CWU ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2012 Reports

[Geezer]

Branch Secretary - CWU 2012 Annual Conference Report

For those who are unaware the CWU Conference is the forum for the Unions’ Leadership and Branches coming together to discuss and debate policy.

Currently there is a 1.5 day General Conference , a half day Rules Revision Conference and every two years a 3 day Postal Group Conference. In between the Postal Group Conferences there are now 1 day National Policy Forums which can react more quickly to developments from the employer.

It is not to be taken lightly and the reality is that decisions made at CWU conferences can and do have a huge impact on Royal Mail. We are the recognised trade union and Royal Mail have to negotiate with us based on decisions made at conferences.

Decisions taken can often mean both CWU and Royal Mail can work well together and at other times it means that they may be conflict if Branches and or the Leadership disagree with what is being done.

Many of the policies applied to you have only come about through agreements being reached whether it be on staffing , duties , conduct , pay, rehabilitation policies , attendance , ill health policies and job security agreements etc etc

None of these would have been possible without the input and arguments put forward by your Union and your own Branch playing its part in that process.

Ongoing conferences ensure Branches can continue to debate and form policy in response to Royal Mail Group intentions.

I was only able to attend for a small part of the Conference this year due to ill health, however the following covers the Conference I did attend in full.

Western Counties Branch Contributions

Most years the Branch will propose certain policies and this year was no exception. We had two motions covering bullying and harassment and the future of the trade union movement which were submitted to General Conference and had the combined support of the SW Regional Committee Branches. Unfortunately these did not get heard due to time constraints – all motions are placed into time slots. Better luck next time.

NB We did contribute however via Steve Davies, a Branch delegate who got up to speak. A big thanks to Steve for that.

Rules Revision Conference

This year there was much attention paid to the move to biannual conferences especially for the Telecoms side to bring them into line with the Postal side. This was set out in motion 1 and was not carried. Our Branch voting against.

Revised delegation strengths to conference reducing entitlements were also not carried. Our Branch voting against.

A move to confirm the Political Levy increasing to 20p per week was carried on the grounds that the last time it went up was around 15 years ago.

A number of rule changes were agreed in relation to national sub committees and the election of people to those roles.

A proposed rule change to make it compulsory to vote for all candidates for NEC and PEC elections was not carried, ie if there are 13 names you must vote for 13 rather than a lesser number. It was agreed this would not be sensible and could mean many spoilt ballots as a consequence.

There were rule changes carried to merge in both Telecoms and Postal Group Standing Orders Committee operations so they operated under effectively the same rule. These committees organise the process for dealing with motions submitted and deciding where on the agenda they will be heard. It seems unimportant, but where debates are time slotted it can be vital as to where your motion is placed whether it gets heard or not.

In relation to retired members a rule change was carried so that retired members could go with the Branch where they had spent most of their working lives in, rather than be placed in a Branch where they ended up in for their last few years’ service.

What was expected to be a very contentious debate was to end the post of National Organising Secretary.

The Branch was against the motion but it was carried overwhelmingly anyway to end this position and the rule will now be deleted showing the need for such a person. The functions of this role will now be done by the Senior DGS Department and the National Industrial Officers.

As for the person who was in post, John East it remains to be seen what John will do now as his position is gone.

The passing of the motion must now mean improvements or we shall all wonder what the fuss was all about.

Conclusion

Debating rule changes can be quite low key in many ways, but it is vital to ensure that the actual organisation of the CWU is examined to make sure it works well for the members.

If anyone wants to see the full agenda pad and rule book please let me know.

I would like to thank the delegates for their attendance and all gave close care and interest to the debates. In one case, Steve ***** CIT Rep got up to make a contribution on behalf of the Branch. Well done for that.


**** *********
Branch Secretary

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Postal Conference 2012.

**** ********. CWU.AREA REP.


It is always good to attend the CWU conference on behalf of the members.

It is also good to catch up with reps from all over the country, and listen to the tales of doom and gloom, and hear about managers who treat their workforce no better than a feudal baron from medieval England would treat the peasants .

The conference got off to a fairly bad start, as the branch secretary had to leave the conference before it started due to illness.

