Mark Baulch new outdoor secretary interview

[POSTMAN]

From the voice...

It’s a huge honour and I thank CWU branches and members for the faith they’ve placed in me.

It’s also a massive responsibility and I pledge to carry out the role to the best of my ability.

I have been a delivery postal worker and a rep at every level of the union and the CWU and the mentality of our frontline members is engrained in me.

Outdoor secretary is one of the biggest jobs in the union and delivery members make up the biggest section of the membership. I’m looking forward to leading our strategy in this area.

Will you be making any changes to the way we do our business?

Yes, of course. Every person does things differently when they pick up a role like this. My predecessor Bob Gibson did a fantastic job for the union and should be commended for the service and dedication he gave to our members.

I want to embrace the history of the union, but I also have my own ideas and I will be using new technology more – such as social media – to get messages out there quickly, but I will be majoring on reinvigorating some of our traditional methods.

Nothing beats speaking to the members face to face and I will lead on this by visiting as many offices as I can – and I will be asking reps across the union to do the same. We need to engage more with the members.

I want to deal with issues that seem to have built up over a period of time; absorption, annual leave, uniform, the lack of equipment and the abuse of parttime
members.
None of this will happen overnight, but I intend to tackle these issues head-on in negotiations with Royal Mail.

Talking of negotiations, what can CWU members expect to see coming out of he ongoing talks with Royal Mail?

The company will have and clearly have had an agenda for many years. I prefer to focus on our agenda as a union. We must be looking at securing full-time work, improving conditions for part-time members, ridding the workplace of the crisis culture which drives an obsession with absorption and lapsing, and delivering a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.

As the talks unfold, I will be engaging with our delivery members online and in the workplace to ensure the views from the frontline are brought onto the nationalnegotiating table.

There will be change – and the pace of it, with digital technology, will be greater than ever – but we have dealt with change before and we will do so again.

I would encourage all members to support the union’s Four Pillars campaign – the greater the backing we have in the field, the more likely it is we can deliver the right
agreements for our members.

We hear about lots of issues in deliveries. Is the union still an effective force in the workplace?

Yes, and we are going to get stronger.
For every unit struggling with difficult managers, pressures at work and the slash and burn culture, we have units dealing with these things.

Local reps and branches are meeting members, organising, using the IR framework and ridding the workplace of these issues – and I’m determined this approach will spread across the union.

We don’t have to sit back and simply accept Royal Mail dictat – I will support any office standing up for itself.

I don’t want to hear: ‘That will never happen in our office’. Get together, get behind your local rep – or put yourself forward if your office doesn't have a rep – and you can and will change things.

[POSTMAN]

My predecessor Bob Gibson did a fantastic job for the union and should be commended for the service and dedication he gave to our members.

I want to deal with issues that seem to have built up over a period of time; absorption, annual leave, uniform, the lack of equipment and the abuse of parttime
members.

[midegarelu]

My predecessor Bob Gibson did a fantastic job for the union and should be commended for the service and dedication he gave to our members.

I want to deal with issues that seem to have built up over a period of time; absorption, annual leave, uniform, the lack of equipment and the abuse of parttime
members.

[worktotime]

My predecessor Bob Gibson did a fantastic job for the union and should be commended for the service and dedication he gave to our members.

I want to deal with issues that seem to have built up over a period of time; absorption, annual leave, uniform, the lack of equipment and the abuse of parttime
members.

i think one of the biggest issues which he didn't mention is BULLY AND HARRESMENT from managers ,which has gone on for years and has got worse , this needs to be priority in my eyes... oh and not replacing full time staff just to save money and expect everybody else to mop that up MANAGEABLE WORKLOAD comes to mind.

[slinder123]

same old just pay up and shut up thankyou

[worktotime]

well I will be cancelling my cwu subs as its run by people who are miles behind on what goes on within the company and show no support to members who have issues everyday , and we have a rep in our orrifice who starts early to put mail etc in , comes in on hols , long weekends to put d2ds in , and you hear the same shite from the powers above , contact your branch , and support your reps ? we do support but the rep doesn't support us , f**k it ive had enough and don't give a s**t what happens or what the cwu agree to as the company do what they want when they want as the processes in place aren't fit for purpose ir framework etc , I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET , and I will fight my own corner but I'm guessing there will be more to follow , WEAK . end of rant .

