The truth about the NEC and Postal Executive

[Cut Off King]

National agreements are the way to go,

However most of the rank and file members have lost their faith in the CWU leadership to negotiate an agreement that rewards BOTH sides EQUALLY.

They see the local rep constantly firefighting RM

Most members value their LOCAL rep but have no faith in the CWU above that level

Disputes always go up a level to area, only to come back with "we've agreed to the following hours removed from the office"

Members need tangable evidence that the CWU is looking after their interests, not just RM / CWUHQ's

If agreements were made at national level, the CWU HQ couldn't come up with a whizz-bang idea.... and leave it to local reps to fathom out how to impliment it.
National officers would have to work out how it would work at grass roots level. Then they would have an idea how there ideas actually affect members at the bottom.

A case in point would be D2D's...Members will have the time to prep D2D's within duty time....RESULT AT GROUND LEVEL = No time built into duties to prep D2D's
Also More Saturdays off....RESULT = No increase in Saturdays off
The list is endless

If we had SET NATIONAL POSITIONS, it would remove any wriggle room that RM has used to get out of agreements at a local level
Also CWU members would not be able to wriggle out of their responcabilities too

[Martin Walsh]

Cut off king we can all make generalisations , but I fail to see on what basis you can say the whole membership have lost faith in the union. Your office might have done but not every office has had a revison yet under BTA 2010. Whilst it is ture some have not achieved 1 in 4 Saturdays off , many other offices have , certainly some have been made from part time to full time , equal numbers have had proposals for more part time duties.

It is easy to log into Royal Mail chat and think the union is finished and that everyone is getting treated like crap and Royal Mail are totally out of control.

Whilst it is true some managers and the pressures which are applied from the top mean there are significant problems the reality is that not every office is facing the same type of problems.

Now the issue of absorption is obviously not liked but the reality is that Royal Mail no longer wants to pay people for finishing early. Their mantra which is hard to argue is that they want people to work the hours which they are paid for. I have been in Royal Mail since 1985 and believe me back then making time was like an applied term and condition. Under the move to single daily delivery people made more time and Allan leighton even endorsed that policy in 2003. However then Royal Mail change that and of course becasue they did the union had to deal with the issue and got the blame. But lets be honest how can the union justify an arguement on one hand that we want to protect jobs / and terms and conditions but also allow indivduals to work less hours than they are paid for. Equally I know most on here dont recognise but DSA has meant that Royal Mail have lost lot of revenue but have been left with the final mile which is the most costly. How against background do you say well we continue to deliver door to door outside of workload all because we want to keep a unit payment.

Look in my view the consultation process needs to take place quickly. In deliveries lets hear the real problems and equally what can be done to resolve them. Now Royal Mail are not going to change the workplan concerning Saturdays. But lets try and understand the issues . My own feed back from members in deliveries has been that park and loop is the biggest change in deliiveries that they have ever experienced and do not like , they think the spans are too long and the targets management have set are unrealistic , the model week is an issue and later starts and their wave 2 arrivals a problem.

Of course absorption and bullying is an issue is some offices.

But the union is far from dead and the union is strong in many workplaces , branch`s and divisons but the key is how we make it stronger and organise better in the offices and branchs who are not very organised.

[dvbuk55]

Yes of course, lets have more of the same...............I mean become involved as long as you toe the line.

Perhaps the consultation would have interfered with the election addresses.

[Big Daz]

Consultation then PEC elections might have been better. The nominees could have then laid out thier election adress based on the feedback from mbrs.

Still if the consultation can become a ongoing permenant feature then in future PEC nominees will be able to do just that.

[MinisterofCucumber]

In my view if you want to change things you can only do so on the following basis.

That a number of candidates all stand on the same platform and attempt to take control of the NEC and PEC based on their stated policies.

What Dingo is talking about is forming a party within the Union. We have the same situation in our Unit. There are 3 positions up for vote, Section Secretary, Assistant Secretary and Section Chair. There are two main groups in my Unit, the 'Fair Share' Party and the 'Command and Control' Party. The AR and the Branch are staunch 'command and controlists'. The 'Fair Share' Party need to win all 3 seats to have a hope of being able to hold the AR to account.