Dave Ward opened the conference with a short address, he covered anti privatisation, and how it can only be in our best interests to keep the business as a single entity. We also need to protect the terms and conditions of the membership, with the CWU being central to the organisation of postal work in this country, and be full involved in the future of the business. Employee ownership, giving the workforce a greater say in how the future is shaped, and finally the unity of the members.

The branch only had one motion on the pad, but after a long discussion with the executive council, it was decided to withdraw the motion, because most of the meat in the words was being covered off at national level early in May.

Some of the motions that were brought to the table, had a lot of merit, and were supported unanimously by all delegates. If anyone is interested in any of the motions please contact me and I can provide you with a copy of the pad.

One motion that did raise a stimulating debate was No 22 on the pad. Raised by Bristol and District Amal, and it states that if Royal Mail or any new owners of the business plan to reduce the USO from 6 day to 5, then the CWU would negotiate a Monday to Friday service for all delivery employees. This would not prevent the union from agreeing scheduled attendance for Saturday specials.

It has already been stated by the business, that if mail volumes continue to drop, they would be looking at a Tuesday as a day off, due to it being a lighter day. But it seemed to be hard for some other branches to grasp; they thought it was calling for the Saturday to be dropped, and on that premise the motion was rejected, I can say however that we did support the motion.

On the Wednesday we were graced with a visit from Moya Greene Royal Mails CEO, we were told that she would be speaking for 10 to 15 mins, what could she possibly say in 15 mins that would have any impact on anything, I am afraid I cannot tell you what she spoke about, as in protest to her being invited to the conference, as she got up to speak I left the hall, along with 2 other members from the branch, and a few members from Bristol.
However I did return for a very limited question and answer session, she spoke for about 20 mins and said the square route of nothing. She was quoted as saying the week before, at a briefing in Birmingham “If Scotland was separate from England, then she could charge international rates for postage” she denied this and most people in the hall said “Yes You Did.”

The next statement she came up with was totally unbelievable; she then said “you must forgive me as I don’t know how the country work’s”
Can you credit it, (No?)

There were plenty of other motions debated at great length, as I said before if you require more info please contact me.

We did manage to conclude all business on the pad, which was no mean feat, as there will be no postal conference next year, and the next one will be held in 2013.


Cheers ****

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CWU Postal Industry Conference 2012

This year was my first visit and experience of the CWU conference as a trainee delegate and I wasn’t disappointed. I have been inspired and learnt a lot in the few days in Bournemouth and I was able to do a lot of networking with many CWU reps across the country along with reps from our region. This goes to show the strength within the union and its representatives not only through conference but training courses and AGM meetings etc.

This will benefit me within my delivery office and the members, not only by the knowledge gained, but new skills learnt along with the confidence and understanding of how things work and are done, like the freedom of debate and effects.

With a tough future ahead the conference rightly reminded us the strength within the CWU and the need to carry on recruitment of new members and the service we provide to current members - representation, protect, talk more and communicate etc……..
Many of the issues raised throughout conference seemed a common concern throughout Great Britain ! World Class Mail was a main talking point and being from a delivery office that does not use this system, it was a real eye opener let alone the terminology used within the system.

Health and safety was interesting with some good ideas and suggestions along with flu jabs and hand gel was one that stood out for me especially if taking a meal relief outside of the office in a shared van. Also the way in which the words ‘accident’ & ‘incident’ are being used by mangers in accident reporting and how the members are being treated either after an accident or sickness by managers. This could be talked through with management and staff to create common ground and a better understanding, possibly through work time learning sessions.

Staff not taking meal breaks and the not using the equipment provided was another issue that will need more attention throughout the country along with stress & pressure placed upon members which is something I plan on looking into and hopefully finding an answer to within the delivery office.

Security of members was a good debate not only themselves but the process involved, a good motion that was carried was to get both driver and walker on a shared delivery to sign for special delivery items etc… so both share the responsibilities and not just the one person, normally being the driver.

