What is wrong with our union

[Godric]

76 % sounds great untill you put it into contex of a crap turnout and the figure only just gets above 50%, however what really counts is what happend on the national strike days. The turnout for those who striked was superb

rubbish turnout ?? .. try 64/66% turnout

apologies to anyone was was offended by me cussing but emotions are running high and sometimes i get heated when someoene is trying to twist the facts

[Body Beyond Repair]

I wont speak for area's of the union i don't represent or have much knowledge of, but i can assure you some of the worst officials belong to the second biggest branch in the country and that's Glasgow and District Amal. I've had many dealing with this lot and they do not give good representation whatsoever.The membership in some areas under this branch are ignored continuously,sidelined and treated disgracefully in the pusuit of certain officials own agenda's. Any new agreement wil be abused by management as most agreements that have gone before have, most members/offices under this branch will be left to defend themselves(AGAIN AND AGAIN) from daily attacks and i would urge and i have many reasons for area's to dissaffliate from this branch if possible or save your money.A total overhaul is needed.............Yes i am a REP and the only reason ive not resigned yet is the membership i represent in my office who are very decent individuals and who have been very supportive of the CWU will be subjected to real hostility from an over zelous management team.The time will come to step aside soon but hopefully the membership turn up on Sunday at the AGM to vent thier disgust at this enept bunch.

[Godric]

I wont speak for area's of the union i don't represent or have much knowledge of, but i can assure you some of the worst officials belong to the second biggest branch in the country and that's Glasgow and District Amal. I've had many dealing with this lot and they do not give good representation whatsoever.The membership in some areas under this branch are ignored continuously,sidelined and treated disgracefully in the pusuit of certain officials own agenda's. Any new agreement wil be abused by management as most agreements that have gone before have, most members/offices under this branch will be left to defend themselves(AGAIN AND AGAIN) from daily attacks and i would urge and i have many reasons for area's to dissaffliate from this branch if possible or save your money.A total overhaul is needed.............Yes i am a REP and the only reason ive not resigned yet is the membership i represent in my office who are very decent individuals and who have been very supportive of the CWU will be subjected to real hostility from an over zelous management team.The time will come to step aside soon but hopefully the membership turn up on Sunday at the AGM to vent thier disgust at this enept bunch.

agreed their was no comment/support from the Glasgow HQ when 28 posties from cumnock went unpaid for refusing to do flex after the strikes were called off by the union, Gus the union rep asked for support Gus and his colleagues was left with no response from Glasgow ... hung out to dry so to speak

[POSTMAN]

Ok let's put this in the mix!

A reps meeting,a PEC member in attendance ,a question to the PEC member by a rep,"Why has the national ballot taken so long" PEC member answers," We did not know how bad it was in the field"!

And there is one person in this thread that was there when it went on.

[dvbuk55]

Ok let's put this in the mix!

A reps meeting,a PEC member in attendance ,a question to the PEC member by a rep,"Why has the national ballot taken so long" PEC member answers," We did not know how bad it was in the field"!

And there is one person in this thread that was there when it went on.

You see that really highlights the fundamental problem within the communication union and that is communication. You hear senior union bods on here spouting how many hands they've shaken, how many offices they've visited, how many strikes they've initiated but at the end of the day they do not listen to the problems and that can be clearly seen on this site. They are surrounded by people who say what they want to hear and who are by definition on the same wavelength.
Ignorance they say is bliss and there are none so deaf as choose not to hear.

[Godric]

Ok let's put this in the mix!

A reps meeting,a PEC member in attendance ,a question to the PEC member by a rep,"Why has the national ballot taken so long" PEC member answers," We did not know how bad it was in the field"!

And there is one person in this thread that was there when it went on.

seriously that comment does not suprise me in the slightest

it's as if they can't be bothered to log on and read for themselves what is going on .... surely they must have known by all the offices demanding local ballots for strike action, what doesn't effect them they don't know or care to know

[Godric]

noticed all the union big shots have all gone quiet now, a right shower of shysters and roasters

[belle smith]

Belle smith is spot on ! In 2003 this union got a no vote! Only one division got a yes vote for strike and some branchs. Allan Leighton and his managers were getting agreements locally in over a hundred offices including job and finish. Royal mail had announced to the union the world had changed and they would introduce sdd without a national agreement.
The sad thing some offices were encouraging this by agreeing to the revisions.

I would add not all members got their ballot including me....i remmember the union going to court to attempt to have the ballot invalidated on that.

Had it not been for the fact that London had achieved a yes vote for strike over London weighting then maybe the union would not be talking about this national agreement. London took two days officail action which led to unofficial action in southall dartford and west London . The rest of London went out to support them including Romford. Action spread to Southend Chelmsford covertry postmouth Warrington and others. We were out for 2 weeks fighting for this union.

On the back of this dispute the union got a national agreement which delivered £26.28 pay rise. The ending of the 6 day duty pattern with everyone having as a miniumn a 5 day week. The mtsf 2 agreement. It was not possible to remove job and finish as to many offices broke ranks and done deals with Leighton.

The £26.28 pay rise and the 5 day duty pattern were not gained on the back of this dispute Thats what RM had offerd prior to the CWU balloting us!
The dispute in London as you said was about London weighting.
There are a lot of disengeuious comments on here aimed at our colleauges in London....as far as i can see they get the same crap as the rest of us....i think the reason they take more action that the rest of us is that they have better organised branches....hats off to you and your colleauges truth....other members are just as willing with the same organisation, but thats always going to be difficult in bigger areas.....my point is althought it's unfair to snipe at London as some do it's also unfair to say...'if it weren't for London' all the time...and i do dispute your version in this instance.

So don't tell me about fighting for a better deal or action been there and got the tee shirt. To many blame the union eiher centraly or at branch level instead of looking at your own office. The union in my view always starts there. I often see how an office can become strong when they were previously weak purely on the basis of a rep or an office committee holding meetings and informing members what is due to come in. Some of you on here talk a good fight why don't you become reps and influence the fight. You may even enjoy it.

It is still the primarily the responsability of branches and HQ who do this stuff full time, and now more so than ever as the deals are more and more complicated the 2007 deal is a nightmare for unit reps.

ps. have had a shot at being rep briefly......wasn't very good at it....and your right it is a lot easier talking a good game.