EXECUTIVE ACTION TO BE TAKEN IN YOUR OFFICE BY ROYAL MAIL

[Geezer]

Unlike some brother, I will be at the gate for pride and princable. I am not a person that takes things lying down and sits on the fence, hasn't anyone got any morrals anymore???????

With you on that wolfie a man after my own heart,sometimes in life its not what you can gain but about what's right and what's wrong and standing up for what you believe in whatever side you stand on.

There is a saying that the only thing you get sitting on the fence in any dispute is splinters.

I have more respect for someone who thinks Royal Mail is right and points out why, than those that say RM is wrong but won't do anything about it, or even worse, give up without a struggle.

Well TrueBlue, sadly, Theres alot out there with no moral fiber that have given up before the fight has even started,
It makes me sad to have to say it, But in my office you just cannot make most of them understand that if they don't stand by one another and fight, that ultimatly we are all doomed.

Now could this be a lack of COMMUNICATION from our communication union? And could it not be sorted by proper COMMUNICATIONS to each and ALL members in OUR union? So easy to give up if your weak? But so much more satisfying to stick up for your mates and sock it to em me thinks.

Not a lack of communication but a lack of backbone and the hope others will do their bidding for them.The Rep has spoken to them on many occasions , And i have given them letters from Branch and and passed on whatever Info i have found on here and else where.( I talk to the Reps And Brance on the phone quite alot,and they Pass on any info they get to me, they are a good bunch of people doing the Union work in my area always trying and willing to help out ) But when i tell my work colleges what RM are planning and that we need to do fight it, All they ever seem to do is whinge and whine and never seem want to take any action unless of course it affects them.

[Martin Walsh]

Look I am big enough to take some stick some of its a fair cop.

But there are a few things I would like to point out I mentioned the Pay Increase but it could have been the fact that since the 80s this union had campaigned for a 5 day week . Infact even up to 93 postman on the national rate were only on ten grand for working a six day week. The CWU were determinded to change it and move away from an overtime culture to better pay and conditions. In 2003 this union delivered a national no vote. The union were on its knees. Tony mc carty threw a document across the table at the cwu at said the world had changed. At that stage only one division of the union London had got a yes vote. Less than a dozen other Branch`s around the uk achieved a yes vote across the union.

Had it not been for London achieving a yes vote over london weighting which resulted in two days offical action and then followed by unofficial action which was supported by warrington , covertry , southend Postmouth to name a few and was spreading which was the biggest unoffical action since the miners. The resolution to this dispute paved the way for the biggest pay rise in decades £26.28 deal , the five day week , improvements in mtsf to name a few things. This unofficail action had nothing to do with London weighting but management imposing unagreed working methods and removing local and national agreements.

Now this deal was not just about pay it was about attendace patterns incuding the five day week which meant an addtional 46 days per year off work which some improved their earnings by working overtime on their rest. I didt hear to many complainig at this deal.

Pay and Mod lets get things straight I attended numerous briefing during this dispute and it was not all rosy. Some regions were reported that they were losing some members in their support whilst others were still up for the fight.

In the end you have to remember that London and Liverpool were out on unoffical action at the time the settlement was reached and had been for over a week. The deal which was brokered was viewed by some as negotators charter and by some as a nightmare on Royal Mail street.

However 12 months on Royal Mail managers are bitter because they believe the cwu have decieved them on phase 3 as its out door asorbition is not taking place in the places where they most believe the savings are. In additon they have not achieved monthly pay, a new conduct code, an attendance procudure, reduced mtsf terms , their delivery and mail centre strategy.

I fully understand that some areas have been hit by pay and mod more. However to mention that pay and mod has meant savings is stating the obvious.

I have been in Royal Mail since 1984 and every year Royal Mail have wanted savings be IWM , 5% savings , CADR revisons of just budget savings we have all faced them year after year.

Now turning to you Irish staff and obviously you think you know me but you dont. You state that some how I am out of touch with the members.

Your wrong on both account , last week i adressed two agms of members and in two differnet areas and had good feed back and they supported the London policy. Last week I also adressed a strike meeting of a local office who are being ballot, morevoer in the morning I will be meeting another bunch of members on the gate to speak about their industrial ballot and encourage them to vote yes.

