Ward letter:Our General Secretary Campaign

[POSTMAN]

I wanted to say thank you to every single person that has helped me....

‪#‎Dave4GS‬ ‪#‎ImBackingDave‬

Our General Secretary Campaign

As the ballot period draws to a close I felt it was relevant to look back at our campaign. I call it our campaign because that’s what it has been. A collective effort.

Branches, Senior Officials, Local Representatives but most of all Individual members in workplaces across the UK spreading our messages.

When I took the decision to stand in the General Secretary Election, I committed to running the most open, positive and interactive campaign that the CWU has ever seen.

Together we have achieved that goal.

• I have met thousands of CWU Members.
• We put together a package of communications to supporting Branches that has reached hundreds of workplaces.
• We prepared a Home Mailing to supporting Branches that required organisation, commitment and hard work from individuals and Branches across the UK.
• We have embraced Social Media to a level never seen before in our Union. Branches across the UK have joined myself in openly engaging CWU Members online in this Election.
• We have held live open online Q&A Sessions allowing CWU Members unprecedented access and input into their Union.
• I have produced Videos on all the key Election issues – Postal, Telecoms, Equality, Politics, The TUC and my Overall Commitments to the Membership.
• We have created a force for change within our Union that has been driven by the people that matter – the Membership.

We did not have the resources or machinery at our disposal that the other candidate has benefitted from.

We did not have the finances to constantly communicate to Members home addresses.

What we have had is the support of thousands of Local Representatives and Members.

To me this is what really matters.

I have learned many lessons along the way. For example, I would be the first to admit that I had not properly embraced Social Media prior to this Election.

Let me assure all Members that whatever the result, I will continue to use these tools to open up our Union in a more transparent way.

This has been a long and hard fought campaign and I believe we have set the right tone with the members from day one and we will continue to do so until the close of the ballot.

This is a letter to say thank you. Your support in this campaign has already shaped the future of our Union.

If there are any colleagues that you know haven’t voted yet please show them this letter.

You have played a part in the most inclusive Election campaign in CWU history and it’s not too late for them to also play their part.

Thank you to every single Member that has backed me. Thank you to the Branches and Officials that have worked relentlessly to deliver the vote for change. What you have done means so much to me. I will not let you down.

Yours Sincerely
Dave Ward