were as union are we going

[enzio]

for the a long time i always thought that we as a union had some kind of plan but since the last agreement am not so sure since every thing gets done on local agreement royal mail seems to be walking all over us

[gideon 60]

divide and rule. we need national rulings that every office in the land follow, and we need national leaders who show thier face,s in offices now and then

[enzio]

divide and rule. we need national rulings that every office in the land follow, and we need national leaders who show thier face,s in offices now and then

do you think that will happen

[gideon 60]

i hope so, this govt will make life more and more hard for ordinary folk, the only answer is to stand together, but our union leaders must realise they are not another level of management, and support us.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

for the a long time i always thought that we as a union had some kind of plan

It does - survival at all costs especially with privatisation looking likely. Unfortunately that survival will come at a price and we are paying it. Just my opinion though.

[drb]

Its a fair question and is a common one from members to the reps. It certainly is a common one amongst part timers who were brought in as executive action last year and seemed to have "slipped through the net" in terms of national agreements. Part timers start at different times, there-fore the unit rep never sees them,and cannot see the problems of,(for example), have to prep and deliver in 4 hours.
Now a unit rep for example,(once they are aware of this problem), will get bogged down in negotiations for the business to adhere to the national agreement on vacancies,(yes there is a national agreement on this).
This means that if there are vacancies then the part timer can sign for a full time vacancy. However if your part timer was taken on on a "fixed term" contract and has been with Royal Mail over 2 years then he/she SHOULD be made "permanent". There is also a national agreement on this too.

Now if your office has not got a rep,then here lies the problem. Revisions? Well again there are national agreements on everything. However if your office has a rep and your members are pro-active,(as is your branch too),then shoving the agreement under their nose every so often will happen. The 6 steps approach encourages this!

However!!!

All of the above means nothing to most as it's issues that a lot of the time doesn't effect them. To be honest it's the simple things,like a broken water dispenser. If i was to have a union meeting explaining the above,the normal "eyes glaze over" and the "foot shufflers" appear.

Are we pro-active enough? Some times and sometimes not.

Am i happy with some divisional reps and the general structure of the area rep to divisional? No,it's out dated. There has to be a better way. We fought for ACAS and an independant party to be involved and they meet up with Royal Mail and the CWU every 2 weeks to see how revisions are going. However are they getting the right information?

Are our local reps getting enough support? No. Some branches will report that is not a problem when there is! They are not listening to their "frontline" therefore when this happens the local rep loses credibility with their own members.

However I will say this. Everytime there is an upcoming strike with another union they always come to the CWU for support as they know that when we put our minds to it we are a big force. BUT..only when we put our minds to it. Change is required though. Our members also need to be more pro-active. That means putting committees back in our offices and possibly reducing the branches. The line of communication,(as mentioned) is out dated. Royal Mail always get their messages across to their managers on a daily basis. We as a union do not with our unit reps.

[Night Tonic]

were? yes agree with that bit