CWU Responds To Offer To Sign Agreement

[Geezer]

CWU response to offer to sign ‘agreement’

http://www.cwu.org/news/archive/cwu-res ... ement.html

21st October 2009

Following interviews this evening in which Paul Tolhurst appeared to offer to sign an agreement this evening the CWU has to respond to yet again put the record straight.

The letter from Mark Higson sent to CWU today was substantively different to the form of words achieved through negotiations so far and that is what led to the CWU being unable to call off strike action this week.

CWU spokesperson said: "Royal Mail is again misleading the public. The form of words that was drafted between the negotiating teams last night was precisely that - a form of words that may have allowed the sides to keep talking and call off tomorrow's strikes.

"The reality is there is no agreement. Both Royal Mail's negotiating team and the CWU negotiating team know that the form of words do not constitute a final agreement. To now suggest it is plain stupid.

"Mark Higson is clearly out of touch with his own team. He needs to get round the table and get his hands dirty resolving this dispute."

[headscrewedon]

See the press release on the RM website. It has Higson's letter to Dave Ward. Legally, the 28-day period in which strike action has to be taken following a Yes vote can be extended, if the employer agrees.

RM offered the CWU a 4-week extension, to allow talks to continue.
They even offered to allow a token 15min strike, to keep the ballot live

In return, they wanted tomorrow & Friday's strikes called off, and local reps to re-engage in local discussions

SO, IN SHORT …

ROYAL MAIL OFFERED THE UNION A 4-WEEK EXTENSION ON THE STRIKE MANDATE, WHICH WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE CWU THE CHANCE TO CONTINUE TALKS & STILL RETAIN THE RIGHT TO CALL A NATIONAL STRIKE AT ANY TIME

AND THE CWU DECIDED TO GO AHEAD WITH THE NATIONAL STRIKE ANYWAY

Seems to me, this would have allayed fears of RM just stalling until the mandate died. Dismissing this proposal makes it look like the union is hell-bent on having a strike

[Stormproof]

and months ago CWU offered RM a 3 month deal...........too little too late RM :cfo :mfo

[fishtank]

See the press release on the RM website. It has Higson's letter to Dave Ward. Legally, the 28-day period in which strike action has to be taken following a Yes vote can be extended, if the employer agrees.

RM offered the CWU a 4-week extension, to allow talks to continue.
They even offered to allow a token 15min strike, to keep the ballot live

In return, they wanted tomorrow & Friday's strikes called off, and local reps to re-engage in local discussions

SO, IN SHORT …

ROYAL MAIL OFFERED THE UNION A 4-WEEK EXTENSION ON THE STRIKE MANDATE, WHICH WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE CWU THE CHANCE TO CONTINUE TALKS & STILL RETAIN THE RIGHT TO CALL A NATIONAL STRIKE AT ANY TIME

AND THE CWU DECIDED TO GO AHEAD WITH THE NATIONAL STRIKE ANYWAY

Seems to me, this would have allayed fears of RM just stalling until the mandate died. Dismissing this proposal makes it look like the union is hell-bent on having a strike

Did you read the letter,these are the conditions

the union take no industrial action until that extension expires other than 15 minutes in the final week of the extension period should you still feel the need to validate your ballot
- the union takes no industrial action between the 1st December and the end of December
- no further industrial action is taken on the back of any other current local ballots prior to the end of December
- the union withdraws all instructions to representatives not to cooperate with change and modernisation and tells them to re-engage with the agreed industrial relations framework

Is that what you meant by SO IN SHORT........
There is no way the members would buy this and Higson knows that.

[Dee Plish]

Isn't it funny how Royal Mail respond to (and in this case, probably invent) offers of no strikes once negotiations have broken down. If they did behave responsibly and negotiated properly BEFOREHAND, the chances are we'd still be working Thursday or Friday. If they could actually stick to an agreement, there would be no dispute.

Higson and the UNELECTED Mandleson in collusion with Crozier are not fit for office. They remind me of the character in Viz, Spoilt Bastard. Acting like immature children who only want their own way at all times for purely selfish reasons, with no understanding of common sense or compromise.

[The Jarvie Ward]

and months ago CWU offered RM a 3 month deal...........too little too late RM :cfo :mfo

Spot on ! And now RM want us to sign up to one on their own terms !? I think not, short memories..........

[headscrewedon]

Yes, of course I read the conditions.

Sooner or later, this dispute is going to have to be resolved through negotiations. Any agreement thrashed out will be put to the membership to vote on. If we don't like what's put in front of us, we can reject it.

The RM proposal would allow talks to continue.

It would also allow the PEC to call a token 15min strike as late as 30th Nov, which would still have given scope to call a National Strike anywhere up to & including Christmas Eve (or 27th December, strictly speaking)

If you believe a strike in mid-October puts pressure on Royal Mail, how could a proposal that would give the CWU the option to call a two-day strike or even an INDEFINITE strike say two weeks before Xmas NOT be something that could give us one hell of a lot more leverage ???

