through the public's drunken ignorant bliss with honest fact based advice. He had to go. Down the shops for Rizlas. I'll let him know you're looking for him... Something obvious like "Hits From The Bong" plays in the background, coming from a room unseen, as the red door of the flat closes. Slowly pan back to an Edinburgh tenement stairwell and fade.

Oh Mandy! Well, You Came And You Took Without Giving

Home taping didn't kill music and neither will illegal downloading.

What it might do is hit a few big corporations profit margins and that is something they can't allow. And don't give me this, "They won't have the money to bring new artists through" crap. Millions are spent peddling mediocre sound-a-likes as the Next Big Thing. That isn't development in new talent. Its promoting your product, advertising your wares and battering the market with your budget.

Given the threat to their money-making then, it comes as no surprise that Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, who has doubtless been lobbied to the highmost, has declared a "three-pronged approach" to tackle Internet piracy. And that does include, only as a last resort of course, the power to disconnect you from your ISP. Naturally the government have thought about this in depth and have all manner of contingency mechanisms for encrypted file transfers, news groups, wi-fi connections being hijacked, along with the millions of compromised machines already out there, alongside whatever else you can think of. Or have they just been lobbied to the highmost...

So anyway, we pay this guy Mandelson to hire somebody else to write a report that looks at Internet use in Britain, he then gives Mandelson that report which mostly contains a whole load of suggestions about how best to introduce more ill-thought-through legislation that potentially curtails our freedoms in the, naturally preferred, interests of big business. Fucking brilliant. That's democracy in action right there. We pay some oily bloke to create laws against us.

Postal Strike

Seeing as you aren't going to get the truth regarding the postal strike from any of the media, government or Royal Mail, thought you might like to read an explanation from one of the much-maligned postal workers themselves:

"Subject: Why we are going on strike

We think it's fair to say that you our customers are not interested in why we are once again striking.It is also fair to say that some of the problems we are going through does not affect you either.

What you are interested in is you getting your mail and whatever mail you send getting there within the allotted time depending on what service was paid for.

But we do think that it is fair to inform you of part of the reason as to why we are striking as it affects you in a big way.

But before we go on let's get one thing out 1st,it's not about a pay rise,far from it,a pay rise if we are to be truthful is in the mix but is not as a high priority as other concerns we have.

Please just take a minute to see what we have to say.

What's affecting you then?

In 2007 we signed an agreement with Royal Mail called the Pay & Modernisation deal,in that deal there are, amongst other things, a new working practice called 'absorption'.

This is one of YOUR biggest problems,whether you are a domestic or business customer!

Before the deal any postal workers rounds that weren't covered due to staff sickness,holidays,or general shortage would be covered by other postal workers on overtime.

There would be no shortage of posties willing to do this,so there was never a major problem getting the mail delivered.

But now we have 'absorption',what this now means is that any rounds now that does not have a postal worker allocated to it is now absorbed by the rest of the postal workers in the office.

With Royal Mail insisting that mail volumes are falling they are under the impression that we know have a lot of spare time in which to absorb other posties work.

This is not the case,not only have we lost 60,000 staff in the business in the last few years (our CEO Adam Crozier has publicly admitted this) but we now have a large proportion of part-time workers which affects the way the mail pipeline works.

Mail is being delayed regularly and in vast amounts around the country in the name of absorption,so managers can report that absorption has happened and the savings have been made,some posties have to leave part of their round in the office,they also are being forced to 'cut off' or stop their deliveries as they have run out of time.

Royal Mail drivers have been taken off their packet routes to help absorption, hence packets are left undelivered for days.

This is a mass abuse of the deal we signed in 07,and posties are being bullied and threatened with taken off pay if they either refuse to do this or happen to cut off.

Later deliveries

A few years back Royal Mail ceased the 2nd delivery and you now only get one, but the truth is Royal Mail did not stop the 2nd delivery they cancelled the 1st.

We now start our rounds at the time that we started the 2nd delivery years ago and now, Royal Mail want even later start times. So while today, if you're one of the lucky ones, you might meet your postman before you go to lunch, you will soon be meeting him just before dinner. We are aware that this causes big problems for businesses all over the UK more especially those that work from home.

But that does not seem to matter to Royal Mail, later start times and later deliveries are all down to modernisation, or in other words, new sorting machines being brought in which, would you believe, take even longer to sort the mail.

This will also affect our own work/life balance and there are childcare issues, and school run problems, already rising because of it.

You may also be aware before we went to Single Daily Delivery, you could pick up any packets or signed for letters left in the morning around 2 hours or so later at your local office. That, as some of you may be aware has changed, some places you have to wait 24 hours, most 48 but there are some where you can't get the packet for nearly 72hrs.

That's if your office is local instead of on some industrial estate somewhere, and of course if it does not close before lunch.