Moya Greene’s appearance at conference was met with many views but one I think she deserves some respect for is standing up in front of many reps which couldn’t have been easy. I was not convinced on a lot of her answers but from a business point of view she had some interesting points, this was a good opportunity for questions to be asked and gather feedback and something that gave conference that extra debate and opportunity.

In closing I would like to thank the committee for allowing me this opportunity to go to conference as a trainee delegate and the experience is one I would like to do again.
I look forward to the future within the CWU no matter how tough things may get and represent the delivery office’s members to the best of my abilities, whether its IR or health and safety issues with the new knowledge and confidence I have taken away from the postal conference 2012.

****** *********
IR / Health & Safety Rep

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CWU ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2012

Conference this year was more of a take stock of where we are and firm up policy on issues. The health and safety ran through its motions quite smoothly with the only disappointment in my view being that the South West Safety Forum (SWSF) motion being ruled to be in the wrong conference by the standing orders committee meaning it was removed from the conference motion pad. As the SWSF can only put motions into general conference and not the postal one it makes it hard in my view to submit the motion to any other conference. This I hope the branch will look at and propose a rule change at the next available opportunity.
The issue that raised the most debate on the political side of conference was the continuing affiliation with the Labour Party, and the funds that we give to it. There were many of the view that we should no longer maintain the link and start channelling monies to other groups such as “38degrees” and the anti-cuts movements were mentioned. Having said that there were many (the majority in the end) who stood up and defended Labour and its record which in the end swayed the conference and the link is maintained. I think that one of the best observations about the Labour Party is that the problem isn’t the actual people in the Party it is the way it is represented in Parliament that is the problem.
It should also be noted that there was a call to re-invigorate the anti privatisation campaign, with general elections starting to come into consideration, the government somewhat on the rails with splits within the coalition. The Liberals have to start thinking about distancing themselves from the Tories. If we can influence Labour to protect the public ownership of Royal Mail I feel we have a small window of opportunity to stop the sale of the company.
On the Monday lunch time I took the chance to attend the fringe meeting arranged by the health and safety department. This is probably the most well attended fringe meeting at conference and this year saw over 150 delegates attend. The guest speaker this year was Hugh Robertson who is the TUC senior health and safety officer. Hugh talked about the attack on health and safety by the collation government a determined and underhand assault on workers’ rights in the guise of dealing with tabloid myths over health and safety. It is hard to believe that Royal Mail workers are classed as low risk, meaning that there will be no pro-active inspection by the HSE. In addition the HSE has had its budget cut by 40% drastically reducing its presence in the workplace. This means more and more the union safety rep is almost alone when it comes to protecting the safety of workers in the workplace and at the very least as an independent set of eyes and ears on the ground.
It should be noted the success of the “Bite Back” campaign with the government accepting many of the points that we campaigned on. Unfortunately it has led to another consultation instead of new legislation. We will be asking you to put forward submissions in due course.
In addition to attending the health and safety fringe meeting I also attended several other fringe meetings one of the most powerful being the Cuban Solidarity Campaign meeting where the mother and sister of one of the wrongly imprisoned Miami Five spoke of their ongoing struggle for justice.
I also attended the meeting for the Justice for Columbia campaign Columbia being the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade union member, with thousands of trade union members being killed in the last decade. The Columbian government has had a change of president who has being saying the right things to European leaders about reform and yet on the ground nothing has changed with still more trade union members going ‘missing’.
I was also able to attend the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign fringe meeting where the ongoing revolution led by Hugo Chavez continues to raise millions of the poorest out of poverty, educates the children from the shanty towns for free and supplies health care free which is something its northern opponent cannot do. Chavez is constantly attacked by western governments and yet Venezuela is one of the most democratic countries in the world.
As always I think that the biggest asset to me personally about conference is that I get the opportunity to meet up with other safety reps/political officers from around the country and discuss and compare what is happening in each other’s area. More importantly how they were able to resolve similar issue to those we face in our branch.

We now face the challenge of job cuts, mail centre closures and office mergers on top of revisions and the 2010 agreement. Now more than ever it is necessary to be part of the union and to keep it strong.