[aiden01]

well I will be cancelling my cwu subs as its run by people who are miles behind on what goes on within the company and show no support to members who have issues everyday , and we have a rep in our orrifice who starts early to put mail etc in , comes in on hols , long weekends to put d2ds in , and you hear the same shite from the powers above , contact your branch , and support your reps ? we do support but the rep doesn't support us , f**k it ive had enough and don't give a s**t what happens or what the cwu agree to as the company do what they want when they want as the processes in place aren't fit for purpose ir framework etc , I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET , and I will fight my own corner but I'm guessing there will be more to follow , WEAK . end of rant .

Might just join you cwu f..king shambles.

[worktotime]

well I will be cancelling my cwu subs as its run by people who are miles behind on what goes on within the company and show no support to members who have issues everyday , and we have a rep in our orrifice who starts early to put mail etc in , comes in on hols , long weekends to put d2ds in , and you hear the same shite from the powers above , contact your branch , and support your reps ? we do support but the rep doesn't support us , f**k it ive had enough and don't give a s**t what happens or what the cwu agree to as the company do what they want when they want as the processes in place aren't fit for purpose ir framework etc , I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET , and I will fight my own corner but I'm guessing there will be more to follow , WEAK . end of rant .

Might just join you cwu f..king shambles.

, to right. all talk and no action.

[worktotime]

well I will be cancelling my cwu subs as its run by people who are miles behind on what goes on within the company and show no support to members who have issues everyday , and we have a rep in our orrifice who starts early to put mail etc in , comes in on hols , long weekends to put d2ds in , and you hear the same shite from the powers above , contact your branch , and support your reps ? we do support but the rep doesn't support us , f**k it ive had enough and don't give a s**t what happens or what the cwu agree to as the company do what they want when they want as the processes in place aren't fit for purpose ir framework etc , I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET , and I will fight my own corner but I'm guessing there will be more to follow , WEAK . end of rant .

Might just join you cwu f..king shambles.

, to right. all talk and no action.

you can always contact acas wth issues , and its free.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

well I will be cancelling my cwu subs as its run by people who are miles behind on what goes on within the company and show no support to members who have issues everyday , and we have a rep in our orrifice who starts early to put mail etc in , comes in on hols , long weekends to put d2ds in , and you hear the same shite from the powers above , contact your branch , and support your reps ? we do support but the rep doesn't support us , f**k it ive had enough and don't give a s**t what happens or what the cwu agree to as the company do what they want when they want as the processes in place aren't fit for purpose ir framework etc , I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET , and I will fight my own corner but I'm guessing there will be more to follow , WEAK . end of rant .

Might just join you cwu f..king shambles.

, to right. all talk and no action.

I must admit I have never understood this approach. The ships is sinking, so you're jumping off it onto the iceberg where you'll be cold and alone.

Still each to their own.

If no one is willing to stand against them, how about forming a committee to help and guide them, or even getting a group of equally pissed of activists to form an unofficial grouping to put pressure on the rep.

Its hard putting your head above the parapet and making yourself a target, I know by bitter experience, but in my honest opinion if you think you can do better than you have a moral duty to either prove it, and take action, or accept everything that's coming without any input.

As in having a bad rep, its your choice and your decision, you just have to be prepared to live with the consequences.

[datasaint]

I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET

Yeah they'll push it back instead, and contract you to longer hours in the winter months, and shorter in the summer.

Leave the union and you weaken not only your position but everyone elses, which plays into RMs hands perfectly. Presumably they can see which offices have weak union backing from pay subs, and will be acting accordingly.

[fishtank]

I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET

The only reason you have a finish time and aren't working with some bastard kind of flexi-finish contractual overtime thing is the union.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET

The only reason you have a finish time and aren't working with some bastard kind of flexi-finish contractual overtime thing is the union.

But with the mention of annualised hours a few years ago, and season variations in this round they are certainly thinking about. TFFU

[worktotime]

I have a finish time which is one thing they cant take away from us YET

The only reason you have a finish time and aren't working with some bastard kind of flexi-finish contractual overtime thing is the union.

But with the mention of annualised hours a few years ago, and season variations in this round they are certainly thinking about. TFFU

let them get on with it , not interested no more to be honest.

[TheTrolleyMan]

The CWU have ignored problems and now it's too late