Loopholes by Roy Mayall

[Roy Mayall]

I was talking to my union rep about the attendance procedure, the process by which posties are threatened with dismissal for being ill. ‘The union must have negotiated this,’ I said. ‘If the union hadn’t negotiated it, it wouldn’t exist.’

‘But if the union hadn’t negotiated it,’ my union rep said, ‘it would be worse. Anyway, it’s not the procedure that’s wrong, it’s bad management and the way they use it.’

But as I pointed out to him, if the management can misuse the procedure to the detriment of postal workers, that means there are loopholes in it, which means it’s a bad agreement.

More: http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2010/01/08/ro ... loopholes/

[clashcityrocker]

If people didn't get ill, no-one would be allowed to abuse the procedure.We only have ourselves to blame really.
Getting ill is a sign of moral weakness.

[MinisterofCucumber]

"Sometimes, in my cynical moments, I’m inclined to think that the only real thing that anyone has got out of these strikes is that the union has cemented its place in the workplace."

Totally agree.

My branch does little for its members, its main function seems to be as an incubator of Labour politicians of the Mandelson variety.

[Broxi51]

Agreements are made in an act of trust. If you dont trust the other party then you wouldnt put in an agreement without multiple clauses to cop out at the first transgression. The CWU must go in to an agreement with full trust in RM otherwise there is little point in making any agreements. The agreement in this case IMHO is fine but it is the manner in which RM abuse it that is not. If we then decide that RM are not to be trusted then lets walk now because otherwise it is pointless. RM will try to bend the rules but then to be fair so will we. RM have agreed to pay us for being off sick but we all know someone who went off sick after a good night out. Does that mean that they should rescind that offer and refuse to pay us like so many other companies are now doing when we go off. Both sides must learn to trust and hopefully somewhere down the line the trust will be merritted and we can both move on.

[MinisterofCucumber]

There is evidence that management at RM have broken agreed policies and when found out, have dragged their feet about correcting their mistakes until forced to by MPs, not the union. Even now, we are kept in the dark. There has been no apology, no explanation, nobody knows whether those responsible have been disciplined and we have not been told if measures have been introduced to prevent this from happening again.

RM management are responsible to the tax payer and it can probably be proved that they are falling well below the standards expected.

Our union should be ensuring that Crozier and his team are replaced by a management team that are serious about building trust between management and workers. What is the point in giving so much money to the Labour Party if we can't persuade a Labour government to give us some decent management?

My union diary, that costs about £145, states the values/aims of the CWU. I must have missed the bit that says that the interests of the Labour Party should override everything else.

Shame on you CWU

[La Poste]

My union diary, that costs about £145

That's an expensive diary

[TrueBlueTerrier]

My union diary, that costs about £145

That's an expensive diary

Not as expensive as http://www.oki-ni.com/invt/raf0121blu?c ... -_-Generic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;