***** ********
ASR
Branch Political Officer

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CWU ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2012

CWU PROCESSING FUNCTION

Reproduced below is a synopsis of events and motions passed at the Postal Conference held from Tuesday 23rd April 2012 to 26th April 2012 in Bournemouth. The Branch submitted under the composite method 3 motions 2 for Letters and 1 for parcels. Please bear in mind that this report is Processing Function biased.
I have reproduced below Emergency Motion E8 which deals with the picture in London with regard to TNT encroachment of end to end delivery; I believe that this motion is very timely and that unless backed fully by the PEC would see the cherry picking of affluent areas by private companies become the norm:
EMERGENCY MOTION E8:
Conference expresses its concern that from the 18th April 2012 TNT commenced an end to end delivery service in West London.
Conference further expresses its alarm that this pilot is part of TNTs wider strategy to deliver to 40% of urban areas.
Conference recognizes that this threat could lead to a loss of work and jobs.
Conference further instructs the PEC to launch an immediate campaign to highlight to the public the threat that this new service will have on the USO.
Regular updates will be given on the progress of this campaign.
Submitted by:
London Divisional Committee / London Parcels and Stations Amal / West London Postal Branch /London South West.
This motion was duly statement accepted by the PEC and carried by Conference.
For your information below I have given the number of the motions with Western Counties Branch recommendation followed by a brief description of what the motion entails and the ramifications of such to the members. Last but not least I will give the Conference’s decision.
POSTAL CONFERENCE

Postal Industry General Matters: Composite Meaning: Part of a group

Motion 1 Composite .
Western Counties Branch was for the motion under composite.
Motion moved by Bristol and District Amal / South Wales / South West Divisional Committee. The motion called for any move toward New Governance Models and Industrial Democracy which includes CWU representatives on managerial boards is not in the best interest of the members and will not be pursued any further or agreed by the CWU.
Conference did not carried the motion.

Motion 2.
Western Counties Branch was for the motion. (Due to motion 1 being defeated)
Motion moved by the PEC. The motion called for the composing of a special report to be presented to a policy forum in the autumn covering:
A new model of employee ownership over and above the minimum outlined in the Postal Service Bill
A new governance model that embeds the Union at all levels of the organization and provides a real opportunity for the postal workers to influence the direction and future decision making within the company.
A new company model which builds in principles of transparency, accountability and fair reward whilst positively transforming the working experience of our members.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 3:
Western Counties Branch was against the motion.
Motion moved by Greater Manchester Amal. Motion to withdraw from WCM due to attaching blameworthiness of accidents to individuals and attempted reporting of accidents as incidents is unacceptable.
Conference did not carry the motion.

Motion 4:
Western Counties Branch was for the Motion under composite
Motion moved by Bristol and District Amal / South Wales / South West Divisional Committee The motion noted the continuing threat of WCM and that due to the impact of the present policy called for Conference to agree that if a agreement cannot be reached by 30th June 2012 then a campaign of outright opposition to World Class Mails be implemented.
PEC accepted and Conference carried the motion.

Motion 7.
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by Greater Manchester Amal. The motion called for Conference to instruct the PC to inform RM that abusing the contact strategy when members are off sick under the umbrella of caring for their employees is not contusive with the principles of the contact strategy. The PEC is to inform RM that this type of action should cease immediately.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 8:
Western Counties Branch was to listen to debate of the motion.
Motion moved by North West Central Amal. The motion noted that stage 1 and 2 in some cases were effectively worthless and that the procedure should be amended so that managers at all stages should have the authority and independence to resolve complaints. In the debate it was noted that 75% of stage 1 were issued, 61% of stage 2 were issued and 12% of stage 3 were issued. I believe that whilst stage 1 and 2 would not result in dismissal we would be missing a trick in that only 12% of stages 3s are issued! If appeals where allowed at all stages by definition stage 3 would most definitely be 100%.
Conference did not carry the motion.

