Is your office up for the fight ?

[Martin Walsh]

The CWU have made the right decision to ballot the whole of the UK , even thou it was later then most of us taking action would have liked. However the stakes could not now be higher , will we deliver a yes vote across the UK.

Our history shows us that a yes vote nationally is not guaranteed and we know that in past national votes we have strong areas and weak areas via branch breakdowns , in 2003 only one division got a yes vote , whereas in 2007 all 9 divisions got a yes vote.

My concern is that some places still have not done the work, plus in places like London and others who have taken a lot of action, and London would have taken 10 days strike by the time the ballot papers come out that some of our members may be battle weary and looking for a way out. I still think that will be on the margins.

But the point is that we need to ensure all of us over the next 3 weeks ensure the members in all of our offices vote yes.

Remember this is not about London , Scotland , Bristol , Peterborugh or any other area this is about you and your office and the kind of job you want to have in the future.

Royal Mail have been given the backing to attack our members terms and conditions like never by this so called labour government. Royal Mail now free from politcal interference have decided that they can now slash costs because they know automation will not achieve what they originally thought . Plus they have been given the green light to remove the cwu from the workplace in a similar way to the print workers and the miners.

If you wanted further evidence that this is the case then look at the following taken direct from a management power point presentation concerning peoples re -action to change in the work place and the time it takes. It is titled THE CHANGE CURVE

1 First there is shock
2. Then denial " it will never happen "
3. Depression/ anger " "they dont care why should I "
4 Resignation " there is nothing I can do about it "
5 Acceptance / letting go " Ok if this is how it is going to be, how can I find the best way forward for me "
6 Understanding / Looking forward " ok this is what I am doing now "

This is the method they hope will weaken our collective strength.

I realise a lot of people have a lot of criticism for the cwu but do you really think your job and your terms and conditions would be safer without the cwu in the workplace. Remember Royal Mail want to create the Martini workforce that you will do what they want at anytime in any place and anywhere.

The CWU on the other hand want you to have good terms and conditions , protect full time jobs , and stop complusory transfers and redundancies .

One of the questions I always get asked at meetings " is that I can't afford to strike " however with Royal Mail plans the answer has to be " you cannot afford not to " . Royal Mail aim to wipe out good terms and conditions and downsize our average earnings to match us with TNT in this country.

So over next month we all have a choice to make. Do you want Royal Mail's vision for the future or do you support your union?

There is no middle ground , no fudge , its either victory for the workers or a return to the 18 hundreds workhouse ethos for postal workers.

So over the next few weeks make sure you make the right choice and vote for a future by voting YES.

[Wessex]

[Cut Off King]

WELL SAID, Now is the time to STAND UP AND BE COUNTED !

If you think RM plans will stop with the current round of cuts then think AGAIN.

As far as RM is concerned , If you don't accept their version of change ,then they will SACK you on a trumped up charge and replace you with an AG !

Time to fight NOW

As my dear old Mother used to say " STAND UP AND BE A MAN ! "

[Broxi51]

Thank you Dingo and well said mate

[baldrick]

dingo I fully support the action that is being taken, but some of my colleagues,
after 6 days of IA in London, are asking wouldn't it have been better to go out
indefinitely, and perhaps we would have got an agreement after a week or two.
As it is we are losing a days pay every week, and it seems this will go on into
October, November, and possibly December.

[Dee Plish]

Superb Dingo - and it's time our Union communicated the power point you revealed and much more to the wider membership. The smarter, stronger people can see the psychology management use, and win, but too many fall for it - this is what management depend on.

Let's screw up their dispicable plans big style

We can and we will :cfo :mfo Fight them or accept slavery.

[darth]

we have the ostrich syndrome in our place.they just cant see the bigger picture and that our whole future if we dont make a stand now could disappear very quickly.the terms and conditions we have now were built on past struggles and sacrifices lose them at our cost.

[upmyroad]

PMSL. We've already lost more then a week's pay through strikes while everyone else work's on as normal. By the time everyone else has voted we're be closer to a month's wages lost. "Up for the fight" Your not even fighting are you.

[Martin Walsh]

Up my road as I said we would have in London have taken 10 days strike action by the time the ballot starts, our next strike dates in London for delivery staff is the Bank Holiday saturday and Thursday 3rd September,

We cannot stop the action whilst Royal Mail are attacking us otherwise it will go unofficial thats for sure. We have recieved a further load of executive action notices for South East London today possibly for your office this time. Our members support has been nothing short of amazing , but I am sure most will agree if we did nothing now and just waited for the national ballot then a lot of our members in London will ask why we took strike action in the first place if we simply are allowing Royal Mail to impose all their revisions without a fight. Thats why we have to continue to take action.

Baldrick I understand that some members want to step up action , however we have to keep 12 Thousand members on board and thats why we have to listen to all Branchs"s in London and then decide the right action.

In addition we now try and co-ordinate with other area strike action. Thus far we have done so with the East of Scotland , Bristol , VOCs , Covertry , Peterborugh, Plymouth and Kent.

We realise that London thus far have taken the most action but others are making scarfices right around the UK and remember some of the East Of Scotland branch"s have been in dispute since March , and remember Thretford have also taken 6 days strike action not to forget the office in Stoke who have gone out on an all out strike.