So irish staff how many members do you speak with as I always make sure i stand up and be counted and asnwerable to the members. Not only that as a divison we produce good comms on behalf of our members to make sure they are kept informed.

As previously said I am an easy target as I dont believe in just slagging CWU Headquaters off all the time. Anyone who knows me will know that I always challenge the leadership when its neccessairy have done over the lack of campainging over hooper and pensions since last february. But I am also a realist and understand it doesnt matter how much comms comes out or how many policies the PEC agree unless Branch`s and local reps decide to carry out these polices then its is highly unlikely that we will ever force Royal mail into negotations to secure the benefits and assurances this union wants and needs for our members in the future.

[johnnyp]

Look I am big enough to take some stick some of its a fair cop.

But there are a few things I would like to point out I mentioned the Pay Increase but it could have been the fact that since the 80s this union had campaigned for a 5 day week . Infact even up to 93 postman on the national rate were only on ten grand for working a six day week. The CWU were determinded to change it and move away from an overtime culture to better pay and conditions. In 2003 this union delivered a national no vote. The union were on its knees. Tony mc carty threw a document across the table at the cwu at said the world had changed. At that stage only one division of the union London had got a yes vote. Less than a dozen other Branch`s around the uk achieved a yes vote across the union.

Had it not been for London achieving a yes vote over london weighting which resulted in two days offical action and then followed by unofficial action which was supported by warrington , covertry , southend Postmouth to name a few and was spreading which was the biggest unoffical action since the miners. The resolution to this dispute paved the way for the biggest pay rise in decades £26.28 deal , the five day week , improvements in mtsf to name a few things. This unofficail action had nothing to do with London weighting but management imposing unagreed working methods and removing local and national agreements.

Now this deal was not just about pay it was about attendace patterns incuding the five day week which meant an addtional 46 days per year off work which some improved their earnings by working overtime on their rest. I didt hear to many complainig at this deal.

Pay and Mod lets get things straight I attended numerous briefing during this dispute and it was not all rosy. Some regions were reported that they were losing some members in their support whilst others were still up for the fight.

In the end you have to remember that London and Liverpool were out on unoffical action at the time the settlement was reached and had been for over a week. The deal which was brokered was viewed by some as negotators charter and by some as a nightmare on Royal Mail street.

However 12 months on Royal Mail managers are bitter because they believe the cwu have decieved them on phase 3 as its out door asorbition is not taking place in the places where they most believe the savings are. In additon they have not achieved monthly pay, a new conduct code, an attendance procudure, reduced mtsf terms , their delivery and mail centre strategy.

I fully understand that some areas have been hit by pay and mod more. However to mention that pay and mod has meant savings is stating the obvious.

I have been in Royal Mail since 1984 and every year Royal Mail have wanted savings be IWM , 5% savings , CADR revisons of just budget savings we have all faced them year after year.

Now turning to you Irish staff and obviously you think you know me but you dont. You state that some how I am out of touch with the members.

Your wrong on both account , last week i adressed two agms of members and in two differnet areas and had good feed back and they supported the London policy. Last week I also adressed a strike meeting of a local office who are being ballot, morevoer in the morning I will be meeting another bunch of members on the gate to speak about their industrial ballot and encourage them to vote yes.

So irish staff how many members do you speak with as I always make sure i stand up and be counted and asnwerable to the members. Not only that as a divison we produce good comms on behalf of our members to make sure they are kept informed.

As previously said I am an easy target as I dont believe in just slagging CWU Headquaters off all the time. Anyone who knows me will know that I always challenge the leadership when its neccessairy have done over the lack of campainging over hooper and pensions since last february. But I am also a realist and understand it doesnt matter how much comms comes out or how many policies the PEC agree unless Branch`s and local reps decide to carry out these polices then its is highly unlikely that we will ever force Royal mail into negotations to secure the benefits and assurances this union wants and needs for our members in the future.

