CWU Waste of time.

[spoodoo]

is there a 2nd in command regarding youre rep at work ie if hes not there to deal with it?,,,ppl not happy as its the office bully boy whos supposdly got the position ,,sums the place up

[omega753]

Really ask friends and other family members who work in jobs where there is no union representation how they are treated I think you will be surprised . The union is only as strong as its members its impossible to agree with anything 100 per cent but I can assure you without the CWU you would be treated like cattle at Royal Mail .

[Broxi51]

is there a 2nd in command regarding youre rep at work ie if hes not there to deal with it?,,,ppl not happy as its the office bully boy whos supposdly got the position ,,sums the place up

There was deputy rep but he gave it up. We are always advised when dealing with Doms regarding anything that you take a witness in with you
if the rep isnt available. You dont have to use bully, just get a friend or the guy on the next frame to go in with you and the Dom will
stick by the rules, usually.

[DirtyHarry]

Really ask friends and other family members who work in jobs where there is no union representation how they are treated I think you will be surprised . The union is only as strong as its members its impossible to agree with anything 100 per cent but I can assure you without the CWU you would be treated like cattle at Royal Mail .

Errr, we are treated abysmally by Royal Mail, and that's with the CWU being supposedly "strong" in the workplace.

2010 & Beyond, was a triumph for Royal Mail, let's not kid ourselves that it was otherwise.

[worktotime]

they go on about the h&s of the staff its a joke weve gone to p&loop 3 weeks ago and its a nightmare , the union rep was following people round asking about use your trolley dont carry anything ,we havent seen him for weeks since all this bad weather and where carrying heavier bags than every and being told by the dick (dom) to just get the rounds mail and pkts done and the so called area rep just turns a blind eye when hes there and the bad weather we havent seen him apart when theres any docket for pkts 1 day a week and sunday and he doesnt speak to anybody when asked anything , it seems the union are in the pockets of r/m now , but there will asking for you to support them when it comes to selling it. i dont think so , i will not lose another penny to support them.

[clashcityrocker]

So why are members leaving brothermagrew?

Do you think threads like this might make the situation worse?
The CWU are a waste of time, CWU and RM are the same thing, we've been sold down the river with D2D, our rep is useless etc.
Anyone reading RMC could be forgiven for thinking that the main aim of the CWU is to screw posties.
Very few and far between are the posts like brothermagrew's, highlighting the positive aspects of CWU membership.

[steven100]

The problem with the union is its only as good as the office your in. In my office it ain't good. They don't bully me because i'll rip them to shreds.

[jack straw]

20 reasons to join the CWU

So why are members leaving brothermagrew?
We can address all of the reasons for staying until the wee dark hours but as we do the circle keeps reducing.
Most semi-inteligent members understand what is right about union membership.
..but we must also understand what is WRONG with our union before we can make it right.

What's wrong with the union is that we have two fat lazy leaders sitting in a nice warm office making agreements and pacts with management, when they haven't done the job for 20 years. They still maintain with management that the mail is decreasing. They arrange for us to deliver mountains of d2d up, to 10 soon, which will barely fit in the fittings. Not a clue. Get out and save yourself £3 a week.

[enzio]

the union is only as good as your rep in your office and how good the staff are at backing the rep but if your office is like mine your f##### we started park and loop and there are still people coming in early and not taking a break they are the ones killing the job and 9 times out of 10 there not in the union f####### w#####

[fishtank]

So why are members leaving brothermagrew?

Do you think threads like this might make the situation worse?
The CWU are a waste of time, CWU and RM are the same thing, we've been sold down the river with D2D, our rep is useless etc.
Anyone reading RMC could be forgiven for thinking that the main aim of the CWU is to screw posties.
Very few and far between are the posts like brothermagrew's, highlighting the positive aspects of CWU membership.

No i don't.......i think starting a thread like the OP did without going on to explain why he feels the way he does is rather pointless,that's why i asked.
I think having an open debate and trying to find out why members are leaving the union is the only way forward.
I have never been one for propaganda nor blind faith and i certainly don't believe in hiding from your problems.
Do you think sticking your fingers in your ears means the noise goes away?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

My own personal view on why people are leaving is because there seems to be a very large disconnect between HQ and the Shop floor and I think BT2010 only exacerbated the problems. OKay on RMC we may be perceived as doom and gloom merchants but HQ should not dismiss the views posted just because of that.

I am loath to say this but once of the reasons for RMCs success is that ordinary CWU members, and even non members are allowed to air their views and none are seen as more important than someone elses (though some would disagree I grant), perhaps the biggest failing is that there is no direct connection between Joe Postie and HQ. The views of the ordinary members are viewed through reports from reps of various levels and with the best will in the world and with the best intentions, those reports will be slanted to the views of the rep writing it. Perhaps the CWU should have an annual report from a certain % of random ordinary members, completely anonymous of course, and perhaps this will make the Union more proactive rather than reactive.

[clashcityrocker]

I think over the years we have been very bad at measuring the amount of work we do.
I think we still have enormous problems with the measurements coming out of MCs.

I think HQ has been very bad at communicating where we are and where we have to go/where they want us to go.
But at the same time there is a head-in-the-sand mentality of the rank and file about the situation.

If the volume of letters is declining how do you protect full time jobs?
Calling Billy and Dave fat and lazy isn't a useful response.
2010 and Beyond is.

[fishtank]

I think HQ has been very bad at communicating where we are and where we have to go/where they want us to go.

I'm quite surprised that you think the role of union leadership should be to tell us where we are,where we have to go and most surprising of all....where they want us to go.
That's a bit too...overbearing and managerial for my taste.

But at the same time there is a head-in-the-sand mentality of the rank and file about the situation.

I think some of the membership are shocked at the changes they are facing and some of them are reacting in the usual manner..denial....but to tar the whole rank and file as ostriches is a bit much.

[clashcityrocker]

HQ clearly believes we are in a declining industry. Parts of it may still be profitable but they believe the industry is in decline.
How do we respond to that? They put before us an agreement that sought to address that problem, and the problem of maintaing full time employment in a declining and/or less profitable letters market.
Only someone with an overall understanding of the situation can propose a solution. (Otherwise the solution would have been - start early, use your car, doorstep and run round to finish early - and it would have been passed with a much bigger majority than 2010 and Beyond)
This is where we are, this is a/the only way forward.
We voted for it.
Do all the members have their heads in the sand - no, not all but more than is preferable.

[bunkerland]

An office close by to mine was due to sign an agreement for their revision. The union rep said that a ballot would have to take place first.
There are 40 members of staff but only 20 are in the CWU and so only the 20 got a vote.
The non members were truly pi**ed off but, hey, rules are rules
No result in as yet as the ballot only started a week ago.

50% union membership seems quite low for an office,have many people left the union after the 2010 Agreement or has there always been low support for the cwu here? You seem to be very well informed about this "close by" office,are you the rep there or do you just know some of the workers there?