Motion 11:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by Harrow and District Amal. Motion instructed PEC to bring to end the RM policy of writing to members who have taken sick leave during key periods such as Christmas pressure weeks, school half term holidays and public holidays and inviting them in for fact finding interviews. This is in breach of the Attendance Procedure and an abuse of the Conduct Code.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 12:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion carried by North Wales / North West Division. Motion called for the recognition that there is an inherent bias towards managers when conduct has been recommended which resulted from a bullying and harassment issue. Also noted is that there is a tendency to use the B/H to classify minor incidents and disagreements. This results in the whole system being discredited in the eyes of the membership. The PEC is instructed to enter into discussions to address this bias and place an emphasis on restoring relationships.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 24:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by Eastern No4 / Anglia Divisional Committee. Conference to oppose any move towards an “Item per hour” performance measure as a benchmark target to compare office against office, under future targetry, savings or Upper decile league tables to establish top 10% units based in IPH.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 36:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by York and district Amal. Motion called for PEC to enact upon Conference motion 12 from last year’s conference to pursue with the business to allow those over 20 years’ service the opportunity to purchase additional leave.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 38:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by Newcastle Amal. Conference calls upon PEC to ensure that future Christmas agreements shall not contain any agreement to compel members to work compulsory overtime on a public or bank holiday. Conference instructs the PEC to ensure that the attendance and resourcing arrangements shall be made on the following basis:

All attendances shall be voluntary
Volunteers shall be sought from the relevant function first, and then opened up to all other functions.
Use temporary/agency staff as supplementary resource
And finally the PEC is instructed to scope and introduce additional premium payments over and above those already paid in order to attract enough volunteers to maintain the USO.
PEC Opposed; Conference carried the motion in a card ballot
Yes; 65836 No: 57297 Abstain: 0

Motion 44:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by Merseyside Amal. Conference notes that the work Experience Programme enhances the chances of the unemployed 16-24 year olds of finding employment in the future. Conference agrees that that any joint review should include the services of experienced regional/Branch – union learner Reps to offer signposting to provision and any other information, advice and guidance that will improve their potential employment prospects.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 45:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by York and district Amal. Conference instructs the PEC to reach agreement on all RM Health and Safety Reps have the facility to do TUC stage 1/2/3 with paid release at a venue or place that best suits their ability to attend.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 60:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by West London Postal/East London Postal/London Divisional Committee. Conference notes there are thousands of non CWU members within RM Group. Conference is instructed to ensure that all Branches carry out an exercise to check off, ensuring every workplace is visited and a recruitment exercise is conducted to maximize membership in each workplace. This is to be concluded by end of August 2012.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 62:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by Newcastle Amal. Conference instructs the PEC to achieve a national agreement covering all aspects of Angard and agency employment within Royal Mail. An agreement to include:
Criteria for initial use of agency workers / criteria of maximum and minimum length of contract / criteria of conversion of agency contract to Royal Mail contracts / full CWU recognition and involvement on all agency issues / CWU access to induction and training days for recruitment purposes.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 65:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by Eastern No4 and Anglia Divisional Committee. Conference instructed to produce a report on the impact of working in a manual industry like the postal sector. The report is to reflect the changes to pension arrangements, especially where members have to work longer before they retire without the loss of accrued benefits. The report is also to reflect the difficulty members over 60 and beyond is finding it difficult to complete optimum driven performance workloads. The report is to be presented by the end of 2012. The associated recommendations for debate at Postal Conference 2014 or part of a postal forum whichever is the sooner.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 66:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion was moved by Romford Amal. Conference instructs the PEC to enter into urgent negotiations with royal Mail regarding management constant failure to observe ALL aspects of the rehabilitation process and Ill Health Retirement National Agreements. Despite hospital / GP / Consultants medical evidence supporting members’ cases an increasing number of members are being forced out of the business. Face to face meetings must be encouraged should IHR decision be pending and that the report be complied before such meetings.
Conference carried the motion

Motion 79:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion was moved by Eastern No5. Conference instructed to negotiate with RM to achieve a allowance for specialist duties which are within the specialist positions listed in the WFA 2000 but do not presently receive any allowance.
PEC Opposed; Conference did not carry the motion in a card ballot
Yes; 54211 No: 59166 Abstain: 1118

Motion 88;
Western Counties Branch against the motion. Reason: setting minimum which could be all that is offered.
Motion was moved by Eastern No4. Conference is instructed to achieve a minimum of £120 with yearly uplift of £5 on the Christmas Supplement.
Conference carried the motion.

