Communication Workers Union sabotages postal strike

[Geezer]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov20 ... -n07.shtml

By Chris Marsden
7 November 2009

All strikes by Britain’s 120,000 postal workers were called off until at least the New Year, on the evening that two days of action were about to begin. The action is a betrayal orchestrated by the Communication Workers Union and their allies in the Trades Union Congress.

The initial announcement came after a further round of talks between the CWU and Royal Mail management, brokered by the TUC. Initial statements by TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber indicated that the strikes had been called off, and a moratorium on further action accepted. This is even though no agreement has been reached on the package of job cuts and speedups being planned, in preparation for the partial privatisation of the letters delivery service.

Barber said the decision had been made to provide “a period of calm,” in which the two sides could reach a long-term deal and ensure that Royal Mail deliveries would be “free of any disruption” over Christmas. Securing a final deal, he added, remained a long way away.

Up to 45,000 jobs are now immediately under threat at Royal Mail, together with pay cuts and a back-breaking increase in productivity. These attacks were from the start barely opposed by the CWU, which continually declared its commitment to “modernisation” before and during the strike and accepted that redundancies must be made. “Modernisation” is the standard euphemism employed by Royal Mail and the Labour government for the sweeping programme of cuts and speed-ups designed to prepare for privatisation.

Having been finally forced to call a strike by a militant rank-and-file, the union bureaucracy has consistently worked to limit its impact, calling out different sections of the work force on different days. CWU members took five 24-hour strikes over the past two weeks, all of which involved different sections striking separately. Significantly, the strikes the CWU rushed to call off would have been the first to involve all 120,000 union members.

While hamstringing the strikes, the CWU bureaucrats spent virtually their every waking moment seeking a rotten deal with management. They did so even as management hired a scab workforce of 30,000 temps and assigned management personnel to break the strike, in collusion with the Brown government and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. The CWU never opposed this scabbing through the organisation of mass pickets. It has now confirmed that it is not even pressing ahead with a legal challenge that was due to be held in the High Court yesterday, the day of the planned strike.

In contrast, on the day the CWU agreed to end all action, Royal Mail took out full-page advertisements in national newspapers, urging CWU members to cross picket lines and return to work. Leaflets were distributed at all depots describing the strike as “barmy.”

The CWU also left unresolved the issue of Royal Mail’s £10 billion pension fund deficit—the product of repeated “pension holidays” taken by the company with the support of the Labour government.

To negotiate under these conditions could have only one aim: to end the strike on Royal Mail’s terms. The CWU’s only real concern is to keep what amounts to an in-house franchise as Royal Mail’s enforcer of attacks against the work force. Thus CWU Deputy General Secretary Dave Ward proudly declared that the decision to end the strike had been unanimously agreed by its executive board, so that, “We can now have a period of calm where we hope we can genuinely take forward modernisation in a way that puts the union at the centre.”

“It will take exceptional efforts to rebuild trust, but we will work very hard to ensure that the agreement stays on track,” he added.

For its part, Royal Mail Managing Director Mark Higson spoke of seeking “a sensible agreement with the CWU” and “positive and constructive discussions on the next stage of Royal Mail’s modernisation plan.” Mandelson gloated that the task was now to agree “the next phase of modernisation.” He thanked Barber personally for brokering the sell-out, adding that he hoped that “wrinkles in the modernisation process…will be smoothed out by discussion and negotiation without resorting to further strikes in the future.”

On Friday, in a fresh twist, it was announced that some details of the “interim” agreement ending the strikes would be released. Such details were thin and contradictory. The CWU said that “significant concessions” were made by Royal Mail, but the company stated that the agreement’s key issues were the same as that discussed last month.

The CWU’s actions serve to confirm the repeated warnings made by the Socialist Equality Party. The trade unions and the well-fed careerists at their head function as a second arm of management to discipline and control their members and sabotage any and all struggles by their members that they cannot suppress. This is especially the case when the entire trade union bureaucracy is aware of a mounting wave of unrest that is widely acknowledged as threatening an outbreak of industrial unrest similar to the 1979 “Winter of Discontent” that helped bring down the Labour Government of James Callaghan.

The union bureaucracy will stop at nothing to prevent such an occurrence. The initial stirrings of opposition in the working class have occasioned rank treachery. Preceding the CWU’s sell-out of its members by just one day, the Fire Brigades Union called off another important industrial struggle in Britain: the strike by firefighters in South Yorkshire. It did so just two hours before a strike was to begin, and in talks to which it invited management to attend.