It seems to me that to many members forget all the good that people like yourself and many others in our union have achieved over the years and just concentrate on the bad all the time I go in and theres not a day that goes by that someones not moaning about theres to much work(still finish way before there time)the unions s**t(stand for a branch position then and do something about it)why should i check my tyre pressure or weigh my bags(because its the law and health and safety) etc etc etc.Alot of us need to get real and get behind Dingo and those like him as if it was not for them we would still be on 6 day weeks,alot lower pay and much much worse terms and conditions then what we have got.Keep up the good work lads and remember Unity is strength.

[andy2007]

Dingo, I realise that a great deal of good has been done by the CWU. And I hope you realise that what I said, wasn't intended as a criticism of you personally (I did say so towards the end). I also have a great deal of respect for the Reps in my area (NW).

I made the mistake of thinking that as you were reminding us of the financial benefits. That you were one of the ones who had concentrated more on the financial aspects, than the conditions attatched to them. Which was certainly the impression I had of the more senior Reps at the time, based on the fact that very little was said about the conditions in the Press at the time. I'm sorry if I offended you.

The problem is, that although a great deal of progress has been made with wages. We seem to be loosing the battle against the errosion of our quality of service, and the preservation of jobs. I know that it's only volunteers taking EVR. But there's a lot of people taking EVR, who are disilusioned with RM, which is why they want out.

For example: All these Local Agreements are (in my opinion) undermining our ability to do anything about it. You pointed out the example of 2003, when it was the issue of London Weighting. Where we didn't get a yes vote outside of London, because it didn't affect the rest of the Country. Such fragmentation will continue, if something isn't done. And I fear it will get much worse. Of course, we can't rely on "one size fits all" agreements. We do need to fine tune them, for different environments. For example: RDCs have always had 5 day (40 hour) contracts. So the fight to go from 6 to 5 days, didn't affect us directly. And I'm quite sure that there are differences in the MCs too. But the vast majority of our agreements, should be the same everywhere. There's a BIG difference, between making minor changes, for a different working environment. And having Local Agreements, which seem to differ so much from area to area.

[baldrick]

You pointed out the example of 2003, when it was the issue of London Weighting. Where we didn't get a yes vote outside of London, because it didn't affect the rest of the Country.

The vote Dingo was referring to in 2003 was for IA in support of the National pay claim.
It was defeated narrowly by every other Region in the UK, except London.
London was simultaneously balloted on taking IA for it's London Weighting claim which which was
overwhelmingly carried.
RM took the National vote against IA as being a rejection of the CWU, and the green light to
impose anything they wanted. They said 'the World had changed' and thought they could ignore the CWU.
When London offices took a one day official strike in support of the London Weighting claim RM
managers suspended people on the return to work for various reasons, and provoked walkouts.
Mail from offices on strike was moved to other offices which provoked further walkouts.
It was however due to the support of offices outside London, who walked out when mail was
sent there from offices on strike, and some who just walked out in sympathy (like Coventry) which
turned the tide. After a week, RM were told that Reps in Scotland would be meeting to decide on
recommending a walkout across Scotland in support of London.
This forced RM back to negotiations, and a settlement was reached which could be put to the London
members.
If it had not been for the fact that the London members had voted in both the National pay vote,
and the London Weighting vote for IA, the CWU would have been totally sidelined by RM.
But we could not have won without the solidarity of our colleagues across the UK.

[rockytony67]

You pointed out the example of 2003, when it was the issue of London Weighting. Where we didn't get a yes vote outside of London, because it didn't affect the rest of the Country.

The vote Dingo was referring to in 2003 was for IA in support of the National pay claim.
It was defeated narrowly by every other Region in the UK, except London.
London was simultaneously balloted on taking IA for it's London Weighting claim which which was
overwhelmingly carried.
RM took the National vote against IA as being a rejection of the CWU, and the green light to
impose anything they wanted. They said 'the World had changed' and thought they could ignore the CWU.
When London offices took a one day official strike in support of the London Weighting claim RM
managers suspended people on the return to work for various reasons, and provoked walkouts.
Mail from offices on strike was moved to other offices which provoked further walkouts.
It was however due to the support of offices outside London, who walked out when mail was
sent there from offices on strike, and some who just walked out in sympathy (like Coventry) which
turned the tide. After a week, RM were told that Reps in Scotland would be meeting to decide on
recommending a walkout across Scotland in support of London.
This forced RM back to negotiations, and a settlement was reached which could be put to the London
members.
If it had not been for the fact that the London members had voted in both the National pay vote,
and the London Weighting vote for IA, the CWU would have been totally sidelined by RM.
But we could not have won without the solidarity of our colleagues across the UK.

