Dvbuk says...Would a No vote mean more strikes - no it would not.
Well firstly no you are right it would not automatically mean a strike. The truth is though that if we reject this agreement and the CWU are unable to get a new settlement that members will go for (since they spent 4 months talking on this one my opinion is that this process is exhausted) then our options will include strike. Any member voting no must do so in the full knowledge that they should be prepared for further strike action.
Despite people's hazy memories the honest picture is that many areas were creaking after 2 days. Will these same areas be able to sustain IA? If this agreement goes down it will be in deliveries and on d2d. There are other issues but this is the most contentous. Do people really think a national all function vote let alone dispute could be won on this issue??
Dvbuk says......Would a No vote mean that the agreement needs to be revisited and look at the clear disparity in the rewards. Yes it would.
Not to be too blunt and trying to keep passions to a minimum but get in the real world. They have been talking for 4 months with the assistance of ACAS. The CWU have squeezed every penny from the company and moved them on every single one of their original positions. Do people really think a no vote would mean royal mail would say 'oh we misjudged that one, here's another £20m we found down the sofa'
Dvbuk says....Would a No vote bring a little more clarity to the CWU to focus on who they represent and who pays their bills - at least up to now. Yes it would.
Absoulute rubbish. The CWU achieved a number of conference policies in this agreement.... The outdoor department sent out a delivery blueprint to branches 12 montsh ago setting out the CWU aims..... every single one has been reached. The focus of our negotiators led to acas being involved and the focus of our negotiators turned over RMs original position on everything!
Dvbuk says....Would a No vote give more time to finalise the revision tools and set out workshops - Yes it would.
Wrong.... A no vote would mean both sides go back to war and RM revert to using their own unagreed standards. The last thing on the minds of the 2 HQs in the event of a no vote would be workshops (oh and they r booked in for week after next). If anything a no vote put this at risk.
Dvbuk says...Would a No vote make them realise that a 3 year deal is not in our best interests - Yes it would.
I have to say this is the biggest red herring of the lot. At a time when companies across the world and the uk are going to the wall, people around us are losing their jobs YOU see the security of a 3 year deal as bad thing. Unbelievable.
Dvbuk says....Would a No vote allow a Labour/Tory Government get in office and press the Pensions issue until such time as a decision is made, which has never been done with sufficient vigour. Yes it would.
HAHAHA........ Oh yes I am sure the tories would really listen to us pressing them when they have the other option of painting us as millitants with no agreement in place and making their move to smash the union and privatise the industry then set about robbing our pension fund.
In summary (and I apologise for the rant but it is for good reasons i assure everyone) I have no issue with anyone voting no but come on what is the alternative. If anyone is being honest you can see that Dvbuk's alternative is probably fine in an ideal worls. Sadly we do not live in that world.
In the circumstances this is a very good settlement. I expect the majority of members to see the agreement / background to it as a whole by the time the vote comes out.
If you want to attack me carry on but when you do I ask you to think not about yourselves because I know that you are good trade unionists and would back action at anytime. The National Union must judge the situation as a whole. They feel that the process is exhausted, there is no widespread appetite for more action, the agreement represents very good value for cwu members in the current environment and that now is the time to settle.
I could analyse the negative points from the deal (and I have ) but also to make a real call you must also look at the positives and the internal and external environment. When all this is taken into consideration I think we will see a YES vote in the ballot.
Roll on the insults /////
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