The trade union bureaucracy, like its political allies in government, is charged by the financial oligarchy with extracting the hundreds of billions in bailout funds given to banks and major corporations from the workers—through a devastating programme of cuts in jobs, wages, and conditions, as well as the elimination of vital social services. The fate of the postal strike is a pledge by the bureaucracy that it will do whatever is demanded of it when confronting action by any section of workers.

Workers must draw their own political conclusions.

No struggle can be waged successfully against any of the attacks now being waged against working people under the leadership and through the structures of the trade unions. The CWU and its counterparts no longer function as trade unions as they have been historically understood, as organisations for the collective defence of the jobs and working conditions of their members. They are, rather, instruments for the collective imposition of the dictates of management and the government.

New organisations of the rank-and-file must be built now in order to pursue the class struggle, in a rebellion against the trade unions.

Moreover, the working class must make its final organisational and political break with the Labour Party, which is a right-wing party of big business no different in essence from the Conservatives.

A new and genuinely socialist party is required, taking as its point of departure a refusal to accept that working people must pay for the crisis of the profit system, and setting out to reorganise economic and social life to meet essential social needs. That party is the Socialist Equality Party.

[Big Daz]

[opgpat]

'a rebellion against the trade unions'

FFS
Until the very end this sounds like some kind of MI5-backed attempt at divide and rule of the union/socialist/leftist movement. WHY do these guys think that attacking trade unions is a positive step for the workers? It would lead to more separation in the left and WEAKER left of centre allowing the right/capitalists/our bosses to take over! ALL THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM NEEDS TO FLOURISH IS THE LEFT FIGHTING OVER THEMSELVES INSTEAD OR ORGANISING EFFECTIVE RESISTANCE!!!

UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL. If u don't like what the Labout Party and Trade Unions are doing REFORM them from within. Factionalism has given the stuggle for equality very little.

all MHO. Lets have a heated debate?

[dvbuk55]

There is nothing to debate really - I firmly believe the statement portrayed in this article - it certainly makes more sense than the bullshit the CWU put out.

All this solidarity, and we are the union, change from within, is utter drivel.

The union is afraid it would be de-recognised and in the run up to privatisation will promise RM anything in order to be at the table. I have seen it before and this is just the destruction of the workforce and any agreements either interim or long term will go out of the window this time, in the same way they did last time.

[norbert]

There is nothing to debate really - I firmly believe the statement portrayed in this article - it certainly makes more sense than the bullshit the CWU put out.

All this solidarity, and we are the union, change from within, is utter drivel.

The union is afraid it would be de-recognised and in the run up to privatisation will promise RM anything in order to be at the table. I have seen it before and this is just the destruction of the workforce and any agreements either interim or long term will go out of the window this time, in the same way they did last time.

Correct - you can do race to the bottom as with BT offering a 0 % pay rise which Jeannie Drake had to fight and got neutralized for OR as with the infamous Powerpoint Document start with a very aggressive and hostile position .

I'm afraid Billy & Dave have missed a trick again , everything is done for a reason be it RM or New Labour .

. New Labour has to pay a lot of the debt from propping the banks up off , so why not have a fire sale and include a sweetheart union as part of the deal .

[La Poste]

The trade unions and the well-fed careerists at their head function as a second arm of management to discipline and control their members and sabotage any and all struggles by their members that they cannot suppress.
The CWU and its counterparts no longer function as trade unions as they have been historically understood, as organisations for the collective defence of the jobs and working conditions of their members. They are, rather, instruments for the collective imposition of the dictates of management and the government.

This is what I have suspected for some time and is now appearing to be reality.
Just my opinion.

[not me]

There is nothing to debate really - I firmly believe the statement portrayed in this article - it certainly makes more sense than the bullshit the CWU put out.

All this solidarity, and we are the union, change from within, is utter drivel.

The union is afraid it would be de-recognised and in the run up to privatisation will promise RM anything in order to be at the table. I have seen it before and this is just the destruction of the workforce and any agreements either interim or long term will go out of the window this time, in the same way they did last time.

well if its true and turns out that way i will not only be out of the union but out of RM as soon as i can

[wranglered]

There is nothing to debate really - I firmly believe the statement portrayed in this article - it certainly makes more sense than the bullshit the CWU put out.

All this solidarity, and we are the union, change from within, is utter drivel.

The union is afraid it would be de-recognised and in the run up to privatisation will promise RM anything in order to be at the table. I have seen it before and this is just the destruction of the workforce and any agreements either interim or long term will go out of the window this time, in the same way they did last time.

well if its true and turns out that way i will not only be out of the union but out of RM as soon as i can

time to go custard...everything dvbuk55 says is correct.

I wonder if Dave Ward has also dropped his supposed legal action about him refusing door to doors.....that's if it wasn't true in the first place...