Excellent post Baldrick You are 100% correct, we in London could not have done it without the rest of the country

[guvenor]

and i think we are waiting on london k.o. again scotland

[Geezer]

Look I am big enough to take some stick some of its a fair cop.

It seems to me that to many members forget all the good that people like yourself and many others in our union have achieved over the years and just concentrate on the bad all the time I go in and there's not a day that goes by that someone's not moaning about there's to much work(still finish way before there time)the unions s**t(stand for a branch position then and do something about it)why should i check my tyre pressure or weigh my bags(because its the law and health and safety) etc etc etc.Alot of us need to get real and get behind Dingo and those like him as if it was not for them we would still be on 6 day weeks,a lot lower pay and much much worse terms and conditions then what we have got.Keep up the good work lads and remember Unity is strength.

Johnnyp The members haven't forgotten all the good the Union and Reps have done,that's why we still support them.There are many very good people working hard in their own time to help other members, but we cannot just keep harking back to things past.We are in another era now and time has moved on. We are now in probably the biggest time of crisis that we will ever face as both a Union and a Workforce.When members are complaining its because they see what is happening all across the country, they see jobs being part timed, hours coming out of offices and every agreement we have broken.What i see is not members moaning but screaming out for a Union that has foresight, with a coherent strategy and a leadership that has the skills to see that strategy through.When offices are being decimated and Managers seem to have a free reign to implement any madcap idea that comes to mind,is it any wonder we look to the Union for support,and if that support is not forthcoming then don't we as members have a right to ask why.

[Geezer]

[dvbuk55]

Look I am big enough to take some stick some of its a fair cop.

It seems to me that to many members forget all the good that people like yourself and many others in our union have achieved over the years and just concentrate on the bad all the time I go in and there's not a day that goes by that someone's not moaning about there's to much work(still finish way before there time)the unions s**t(stand for a branch position then and do something about it)why should i check my tyre pressure or weigh my bags(because its the law and health and safety) etc etc etc.Alot of us need to get real and get behind Dingo and those like him as if it was not for them we would still be on 6 day weeks,a lot lower pay and much much worse terms and conditions then what we have got.Keep up the good work lads and remember Unity is strength.

Johnnyp The members haven't forgotten all the good the Union and Reps have done,that's why we still support them.There are many very good people working hard in their own time to help other members, but we cannot just keep harking back to things past.We are in another era now and time has moved on. We are now in probably the biggest time of crisis that we will ever face as both a Union and a Workforce.When members are complaining its because they see what is happening all across the country, they see jobs being part timed, hours coming out of offices and every agreement we have broken.What i see is not members moaning but screaming out for a Union that has foresight, with a coherent strategy and a leadership that has the skills to see that strategy through.When offices are being decimated and Managers seem to have a free reign to implement any madcap idea that comes to mind,is it any wonder we look to the Union for support,and if that support is not forthcoming then don't we as members have a right to ask why.

In short - yes we do have the right - and what's more we deserve a truthful answer.

[Geezer]

I posted that nearly a year ago, and we still seem to be no further forward.It defies belief that after all this time we are still having the same arguments we were having back then.

[dvbuk55]

I posted that nearly a year ago, and we still seem to be no further forward.It defies belief that after all this time we are still having the same arguments we were having back then.

I was looking back over posts by various people and in Sep 2008 a well known poster was advocating strike action over the pension and here we are 13 months later no nearer and deep in recession - so snafu.

[Big Daz]

Can I asked when you last had a bag on your back delivering mail, and listen to the local D.o.M giving out his orders?

It's about time pouch over the shoulder deliveries were stopped and converted to bikes or other means.

It annoys that my D.O has more bikes than it needs yet we still have people having to manage with the pouch over the shoulder.

[sareknees]

Has anyone had executive action taken out in the last few weeks after the strikes got called off?

Surely everyone should go back on there signed for duty and put an end to this bullying tactic by hitler type managers

Cheers in advance for any replies