REPORT OF THE FOS STRUCTURE WORKING PARTY

[TrueBlueTerrier]

No. 426/10
Ref : jb/an/WH/10
Date: 17th May 2010


o : All Branch Secretaries


Dear Colleagues,

REPORT OF THE FOS STRUCTURE WORKING PARTY

Branches will recall that motion 57 in the name of the NEC was adopted at Annual Conference 2008. The wording was;

“This Conference recognises the frustration that some branches may feel over the lack of progress on constituency rationalisation. While there have been many reasons for progress not having been possible in the past at a pace that some would wish, the Conference now believes that there is a will across all constituencies at all levels of the union, to make progress on this issue.

The NEC will therefore establish an appropriate committee or sub-committee with the objective of discussing and effecting appropriate changes to the current constituency structure. It will do so with the clear understanding that change can only be achieved through the agreement of all constituencies and annual conference. The committee/sub-committee will have the following objectives;

1.To understand the impacts of the current structure and seek to improve them.
2.Consult with branches and regions on the detail of appropriate changes to the current constituency structures.
3.To where appropriate, seek to effect changes progressively through Rules Revision sessions at annual conference”

In 2009 the Engineering/PTS and Clerical constituency issued to all Branches a statement regarding the future of the Telecoms constituency. Since that date the Finance, Organising and Strategy Committee of the NEC have established a working group to deal with this matter. The report of that working group is attached.

Any enquiries should be addressed to John Baldwin at CWU HQ, 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon SW19 1RX or by e-mail to aniven@cwu.org


W Hayes
General Secretary

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Report of Structure Working Group of the NEC

Branches will recall that Annual Conference 2008 adopted proposition 57 in the following terms:

“This conference recognises the frustration that some branches may feel over the lack of progress on constituency rationalisation. While there have been many reasons for progress not having been possible in the past at a pace that some would wish, the Conference now believes that there is a will across all constituencies at all levels of the union, to make progress on this issue.

The NEC will therefore establish an appropriate committee or sub-committee with the objective of discussing and effecting appropriate changes to the current constituency structure. It will do so with the clear understanding that change can only be achieved through the agreement of all constituencies and annual conference. The committee/sub-committee will have the following objectives;

1.To understand the impacts of the current structure and seek to improve them.
2.Consult with branches and regions on the detail of appropriate changes to the current constituency structures.
3.To where appropriate, seek to effect changes progressively through Rules Revision sessions at annual conference”

Since the carriage of the proposition the Finance, Organising and Strategy Committee of the NEC have established a working group to address this and other policies relating to the structure of the union.

There have been numerous meetings of the working group in parallel with informal and formal discussions between the various constituencies. As a result of the discussions in the Telecoms and Financials Services constituencies the following statement was issued in 2009;

“All the constituencies in the T&FSE believe that the carrying of motion 57 at the 2008 General Conference places an obligation on all constituencies to investigate the impact of the current constituency structure and where necessary affect changes that will improve the current structure for the benefit of membership representation.

The Telecom constituencies agree that change, where necessary, should result from dialogue within the CWU and not from any pressure from the employer.

Whilst some closer working has been demonstrated there is more that can be achieved. The unique challenges facing the companies with whom we do business are generating equally unique challenges for the union and will put a strain on the existing Telecom structure. Therefore, all Telecom constituencies commit, through the sub-committee established by Motion 57, to identify what changes are necessary to achieve a real improvement in structures. The aim will be to achieve appropriate representation in all areas covered by the TFSE and in support of TFSE policy to move towards self sustaining representation.

All Telecom Constituencies approach this debate with an open mind and in the full knowledge that compromise will be necessary and a greater level of trust will need to be established if change is to become a reality. Greater trust will only be achieved if actions rather than words are forthcoming from the work of the sub-committee. This is also dependent on all constituencies looking forward rather than back and ensuring that the needs of the members are addressed.

In line with Motion 57 full consultation will take place with Telecom branches and regions once the sub-committee has established its view on the issues that need to be addressed by the Telecom constituencies. These issues will inform and develop the debate with branches and regions.

The Telecom constituencies will do all in their power to ensure that an initial report identifying the issues that need to be addressed, is available by this year’s annual conference and that the debate with branches and regions will begin as soon as practical thereafter.

In parallel with the work of the sub-committee, the Telecom constituencies will also try to develop ways of working closer together in CWU HQ and will try through discussion and agreement to remove barriers where these may exist, to effective policy development or which prevent a joint approach to issues affecting more than one Telecom constituency. To this end, regular meetings will be scheduled between Telecom constituency chairs and T&FE representatives from each constituency with a view to developing an agenda for closer working, cooperation and policy development that is accepted by all constituencies.

All Telecom constituencies believe that the time is now right to eliminate those aspects of the current structure that have over time outlived their necessity. All parties are committed to making these initiatives work in the interests of all members in the current Telecom constituencies.”

It will be seen that the statement outlined the ways in which the parties would attempt to meet the obligations placed on them by Motion 57. In addition it stated the intention to remove any barriers to closer working across the Telecom sector of the union and to develop where appropriate, a joint approach on issues affecting more than one of the Telecom Constituencies.

Since annual conference last year, the T&FSE Chair and the chairs of the Engineering/Clerical/O&A constituencies along with representatives of each group, have met on a number of occasions. As a first step the group sought to achieve a clearer understanding of each others ethos and practices and their historical positions on constituency rationalisation. This process has in turn assisted the group in beginning to identify the issues that will need to be addressed by a new rationalised structure and has led to much closer working between the constituencies on joint issues.

In parallel and separate from this initiative, the DGS(T&FS) has set out the outline of a new Telecom Structure to meet the T&FSE policy of establishing a self-sustaining organisation in each of the almost 40 companies, in which the T&FSE has recognition. This draft outline has been debated at a forum of all Telecom branches and has helped provide further insight into the issues that will need to be addressed to achieve constituency rationalisation. A further forum was held in April.

A measure of the unprecedented progress towards meeting the objectives of Motion 57 is the fact that the T&FSE agreed in March of this year, to call a further branch forum to identify the issues that will need to be addressed to establish a single Telecom constituency by 2012. This is the first time since the NCU and the CWU were established that a single Telecom constituency has been the policy of the T&FSE.

Immediately after conference, consultation will take place initially with Telecom branches and regions, to further develop a Telecom structure based on a single Telecom constituency that moves decision making closer to the membership.

We see the outcomes of these activities feeding into the aims and the regional cross-constituency consultation, outlined in Motion 57.

The Postal constituency have agreed to merge the PTS constituency once the final terms can be agreed.

All of these activities are taking place with cognisance that it is a matter for each Industrial Executive to identify the size, make-up and structure required to meet the challenges of the future, while at the same time recognising the obligation placed on us all to meet the financial challenges that face the union, in an equitable way. This requires serious consideration by all constituencies on the size of both the industrial Executives and the NEC.

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Does this report state the cwu's intention to merge /affiliate with other unions?
I know union finances are a big issue at the moment .
"look Dave we can share an office" " well theres a saving already"!
or have i misread the doc's content/intent ?