Where is the current postal strike going

[merson01]

By
Keith Lee
After nearly three months of official rolling one day strikes postal workers are entitled to ask where their strike is going.
The blunt answer to this is that unless the current strike is taken out of the hands of the CWU bureaucracy it will lead to a defeat the likes of which has not been seen in the industry. The stakes are high.
The CWU leadership has worked it socks of to prevent the growing number of unofficial action up and down the country from turning into a national dispute. Time and time again the CWU has instructed postal workers that mail redirected to non-striking depots should not be blocked because such action is unofficial. Despite these threats, a significant section of workers continue to refuse to handle re-directed mail.

It has opposed growing demands for a national strike. Prior to the locally based strikes, concentrated in a handful of cities, the CWU had received a total of 400 demands from union branches for ballots for industrial action. By the day of action this had reached almost 500. The CWU have had to take on extra staff to handle the growing demand for strike action. Many branches are angry at the CWU’s deliberate delaying tactics.

Ballot results are exceptionally high in favour of strikes, as workers want to prevent London offices being isolated in their fight to resist Royal Mail’s assault on jobs and working conditions. The present assault is based on a 2007 agreement reached between the CWU and Royal Mail. The CWU’s sole concern is to resist any unified offensive by postal workers, dividing workers by what it calls balloting “unit by unit,” in order to prevent an all-out confrontation with Royal Mail.

“The CWU acknowledges that postal workers face a possible 40 percent cut in staffing levels. There are also complaints of staff being bullied into working through breaks and into their own time, the tearing up of agreed attendance patterns leading some to work an extra 46 days a year and others losing up to £6,000 a year in pay, compulsory transfers and forcible imposition of changes to working practices” .
The sabotaging of the strike by the CWU has given to the green light to management to tear up local and national agreements and start to impose draconian workings conditions.
According to a open letter from London District Office

“Royal Mail management has taken “executive action” – the imposition of cuts without agreement with the union – at several delivery offices and mail centres across London. Thus far Royal Mail have imposed revisions or issued notices of intent in all the following offices: South London Mail Centre, Mount Pleasant, EC Delivery, W1, WC, SW1, SW6, SW7, SW11, SW13, SW14, SW15, SW16, SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7, W8, W9, W10, W11, W12, NW1, NW2, NW3, NW4, NW5, NW6, NW7, NW8, NW9, NW10, NW11, NW12, SE1, SE18, E1, E3, plus most of the distribution hubs”.

It goes on that “In some delivery offices over a third of jobs have been “deleted”. And bosses are planning to extend these attacks to a further 28 workplaces. The situation in Wimbledon, south London, is typical. Bosses there are demanding “total flexibility” from workers, insisting that 30 drivers convert to delivery duties whenever required.This is a prelude to job cuts,” says Greg Charles, branch secretary of the CWU union for London South West.According to London Division Management have taken executive action in over 50 offices in London and we have received a further 28 statements of inten”.
The letter states
 The levels of Job reductions ranges from 6% to 33% in each workplace.
 In Mount Pleasant management have given notice of executive action on removing 250 Jobs from the Mail Centre.
 Delivery offices where they have removed a third of Jobs by executive action. Management have also given notice in these offices that they intend to introduce Geo route revisions in October.
 Proposals have been introduce for the introduction of over 40% part timers. This effectively means that full timers will be compulsorily transferred. On a daily basis we are seeing individual’s taken off pay for failing to complete their deliveries.
 The union reports cases individuals, many of whom have worked on deliveries for years and have never been in any trouble before, have been taken down the conduct code and charged with wilful delay.
 Collections and Mail Centre staff being sent to delivery offices and threatened with the conduct code if they refuse.
 Only last week one individual, who had just been presented with his 30 year long service award, had to bring some work back as he could not complete. In line with the conduct code he informed management prior to going out on delivery, but they still suspended him from delivery and are attempting to do him for wilful delay.
 Furthermore they have given notice of the removal of all 4 day weeks despite agreeing these duty patterns under the Phase 2 audit process.
 Royal Mail’s removal of 4 day weeks which affects around 1800 individuals within London means that these individuals will have to work an extra 46 days per year and in a lot of cases are losing up to £6000 per year”.
The national union has come under growing criticism not only by other sections of the bureaucracy but more importantly by rank and file postman London CWU was forced to issue a open letter which called for a national strike .Deputy General Secretary Dave Ward’s recent closing remarks to the rally were premised by an admission that he was aware of growing criticism of the CWU’s role in the strikes and the tactics deployed. But he insisted that “we” have to find a way of “adapting” to change in a competitive market and “we” are not frightened of change
To prevent the growing rebellion going any further the CWU bureaucracy has been aided by the various Radical groups who despite offering mild criticism have covered for the CWU leadership.The Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party. Both have members who occupy leading positions in the CWU; Jane Loftus of the SWP is vice-president of the CWU.

Both parties have not raised a single difference of principle with the strategy of the CWU leadership. Both have refused to discuss the implications of the CWU’s policy statements and how they support job losses, rationalisation, efficiency drives and depot restructuring based on the 2007 agreement brokered by the TUC. At the rally, Charlie Kimber, the SWP’s industrial editor, shook Ward’s hand in front of a contingent of postal workers.

The workers power group has sought to ply illusions that by “. Putting the maximum pressure on Dave Ward and the Postal Executive for an immediate national strike is the key demand at the moment that all should unite around. Organising at the grassroots to ensure that those leading the action can debate the way forward and apply such pressure is key. Those units on strike or balloting for action should call a delegate unofficial conference to put pressure on the leadership and hammer out a strategy to advance the strike and win.

These radical groups are a fifth column within the workers movement who seek to ensure that no challenge is made to this rotten CWU leadership.

A successful struggle against privatisation and job losses depends on postal workers taking the dispute out of the hands of the CWU apparatus and mobilizing politically against the Labour government and its big business backers. Independent rank-and-file committees must be established to coordinate action with workers across the whole postal sector, Tube workers and others who face similar attacks.

Such an industrial offensive can succeed only if it is linked to a socialist political strategy that rejects the capitalist market as the basis for organising economic and social life, and places social need above corporate profit. Please contact this author for any discussion on the above article.