This is Royal Mail modernisation.

"If you don't like your job,then leave."

This is what we read about all the time from alleged customers on the Internet news stories comment sections, and, regrettably Royal Mail management.

But who says that we don't like our job. You will find that most posties love their job, but are finding it harder and harder to provide the service they want and their customers expect, not just because of the work levels, but more so the bullying and harassment by managers at all levels of the business.

Why should we have to put up with the constant B&H and worsening of our terms and conditions, when all we want to do is get on with our job and provide a service to our customers.

We will not be hounded out of a job we love in the name of profit, or be made to feel guilty because we decide to defend our current Conditions of service, instead of allowing them to be decimated because of the inherently unfair bonus culture of Royal Mail.

National strike

The 1st strike was in London N18 Edmonton against introduction of part-time duties by executive action on 7th March. Cowdenbeath DO was the first among many in Scotland to strike against Executive Action on 27th March. The whole of London took action throughout June, and over 500 other offices around the country either went out on strike or requested a strike ballot.

Previously to all of this some Mail Centres around the country took strike action over their closures, and the lack of real consultation.

London, since June have taken over 16 days of action.

During all that time we have repeatedly asked Royal Mail to negotiate with our Union about, not only the problems that you have so far read about and will read about below, but more importantly the fact that previous agreements are either being ignored or abused.

It has now come to the time where enough is enough and now we have, unfortunately, the national strikes.

"No more efficiency changes this year"

This is what Royal Mail have claimed but this is not the case,there are many cases on the site where Royal Mail are still pushing ahead with with their changes. Including later start times,full-time positions going to part-time,Pegasus 2 revisions (flawed computer program),night staff being moved to days,full-time staff to prep part-time staff walks,more hours to go from delivery offices...

You the tax payer

You are being mislead by the media and the Government regarding Billions of pounds of tax payers money being used to prop up Royal Mail and our pensions,this is not the case and a blatant lie by all.

For many years the treasury have taken our profits from us for their own gain, add nearly 13 years when due to tax reasons Royal Mail did not pay into our pension scheme, and yes the treasury got that money as well, you the tax payer owes Royal Mail Billions of pounds.

Any money recently received by Royal Mail from tax payers has been a loan and has to be paid back at commercial loan rates which means that the tax payer has once again benefited from us.

Privatisation

This is a simple one,the Government have said that they will take over our pension deficit only if we get part-privatised.

The crux of this,is that you the tax payer will pay for our pensions,but a private investor will not have to so they will just get the profits. Our Union Leader remarked on this at the Labour Conference by saying the Government were Privatising the Profit and Nationalising the debt.

The tax payer will have the debt, while the private investor will get the profit!

We, us the humble posties do not need to tell you what happens after a company is privatised, you only need to look at your utility bills, train fares and your bank statements for that.

Mail volumes

We agree that mail volumes are down,but not as much as Royal Mail say, we accept the recession has had an effect, but again, not as much that Royal Mail has said.

With 60,00 jobs gone, bigger rounds,over 1 Million new homes built in the last few years with more to come, a few letters less in our post bag, when you add the mass increase in packets due to e-commerce,there is no leeway in our duties like Royal Mail think.

Add the fact that Royal Mail now count the mail differently with an un agreed and flawed process,then you have false traffic figures.

What is in the boxes that they send the mail down to Delivery Offices, is very much under estimated and has been shown to be so by royalmailchat members counting individual boxes.

Independent report on Royal Mail

Last year the Government requested an independent report on Royal Mail (The Hooper report) this found many flaws with the way the business is being run,including lack of transparency by the business with its figures and the fact that Royal Mail management were not up to the job.

We are not against modernisation

WE ARE NOT AGAINST CHANGE - We signed up to the Pay and Mod Agreement. RM ignored Phase 4 till we started local strikes.

WE ARE AWARE THERE WILL BE JOB LOSSES - 60,000 gone in recent years.

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.

WE ARE NOT AGAINST MODERNISATION - But we haven't seen it in deliveries unless you count 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 un 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 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 H&S 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 H&S review after accidents at work - Staff being blamed for accidents without thorough and external review of all pertinent matters by an independent body.

Spanish practices do not exist

The reality in modern delivery offices is that the posties slogs their guts out everyday under the gaze of managers ready to sack them for the slightest indiscretion.

Many many part-timers are bullied by managers into doing unpaid over time day in day out.
All OT has to be OK'ed by management and most posties are too intimidated to go see their manager to ask for it.

A lot of our guys do hrs of OT per week for nothing.

Give the Public a service

- Yep 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 POs.
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 DOs 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"

All of the above is not exhaustive, but we are,thank you for taking the time to read it."


SUPPORT STRIKING POSTIES!

Size Of An iPod 3

Zig Zag Jul 1978 - Siouxsie And The Banshees