CWU Postie takes legal action against CWU.

[Jack Mehoff]

A good friend of mine who is a postie is taking legal action against the CWU because of the way her DO rep and area rep have dealt with her complaints against RM management. She has been wrongly advised by her DO rep and area rep and now her time limit to make an official complaint has lapsed.
Her complaints list ranges from serious harassment to racial abuse from RM management.
What is strange is that whatever she tells her DO rep in confidence the management know the same day, which means that the DO rep runs to tell the management everything that was said in confidence.
She has now been given a stage 3 based on a lot of bulls**t. The area rep said not to worry as they will bring a tribunal case against RM. Well she isn't worrying because she knows that she is going to get shafted anyway based on the support she has had from the CWU already.
She did vote yes and she will be on the picket line next week because she is aware of what solidarity means and what RM are up to.
On an even more downside..........She is so upset by the way the whole situation has been treated that she has made arrangements to talk to a reporter from The Daily Mail about what has happened to her and the way she has recieved so-called help from the CWU.

[hazzeem025]

I can't believe that a rep would do that. It's shocking but I hope she gets her interview with the reporter. Hopefully she'll get across to the reporter just exactly how bad some RM managers really are, aswell as the patheticness of the reps. She has my sympathy.

Fortunetely I think reps like the two she's come across are in the minority.

Good luck to her!

[Jack Mehoff]

I can't believe that a rep would do that. It's shocking but I hope she gets her interview with the reporter. Hopefully she'll get across to the reporter just exactly how bad some RM managers really are, aswell as the patheticness of the reps. She has my sympathy.

Fortunetely I think reps like the two she's come across are in the minority.

Good luck to her!

She had a meeting this morning with her area rep and the area reps senior (area secretary) but the same speech was reeled out, "Don't worry, we're here for you", but now it looks like their help is not going to get her anywhere but the dole queue.
Don't get me wrong on this as I have always been and always will be a strong believer in all Unions but if you are in a position to rectify employment then you should do the job you are required to do. I myself think there is a regular trade-off between the reps and RM management as there have been quite a few dodgy sackings just lately.

[whitemoor66]

"She has now been given a stage 3 based on a lot of bulls**t. The area rep said not to worry as they will bring a tribunal case against RM. Well she isn't worrying because she knows that she is going to get shafted anyway based on the support she has had from the CWU already."

Any area rep saying the above is obviously a liar.

CWU don't do ETs but if they did, it would probably be the best farce in the world.

[Jack Mehoff]

"She has now been given a stage 3 based on a lot of bulls**t. The area rep said not to worry as they will bring a tribunal case against RM. Well she isn't worrying because she knows that she is going to get shafted anyway based on the support she has had from the CWU already."

Any area rep saying the above is obviously a liar.

CWU don't do ETs but if they did, it would probably be the best farce in the world.

I've just been informed that this is what was said by the rep "If you want to bring it to a tribunal hearing we will assist you".

[whitemoor66]

Assist maybe, but 100% full union backing with legal backing? I don't think so.

[mailsort6]

When it comes to cases regarding any form of discrimination many union reps do not know how to deal with the situation and some reps are too friendly with the managers. Various CWU members at my office have complained also about how information they have given to the rep as ended-up in the hands of management. Your friend needs to go and see an employment lawyer because some union reps are not equipped to deal which such cases and they do not admit it.

[Martin Walsh]

All cases should be treated confidentially and if that has been breached she is entitled to use the unions internal procducures which ultimately can result in the union official attending a union displine interview.

Now where I am confused is that she has been awarded a stage 3. Stage 3 is dismissal so has she been dismissed ? If so she is entitled to an appeal where she can request a reprsentaitive from the Branch or if she has issues with them from the Division.

Now in regards to racial abuse , I am unsure if its against the manager or another member of staff. If it is a manager then she is entitled to take out a tribunal case on discrimination but she has to go through the internal procedures first ie grievance or hasslement.

Now the CWU do have a very good record at tribunals, but the union do not take every tribunal case on. When a Branch request reprsentation at an ET the case including all the neccesairy paperwork is reviews and then providing it has a better than 50 % chance it is normally given to an industrial tribunal panalist ( not a solictor) only major cases are given barristers etc.

It is impossibe to judge whether she has a case or not as I have not seen any evidence but the fact is that tribunals often rely on past case law to decde fairness and take evidence from the applicant and respondents witnessess and the summing up and witness statements and review all the paperwork prior reaching a decision.

If your member is not happy with her reprsentation then either get in contact with CWU HQs or the regional secretary who may appoint someone outside the branch to deal with her case.

The good news is that cases like this are very isolated and generally CWU Reprsetatives at all levels do a great job represententing members at informal, formal , dismissal and ETs against an employer who can afford barristers to be put in at every ET.

[Jack Mehoff]

All cases should be treated confidentially and if that has been breached she is entitled to use the unions internal procducures which ultimately can result in the union official attending a union displine interview.

The good news is that cases like this are very isolated and generally CWU Reprsetatives at all levels do a great job represententing members at informal, formal , dismissal and ETs against an employer who can afford barristers to be put in at every ET.

She found out last week from the RM doctor that she had been issued with the stage 3. The management have still not informed her though. She was off on sick leave for 2 months because the harassment got so heavy that she nearly had a breakdown. It was the RM doctor that recommended she had 2 months off because she was in such a state. She went back to work in early september. On the day she returned to work (she was put on rehab for 4 weeks by the RM doctor) her dom insisted that she went back to work as normal as he had not recieved any info to suggest she was on rehab even though she had confirmation that he had.
The dom then said he would look into it, then he issued the stage 3 on the same day.
In feburary she had asked her DO rep (in confidence) to assist her with a grieviance because of bullying from management, and the following day she was issued with a severe warning and the deputy manager told her not to bring a grieviance against him or the dom or things will get worse. Things did get worse, a lot worse.

[mailsort6]

All cases should be treated confidentially and if that has been breached she is entitled to use the unions internal procducures which ultimately can result in the union official attending a union displine interview.

The good news is that cases like this are very isolated and generally CWU Reprsetatives at all levels do a great job represententing members at informal, formal , dismissal and ETs against an employer who can afford barristers to be put in at every ET.

She found out last week from the RM doctor that she had been issued with the stage 3. The management have still not informed her though. She was off on sick leave for 2 months because the harassment got so heavy that she nearly had a breakdown. It was the RM doctor that recommended she had 2 months off because she was in such a state. She went back to work in early september. On the day she returned to work (she was put on rehab for 4 weeks by the RM doctor) her dom insisted that she went back to work as normal as he had not recieved any info to suggest she was on rehab even though she had confirmation that he had.
The dom then said he would look into it, then he issued the stage 3 on the same day.
In feburary she had asked her DO rep (in confidence) to assist her with a grieviance because of bullying from management, and the following day she was issued with a severe warning and the deputy manager told her not to bring a grieviance against him or the dom or things will get worse. Things did get worse, a lot worse.

This should not be happening tell your friend to get in touch with the equality department (Headquarters) on this number
02089717238 as soon as possible, so they can deal with her case, this is beyond a joke. She needs to go and see a employment lawyer your friend is entitled to 30 minutes free consultation with an employment lawyer, they will tell her what to do and like you said in a recent post, if she has to go to the newspapers that what she will have to do, this is evidence of bullying and harassment by management.