...and as for getting the NEC traitors and bureacrats out of position, I hope everyone saw the comments Dave Ward said about having re-elections every 2 years. If that transpires, it will become even harder to change the hierarchy and they all know it

...my view, personal of course, is that the CWU is undemocratic in its intentions and and the only way forward is to pull out ...let's be honest, it is only a minority of local reps fighting for their members who make it worth staying.

..and if they are any good they will be ostracised, branded as troublemakers,put under unacceptable levels of pressure etc.

The alternative is perhaps to take an individual stance to protect your interests. Accept working for RM and the terms and conditions they offer, but use the power of the internet to research your legal employment rights and exercise them if RM start breaking the law. A brave and lonely road...but who wants to rely on a union that will actually help an employer exploit you?

Everyone has a choice in who they work for. If TNT appeared on the streets and paid £15 an hour, how many of you would go?

Loads of you.

Let's see, no pay rise for about 4 years, overtime and SA's gone. A completely "decoupled" pension...I read that as no pension in the end. Doesn't make good reading if you are looking at a return on your monies that fund those plush, plush offices in Wimbledon and those nice houses....

At official level everything has been a total capitulation...they are just not up to the job and that is why there is such a strong reaction from the remaining members....

Pull your subs and make those apologists for this "deal" return to the real work of delivering post, not riding the CWU gravy train for all its worth...you might not be able to get them out due to the way they operate the system, but you can perhaps starve them out by withdrawing your contributions..

This "deal" might just be the spark that ignites some of you to go forward in your lives....

My "experience" of the CWU has certainly done that for me!!!!

[La Poste]

I wonder if there are going to be more walkouts at individual offices again IE Scotland and London in particular.

[Red Postie]

The trade unions and the well-fed careerists at their head function as a second arm of management to discipline and control their members and sabotage any and all struggles by their members that they cannot suppress.
The CWU and its counterparts no longer function as trade unions as they have been historically understood, as organisations for the collective defence of the jobs and working conditions of their members. They are, rather, instruments for the collective imposition of the dictates of management and the government.

The trade unions have always been led by well-paid officers and leaders who have held back struggles or limited their impact. The relationship of the leaders to the membership has not changed, neither has their reformist outlook (seeking compromise within what is possible and legal under capitalism).

When the unions and reforms like pensions and the NHS were going forwards (when capitalism could afford them, the long boom of the 1950s-1960s) the union leaders and Labour MPs minimised what workers achieved through struggle. Since then capitalism has gone through a period of stagnation (including the debt- and bubble-driven expansion like 1995-2007) with a series of deep recessions. Now the union leaders retreat and try to minimise the working class' givebacks, rather than fight to advance our interests. Labour has turned into a party of privatisation and we need an anti-capitalist alternative.

The result in the CWU has been retreat, with attacks blocked only by postal workers' militancy: in 1988, beating Tory privatisation in 1996 (despite the union's leadership), agreeing the commercialisation of Royal Mail, then the Pay and Major Change agreement, the Efficiency agreement, the Pay and Modernisation agreement - and now this sell-out. But this strike is not over, there is time to turn the situation around.

Lefts like Billy Hayes, Dave Ward get elected to always end up compromised within the structures without a rank and file movement, based on the activists and more militant members of the union, able to make democratic decisions that can hold leaders and officials who support it to account and recall them when they betray. It is the lack of a genuine rank and file movement that has proved the achilles heel of the fighting wing of our union in 2003, 2007, and today.

I couldn't disagree with the WSWS article quoted more - if the unions are just to discipline workers why do they organise strikes? Clearly they can't be equated with management! That is just simplistic and one-sided - in other words, its wrong. The WSWS/Socialist Equality Party doesn't actually provide an answer on how postal workers can overcome this rotten Interim Agreement and lead the strike to victory.

The way to do that is not to leave the union or ignore it but to fight to replace the current leaders, elected on a pretty miserable turnout anyways, with accountable leaders from the grassroots, and transform the CWU into a truly democratic, class struggle union.

Strike committees are essential, but there are also many left Area Reps and other full-timers that might be drawn in - fine, they should participate not as bigwigs above criticism, but on the basis that they break with any bureaucratic privileges and the unaccountability of only being up for election every year or two, and put themselves at the service of a rank and file movement - in other words put themselves under its democratic discipline. We should use elections to the leadership not ignore these like anarchists would (and the WSWS?), while developing such an alternative leadership now out of the fighting wing of the union.

Unfortunately the Postworker bulletin of the Socialist Workers Party has completely failed to organise such a movement, being content to publish a "rank and file paper" as a way of networking with officials, some left, some not so left, including Billy Hayes who wrote regularly for it for a time! By winning "influence" the SWP thought it could win members. Instead for years now it has obstructed the development of a real rank and file movement, campaigning in the union for a more militant policy, and independent of the officials.