Most members are not interested in the Branch part of the Union, they want democratically accountable IR reps. It is a disgrace that our shop stewards have no power to go to formal disagreement. The IR Frameworks in RMG only allow Area Reps to deal with the first stages of the disagreement procedure. A lot of Unit Reps are under the impression that they can raise stage 1 disagreements. They are being conned. Their stage 1s are not official. When they think a disagreement has gone to stage 3, it has only really gone to stage 2.

Area Reps are not solely democratically accountable to the members within any one unit as an AR's electorate is made up of many units. An AR can afford to piss off one unit and leave the Unit Rep, a volunteer, to take the flak. It seems like a lot of effort has gone into creating a structure that makes it easier for the employer to worsen terms and conditions and this is being used as a selling point in the CWU's drive to increase membership by getting recognition in new workplaces.

I am looking forward to receiving the candidates' blurb but I shall be voting according to the ugliness of the face. NEC members' performance has been consistently poor in negotiations. Our only chance now is to elect negotiators whose hideousness will put the opposition off.

[Big Daz]

Sounds like you need RON on the ballot paper, I imagine if that went to conference it would be opposed

[hans solo]

royal mail may not want to pay people for finishing early rightly so
but they do encourage a slave system in fact bribe pt with ot to start early and work for nothing i dont see them try to stop that and cwu just as bad.
just poke your head into a real do dingo and see how it all really works
you haven,t got a fekin clue

[dvbuk55]

royal mail may not want to pay people for finishing early rightly so
but they do encourage a slave system in fact bribe pt with ot to start early and work for nothing i dont see them try to stop that and cwu just as bad.
just poke your head into a real do dingo and see how it all really works
you haven,t got a fekin clue

Like a lot of people hans, take them out of their comfort zone and they would flounder. London, full timers almost to a man, each a member of the union, HQ on the doorstep..............take your average DO with a less than effective branch organisation, 50% part timers, 40% non union members, HQ 200 miles away geographically and a million miles away from understanding the workings of a DO with an agressive management team, that's the measure of a man.

[Big Daz]

Neither scenario is nothing like my D.O

[dvbuk55]

Neither scenario is nothing like my D.O

No of course not, then there is always an exception to the rule.

[Big Daz]

Indeed there is, and until RML decide to offer up a wad of buy downs or VRs it shall remain that way. The only thing RML seem interested in at my office is covering sick leave at no cost and the same for delivery point growth.

[Darren Bent]

I always use my vote on deals to vote for or against policy and changes. I haven't voted for people to represent. I don't know any of them and they don't know me. So what is NEC and Postal Executive ? Why should I bother to choose or vote. I have not got a clue. All I want is someone who will stand up to Royal Mail and fight for us rather than Billy and Dave.

[jimmy cricket]

Dingo. you got to be the only person more right wing than dave ward. theis exec has let us down. im voting for new people hoping that they are any good. ward and exec has let down real workers so we know they aint any good.

[Darren Bent]

So who are the old people and new people, so I can vote the old one out. If I knew who is it.

[POSTMAN]

Those in now:Can someone double confirm.

BROWNE, Phil 6,980 Elected
KAVANAGH, Mick 6,630 Elected
McLEAN, Lesley 6,380 Elected
BAULCH, Mark 6,365 Elected
McCLEAN, Noel 6,233 Elected
WARD, Ian 6,207 Elected
MADEN, Carl 6,029 Elected
ROBERTSON, Davie 5,919 Elected
MALONE, Joe 5,863 Elected
KEENLYSIDE, Pete 5,760 Elected
QUIRKE, Katrina 5,714 Elected
DAVIES, Huw 5,200 Elected
WEATHERALL, Bobby 4,963 Elected

Those in the frame...

Mahmood Ali Birmingham & Dist Amal
Mark Baulch East London Postal
Tony Bouch Plymouth & East Cornwall
Phil Browne Newcastle Amal
Huw Davies London North Western C & C
Kye Dudd Bristol & District Amal
Steve Jones London Postal Engineering
Mick Kavanagh South Midlands Postal
Pete Keenlyside Greater Manchester
Carl Maden London South West Postal
Joe Malone Scotland No 5
Noel McClean Eastern No 5
Lesley McLean Romford Amal
Paul O’Donnell London Parcels & Stations Amal
Katrina Quirke South East Wales Amal
Davie Robertson Glasgow & Dist Amal
Ian Ward South East London Postal & Counter
Bobby Weatherall Northern Ireland Combined