Motion 84:
Western Counties Branch was for the motion.
Motion moved by North Wales and North West Division. Conference is instructed to ensure that SSW are carried out and that any bad practices are removed bearing in mind that OEE is being used to measure like for like, The issue of fatigue is also to be addressed in any agreement going forward.
Conference carried the motion.


Mora Green CEO Royal Mail address to conference:
Mora touched on the issue of the state of the business when she took over 21 months ago. She was pleased in the ongoing modernization and that there is still a long way to go. The company at one stage was in danger of being out of money within 4 months at one stage. 50,000 people have left the business over the last decade and 5,300 over the last year of which 2000 were managers and 3400 were workers. The company needs to start enhancing the profile of the service with 29 million addresses being covered. a BBC opinion poll recognizes that RM is the most trusted in providing a postal service. Modernisation is ongoing with help from the CWU. There is far less to divide the RM and CWU than in the past. Present position is that RM is cash positive and with the stamps now more reflective of inflation unlike the past will ensure a fair pricing regime. With movement of OFCOM and the EU decision on pensions which puts RM on a far better footing going forward. Temp / PT jobs are not the way forward.
Conference thanked Mora for the address.
Dave Ward DGS (P) address to Conference:
Dave took stock of present developments to protect jobs and future of postal industry. It is important to recognize privatisation effects on counters and quadrant. Postal Act implemented and CWU recognizes issues going forward. OFCOM has already released restraints on some areas but projected problems going forward are cheery picking by TNT and the like in affluent delivery areas. It is important that the CWU remains central to industry. It is important to recognize employee ownership is going to play big part going forward hopefully giving employees bigger say on the future of RM. Dave finally recognized that workplace reps are the core of the CWU and thanked all who put their selves forward.

Hopefully this has given you an idea into the workings of the Communication Workers Union Postal Conference. The Branch meets every year at the Branch’s Annual General Meeting and motions are put forward. All members are able to put motions to the AGM with a proviso if past to go to Conference. Please feel free to ask your Union Rep for any advice about getting motions heard and passed at the AGM which could be heard at Conference.


**** *******
CWU Area Processing Rep

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POSTAL CONFERENCE 2012

This years conference was held in Bournemouth International Centre between 24th and 26th April.

The following policies were voted on and adopted by the CWU:

• A new model of employee ownership over and above the minimum outlined in the Postal Services Bill
• CWU involvement at all levels of the organisation to influence the direction and future decision making within the company
• If no agreement can be made on World Class Mail by 30th June, then there will be outright opposition to this initiative at all levels of the CWU.
• That Royal Mail contacting members when they first go sick is outside of any procedure and should cease immediatley.
• That the CWU do not accept the coalition governments stance that the public sector should be limited to 1% pay increases.
• MGV drivers should still have the ability to rotate with non tachograph duties by local agreement.
• There will be no new agreement to force members to work on bank holidays. This policy will be supported by all means possible, up to and including a ballot for strike action.
• Members who currently are entitled to 6 weeks leave will have the opportunity to purchase further weeks.
• That all Area and local reps should have access to the Royal Mail LAN system to assist the full implementation of Business Transformation.
• MGV drivers who cannot drive through illness but retain their licence should be entitled to the payment protection contained within the Professional Drivers agreement
• MGV drivers who are removed from driving by Royal Mail or ATOS should be entitled to payment protection contained within the Professional Drivers Agreement.
• That all Health and Safety reps should have the facility to do TUC Stage 1/2/3 with paid release at a venue or place that best suits there ability to attend.
• An exercise to be carried out by all branches to identify non members and a process to be put in place to recruit these people. Each branch must produce a report to CWU HQ on the work they have done.
• To conduct a full review of CWU HQ which will include a full ‘drains up’ to discover how we can become a more effective and efficient trade union.
• A report to be commissioned on the physical affect of performing work in Royal Mail when beyond the age of 60.
• Urgent discussions with Royal Mail on the Rehabilitation and Ill Health Retirement agreements due to constant failures by Royal Mail to adhere to these agreements correctly.
• That any future pay negotiations should include making scheduled attendance payments fully pensionable.
• Postal Executive to address the situation of a lower hourly rate after 10 hours overtime.
• To gain an increase in the xmas supplement so that it rises to at least £120 by 2015.
• That as part of all future pay negotiations, a policy of all shift allowances being 100% pensionable should be pursued.
• That all Royal Mail business units should have a policy of 4 weeks paternity leave.
• Postal Executive to pursue the CWU policy that there should be an appeals process at all stages of the Attendance Procedure.
• Accident investigations should be to prevent and reduce further accidents and not an excuse to blame an individual or to invoke the conduct code.
• Royal Mail should be tendering for outside work in Network to protect current jobs and increase the future prospect of growing this part of the business.
• An agreement to be negotiated with Royal Mail that ensures that all temporary contracts that exceed 2 years should be made permanent unless there are very exceptional circumstances.
• That members aged over 64.5 should be afforded the full terms of the MTSF agreement where VR is a viable option.
• That any attempt by Royal Mail to outsource or separate any part of the business will be met with a ballot of those members affected.