This dispute is without doubt the most bitter I have ever been in and I have been involved in over 20 different strikes both officail and unofficial. There is little doubt that Royal Mail have been given the green light to take on the CWU and its members to destroy both the union and our members terms and conditions.

The CWU have gambled on two fronts , they dithered to long in calling a national ballot and they have also relied to much on those offices who have put themselves on the front line in this dispute and have taken action. There is always a possiblity that some members who have taken a lot of strike action may become battle weary and reluctant to take another load of strike action.

In London we have not seen this and there has only been two offices where we have had problems out of 140 offices, there has been no drift back but their is a frustration that the national ballot has taken so long especially as it was agreed at Annual conference in June.

However on the plus point a national ballot does change the pressure point , Royal Mail can longer blame London and the other offices currently striking for being out of touch with the rest of Royal Mail or as a senior manager put it to me that we are dinosaurs.

[Phantom]

Upmyroad, I understand what you are saying and the CWU majorly f****d up in 2007 and came away with a crap agreement and no solution to the pensions cos they split it from i/a at the time like fools!

But we do have to fight RM's plans for downsizing - Don't worry it's the CWU's last opportunity to save face too, if they mess up this time, thousands of members will leave and RM will win and it will be the end of the CWU as we know it. It really is the CWU's last chance to get it right.

[upmyroad]

Upmyroad, I understand what you are saying and the CWU majorly f****d up in 2007 and came away with a crap agreement and no solution to the pensions cos they split it from i/a at the time like fools!

But we do have to fight RM's plans for downsizing - Don't worry it's the CWU's last opportunity to save face too, if they mess up this time, thousands of members will leave and RM will win and it will be the end of the CWU as we know it. It really is the CWU's last chance to get it right.

From where I stand the members are more then willing to FIGHT. it's our union that's not.

[Martin Walsh]

Up the road we are the union and we re aready fighting and we along others are leading the way. In my experience in the cwu you cannot just wait for headquaters to do things you must take a lead and more often than not they will follow as is the case now.

Remember the PEC normally react to the feeling in the field which is the correct way otherwise they would be accused of not listening. Every major agreement and dispute has been led first by the shopfloor , branch"s and divisions whether it was the opposition to the employee agenda or London weighting.

With regards to 2007 it is ilrevlant,. The very reason Royal Mail have decided to adopt this appoach now is because they know when they engage the CWU as in 2007 that they dont introduce the plans they require. I know the 2007 deal was a fudge Royal Mail"s wanted 27 strings and got less then 5 and two of them was ammended, whereas we got two pay rises , £800 and some good attendances and a period of calm.

Now lets dispel some myths on pensions as someone who was up for the fight i can say in all honesty that there were very few branch"s around the country who want to strike on pensions alone. This was made clear at the Northampton briefing. You can blame wimbledon all you like but apart from London most other areas didt campain enough on the pension attacks. Now we are facing an even worse pension attack and that is the ending of the pension scheme for all existing members.

So lets remember you have to make a choice do we fight for what we believe is right for the future or do we beat ourselves up over the past and allow Royal Mail to steal our future.

For me there is a famous miners leaders quote who answers this better than i could when he says " I dont want be a monument to the past instead I want to help shape the future "

So lets stop the doubts and the in-fighting and remember that the outcome of this dispute will decide whether we have a job worth keeping in the future.

Up the road I applud you loyalty and know its tough and i know we would all would have like the national ballot sooner but we cannot change things now, we just have to contiue the fight as what we are doing is right and just.

[upmyroad]

Dingo London has showen how willing it is to fight over this. What I'm asking is. Has our union the CWU got the ball's to back us.

[robd]

To answer your question Dingo,i will be voting yes,as i see no alternative,we have already been
subject to many changes,however it's Royal Mail's future plans that are of real concern.
However,i will certainly be in the minority and many senior men that would have had no hesitation
in supporting the union,have openly stated they will not be voting for strike action.
Many certainly feel that little was acheived in 2007,but mostly we have had little in the way of
support from the branch(infact i understand they have blamed CWU HQ for a lack of info!)and they
will be using the opportunity as a protest vote
Equally we have a high percentage of part time staff who feel it will not affect them,and some are
reluctant to strike with so many unemployed.
so unfortunately we cannot secure a yes vote,and i think this will be echoed within the region.

[BELIAL]

Dingo comes up trumps again His analysis that RM's actions indicate a desire to wipe out our union is undeniable.

In a sense this dispute is more about RM's future plans than the actions they are taking now. If you think the changes so far are bearable just wait and see what RM has got lined up for you. Breaking the union is a vital part of their plan to introduce the Dutch model,many parts are already being put in place: the drive to 95% machined mail;sequencing;mail center closures;11500 new vans.
Just to make it more real
If you work in a typical small town delivery office say 30 walks.
1 Chances are your office will close and you will be amalgamated with others at a new location
2 FT jobs will be cut to probably five at most and these will prep 6 or more walks.
3Walks will be merged and cut to give an official 4hr span ( so 5 hrs in reality)
4 Jobs will be cut en masse
5 All delivery jobs that remain will be offered on a 20 hr contract.

So if all that fits with your plans and you can afford to live on £120 a week then you need not worry about supporting the union.
It is what will happen if the CWU are defeated