Different Union?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

No...

Just dunno what to do in our office, revision duty tested out at 6 hrs 15 yesterday, manager informed us this was fine, no opposition from rep/dep rep...any questions were dismissed as "negativity", it's just rolling ahead...

Ever thought about setting up an unofficial committee of those that are more militant or more likely not to back down. You may not be in the Union so you could call it a workers council.

The managers wont recognise it but they will have to deal with the consequences once you get organised and start educating each other and discussing tactics. This is what a strong office does at local level and IMHO what all offices should do.

Yes nationally the CWU may have failed us, but locally the union is the members and when some injustice has to be addressed its the members that take action, you cannot, and nor should you, rely on the CWU to do everything. The Union is not there to fight your battles for you, its there to support you during your fight and that is the mindset you need to have.

[gazzariah]

I guarantee R/M will not recognise any other union apart from the CWU especially when it comes around to deals,agreements and more serious issues.

They will talk to another union but as for recognising one like they recognise the CWU is a far different matter.

Understandable why you left the CWU they have let us all down in a very big way not just with this agreement but a couple of others (Way forward, Pay and Mod).

Also there are many in my office who are disillusioned with our union and I'm one ,but for now I will remain a member.

Unfortunately as a rep myself what has been said above is true at present there's no support from the CWU were left to fight our own causes .

Hung Out To Dry are the words I'm looking for.....................................

cwu web site good deal for bt telecoms not a mention of royal mail.l spineless union weak inept and smell of urine

[PostieWithTheMostie!]

Posted a letter the other day from the CWU for something mad like ' CWU House Insurance ' quote on letter says we'll give you minium £30 - good to know where my Union subscription fee is helping to go too, too busy trying to become a business rather than a Union doing what a Unions meant too. As for them helping us, we've probably stand a better chance pissing against the wind and trying to keep dry..

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Posted a letter the other day from the CWU for something mad like ' CWU House Insurance ' quote on letter says we'll give you minium £30 - good to know where my Union subscription fee is helping to go too, too busy trying to become a business rather than a Union doing what a Unions meant too. As for them helping us, we've probably stand a better chance pissing against the wind and trying to keep dry..

The CWU are not "selling insurance" the UIA are and the CWU get commission on it AFAIK, they will also be paid for using the CWU logo. Our subs won't be going to sell any insurance at all.

See this quote at bottom of the UIA page http://www.uia.co.uk/CWU/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

UNISON, Unite, CWU, Usdaw, NASUWT, RMT, Ramblers' Association, BFAWU, FBU and NAPO are Introducer Appointed Representatives of UIA (Insurance) Ltd and UIA (Insurance Services) Ltd, which are both authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

[mailmonkey]

No...

Just dunno what to do in our office, revision duty tested out at 6 hrs 15 yesterday, manager informed us this was fine, no opposition from rep/dep rep...any questions were dismissed as "negativity", it's just rolling ahead...

Ever thought about setting up an unofficial committee of those that are more militant or more likely not to back down. You may not be in the Union so you could call it a workers council.

The managers wont recognise it but they will have to deal with the consequences once you get organised and start educating each other and discussing tactics. This is what a strong office does at local level and IMHO what all offices should do.

Yes nationally the CWU may have failed us, but locally the union is the members and when some injustice has to be addressed its the members that take action, you cannot, and nor should you, rely on the CWU to do everything. The Union is not there to fight your battles for you, its there to support you during your fight and that is the mindset you need to have.

This is a great reply, thanks, just what i wanted to hear actually :)

You've given me something to think about, and a more positive mindset to boot.

[post_bitch]

What about el carteros union?

[andy2007]

Or you could go with your original plan of getting all those who left the CWU to join the same Union. It wouldn't be recognised by RM, but you'd have all the advantages of getting a comittee together, along with the expertiese of a Union. You'd have all the backup (except being recognised) you'd expect from a Union.

My Wife and many of her colleagues did that in her job (retail), and they were a great help. Although she was lucky in the end, as her employer was taken over by a Supermarket, which already recognised their Union (USDAW). So now the Union's recognised too. The odds of you being that lucky if we're taken over are very slim. But USDAW helped them out with a lot of problems before the takeover too.

[End of the road]

Bridlington agreement
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/UN ... ENT-EN.htm

This agreement effectively tied a union to an industry and opposing unions agreed not to poach or encroach on fellow unions bath water. I know it has been weakened by both European and Thatcher laws but it is still in place and unions do abide by it one way or another. You would be free to join any union you wanted to, but only one at a time that is also covered in the agreement .

Joining a differing union would achieve what exactly

[Martin Walsh]

At the end of the day the cwu is a voluntary organisation and has not been a closed shop for decades.

However for an employer to recognise a different union then there has to be a ballot of the whole workforce and majority has to vote in favour. In short it is not going to happen. Yes you can take Andy`s option and join a different union but the fact is that you will have no voice in the workplace.

Now lets get one thing clear it seems most of the people who are now anti union are so because of the changes to things like door to door and early shift allowance. Both of these were negotiated and agreed by the CWU at a time when door to door or households as they used to be were done by reserves , casuals , overtime or not at all. Royal Mail were never going to allow this growth area to remain as it was and the CWU managed to trap the money going forward. The same with allowances , when you have sequencing there will not be the same number of people who start at 5 or 5.30.

I think we all would love to go back to the old days when we got paid extra for delivering mail sort , or got traffic related payments , or could finish early and ghost overtime but those days have long disappeared and the industry globally has changed as we all know and of course we have DSA and a whole range of other problems which make it harder for us all.

The CWU has to decide when the time is to do the deal as it did when SFMB was in place with the introduction of part timers in the 80s and automation , it had to do so with the removal of IWM , it had to do with DRAS , PBS , Way Forward , the removal the second delivery , pay and mod and now with this agreement. The key is did we get the timing right. I think we did , some think not and of course some think that Royal Mail would have kept paying out for door to door on the old system and tunring work around and having poor quality . Well those people are the ones who are short sighted not the CWU and in line with the CWU rule book the members voted in favour of the agreement.

So if you choose to leave the CWU then that is your right but you will still have the CWU deciding how the job is worked via national agreements, but this time you will not have a voice or a vote.