There will be a meeting at theWorkers Power event "Anticapitalism" to discuss how the situation can be turned around and how we can develop such a movement within the CWU. All are welcome.

The whole event will also be focussed on how we can develop a mass movement for a new anti-capitalist workers party in the UK - no such party exists with real roots in the working class, whether the tiny groups calling themselves one (the SWP, the Socialist Equality Party) say so or not. Rather it urgently needs to be built out of the strike leaders, anti-fascist activists, and others in struggle if we are to focus the working class on resisting the crisis.

[opgpat]

All this solidarity, and we are the union, change from within, is utter drivel.

The union is afraid it would be de-recognised and in the run up to privatisation will promise RM anything in order to be at the table... I have seen it before and this is just the destruction of the workforce

Utter drivel! Well I'll take that as a line of debate!

So what the lot of you seem to be saying is this:
The CWU are only out for themseleves and by giving RM what they want, thus making the workers suffer worse and worse terms and conditions, that will serve the CWU HQ long-term. Don't you see a problem with this logic? It makes no sense! Why would an abandoned union membership support the Union that let it down?!?! You're saying the subs are everything for the union so how do they secure their subs? By letting us down?!?!? NO!

Your opinions are proof that the CWU does NOT serve itself by capitulation to RM demands. You want to leave them because you feel they have let you down, so they need to get a deal that there members like so we don't feel let down and leave in droves!

IF THE CWU WERE TOTALLY CAPITULATING WHY WOULD THEY EVEN BOTHER WITH A BALLOT FOR IA LET ALONE CALL A NATIONAL STRIKE!!!!!!!!

And the idea that Dave and Billy have sold their souls for 80grand a year and a company mortgage is really belittling these guys.

I'll reiterate my point - when we fight amongst ourselves the real enemy has already won.

[clashcityrocker]

I'll reiterate my point - when we fight amongst ourselves the real enemy has already won.

[ExSG]

When I read some of the crap spouted by these CWU bashers I question whether the enemy is already within.

[dvbuk55]

IF THE CWU WERE TOTALLY CAPITULATING WHY WOULD THEY EVEN BOTHER WITH A BALLOT FOR IA LET ALONE CALL A NATIONAL STRIKE!!!!!!!!

And the idea that Dave and Billy have sold their souls for 80grand a year and a company mortgage is really belittling these guys.

I'll reiterate my point - when we fight amongst ourselves the real enemy has already won.

Elements of Scotland and London went out last March followed by various areas throughout the year until London became involved and demanded a National Ballot - because despite the fact that over 500 offices had applied to ballot the union sat on it's hands, even though EA and Bullying and harassment had been reported for over a year. They shamefacedly called a National Ballot because they HAD to not because they WANTED to. As a point of interest Dave Ward wanted to settle the week before after 1 Day of National action. That is how committed they were. These people are closer to politicians these days, not the cloth cap leaders of yesterday.

The 80k salary you quote is actually 97k PLUS loans at preferential rates, expenses et al - so lets not sell them cheap.

Lets look very closely at who the real enemy is in this situation - no sense in papering over the cracks, this needs to be sorted if this union is going to represent the wishes of the membership.

And you are right to suggest EXsg the enemy IS within and it's not in the rank and file.

[opgpat]

These people are closer to politicians these days, not the cloth cap leaders of yesterday.

Is that why Dave resigned from the Labour Partys NEC in 2007?

"In a letter to CWU members informing them of his decision to stand down from the NEC, he says: 'I feel there is a growing conflict of interests between my role in representing and defending the views of the CWU and continuing to spend time on the Labour Party NEC.' He said: 'I believe this government's policies have been more hostile to postal workers than any previous government."

I remember that letter, it doesn't sound to me like a man in the pockets of the PLP or the Brown/Mandelson brigade?

The 80k salary you quote is actually 97k PLUS loans at preferential rates, expenses et al - so lets not sell them cheap.

I made up an average for Billy and Dave as I can't find Dave's. I doubt they are both on 97grand. Money doesn't always corrupt and while they are paid way too much it doesn't magically make them poodles of the capitalist system or nullify their morals.

With regard to calling the Ballot I think 2 years between ballots for national strikes is bloody frequent! Are you serious? Most public reaction to national IA was 'NOT AGAIN'. I think that says a lot. The Union HAS responded to it's members wishes and followed through to the end. It always said it would call off the IA if RM agreed to talks with ACAS/indepedant body with no strings. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAVE DONE! We now need to allow them time to be sensible or we go out again with full CWU HQ. I can't see a problem here. You have to allow talks to take place even with the back-stabbing we got after 2007.