Plus, agreeing to the proposal would have been good for us in the short-term PR war, making the public view us as the ones who were willing to sit down and talk, blowing some of Mandelson's arguments about deliberately inflicting pain on the customers and the public right out of the water.

[fishtank]

Yes, of course I read the conditions.

Sooner or later, this dispute is going to have to be resolved through negotiations. Any agreement thrashed out will be put to the membership to vote on. If we don't like what's put in front of us, we can reject it.

The RM proposal would allow talks to continue.

It would also allow the PEC to call a token 15min strike as late as 30th Nov, which would still have given scope to call a National Strike anywhere up to & including Christmas Eve (or 27th December, strictly speaking)

If you believe a strike in mid-October puts pressure on Royal Mail, how could a proposal that would give the CWU the option to call a two-day strike or even an INDEFINITE strike say two weeks before Xmas NOT be something that could give us one hell of a lot more leverage ???

Plus, agreeing to the proposal would have been good for us in the short-term PR war, making the public view us as the ones who were willing to sit down and talk, blowing some of Mandelson's arguments about deliberately inflicting pain on the customers and the public right out of the water.

i will try again....


the union takes no industrial action between the 1st December and the end of December

[headscrewedon]

i will try again....


the union takes no industrial action between the 1st December and the end of December

But once we'd had the token 15min strike to keep the ballot live, if we didn't feel the talks were going anywhere, we could just take a leaf out of RM's book, break our word and hammer them with an all-out strike right before Xmas.

If they didn't cave then, it would be because Mandelson has been pulling the strings all along and we'd then know they were never going to agree a fair settlement.

I give up. It seems some of you just want to have a strike no matter what

[peterloo]

if we agreed to the agreement then renaged on it as you suggest so we went out right before xmas how bad would we
look and Royal Mail would jump allover that

[fishtank]

i will try again....


the union takes no industrial action between the 1st December and the end of December

But once we'd had the token 15min strike to keep the ballot live, if we didn't feel the talks were going anywhere, we could just take a leaf out of RM's book, break our word and hammer them with an all-out strike right before Xmas.

If they didn't cave then, it would be because Mandelson has been pulling the strings all along and we'd then know they were never going to agree a fair settlement.

I give up. It seems some of you just want to have a strike no matter what

And the media would love that,CWU breaks "No Strike Agreement" RM would love that,It would be a propaganda disaster.

[headscrewedon]

if we agreed to the agreement then renaged on it as you suggest so we went out right before xmas how bad would we look and Royal Mail would jump allover that

Have you read any of the media articles on the internet regarding the proposed strikes ? Wherever there is a 'comment on this story' or 'leave feedback' option, the comments by the general public are very anti the strike action ALREADY. And that's about national strikes that haven't even started yet, and which are taking place TWO MONTHS before Xmas. The purpose of striking is to secure an agreement. To exert the maximum pressure, you have to call it when it's most likely to be effective. If you're worried about the bad PR angle, perhaps we should have had strikes in the summer when it would have had no effect & not upset the public ?

[pickaname]

i will try again....


the union takes no industrial action between the 1st December and the end of December

But once we'd had the token 15min strike to keep the ballot live, if we didn't feel the talks were going anywhere, we could just take a leaf out of RM's book, break our word and hammer them with an all-out strike right before Xmas.

If they didn't cave then, it would be because Mandelson has been pulling the strings all along and we'd then know they were never going to agree a fair settlement.

I give up. It seems some of you just want to have a strike no matter what

No

This dispute needs to be resolved via ACAS to bring the long running cycle of disputes to a close once and for all.

Relying on guarantees for this and that from both sides has been proven to be one of the major reasons were still in dispute.

I say both sides unconditionally goto ACAS immediately to carefully and coherently create a long lasting agreement that both sides will stick to.

Thrashing out quick fix agreements ala 2007 will not work. This agreement shouldd be constructed studiously from now and over the Christmas period ready for ratification in early January and implementation in February.

The and only then will this company be able to function normally.

[peterloo]

in the summer we werent where we are now. PR is everything now PR will win us this dispute :mfo

[fishtank]

if we agreed to the agreement then renaged on it as you suggest so we went out right before xmas how bad would we look and Royal Mail would jump allover that

Have you read any of the media articles on the internet regarding the proposed strikes ? Wherever there is a 'comment on this story' or 'leave feedback' option, the comments by the general public are very anti the strike action ALREADY. And that's about national strikes that haven't even started yet, and which are taking place TWO MONTHS before Xmas. The purpose of striking is to secure an agreement. To exert the maximum pressure, you have to call it when it's most likely to be effective. If you're worried about the bad PR angle, perhaps we should have had strikes in the summer when it would have had no effect & not upset the public ?

Wich kind of pressure do you suggest

Public pressure and political pressure are one and the same thing.
Politicians will jump in whatever direction the public mood swings especially in the run up to a general election.

Industrial Action is a PR battle and breaking a No Strike Agreement would be PR suicide.