Please note that the above are policies that should now be pursued with the employer by our senior representatives to achieve agreements on all of these issues.

***** *******
Area Distribution Rep

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Report for Conference 2012

The start of conference was disappointing due to news of our Branch Secretary who was taken ill and had to return home. Let us all wish him a speedy recovery. We have to give him credit for his choice of accommodation this year as it was 100% improvement on last year and was very handy for the Conference Centre .Lucky for delegates the two Steve's,stepped into the breach as leaders and did good job organising rest of delegation .

As always during general conference many interesting subjects and issues were on the agenda pad and as always very good debates on them all .The main issue that seemed to hang like a cloud over rest of conference was the big issue of separation of POL from Royal Mail and whether we are going to hear more of what was about to happen for the future of both companies .I believe it was too early for any big decisions to be made public as to the direction both companies were to go on. As I am now a POL employee ( and the Cvit Unit Rep ) and not a Royal Mail employee I was very interested to see what the future holds for our members and if the relationship with POL and the C.W.U. was about to change.

One of the emergency motions that came up was the issue surrounding whether we were still to have area representation from our Royal Mail distribution reps. The NEC put forward in a Letter to Branches for CVIT to have 2 Territorial Reps one for North and 1 for South. The Portsmouth Branch brought the emergency motion to conference for us to keep things as they were. Lucky for us all they won the vote and instructed NEC to go back to POL and negotiate for the status quo to apply so that we keep the same levels of representation which are excellently provided by the area distribution reps.

I managed to get up and speak for the first time at conference after itching to get up over the last few conferences I have attended. The debate was over attendance procedures and the agreements where managers are supposed to take mitigating circumstances into consideration before issuing a stage warning. As I have found out myself when representing members on attendance interviews, managers are ignoring the mitigating circumstances. So I was in favour of the motion brought to conference by Portsmouth Branch. Once again the motion was won with an overwhelming vote in favour .I believe it is the little issues like these which our members feel aggrieved about and which affects them on a daily basis.

The conference this year went on a bit longer than the last couple of years as there were lots of important business to get through due to conferences now going to Bi-annual instead of yearly. But as ever all the issues were interesting and well debated. The Simpson Millar function on the Monday evening was again well attended and a valuable contribution to conference as it allows us reps to meet the solicitors who are dealing with our members cases and for us to get an update on the cases which we can then return to our members to inform them which I believe goes down well with them as at the end of the day as conference is about being there to represent our members.
I would just like to add it was also good to see some new faces among our delegates and amongst whole of conference and there seemed to be lots of new people like myself who spoke for first time .

***** *****
C.V.I.T. Depot
Unit C.W.U. Rep

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CWU CONFERENCE 2012: REPORT:

I attended conference from Monday 23rd –Thursday 26th April 2012. There was an announcement made that Moya Greene was attending conference on Wednesday to give a speech to update delegates on the business side. When she appeared several delegates left the hall which I thought was unprofessional. The reasons I decided to stay and listen was I wish to put questions to her on behalf of Exeter Parcelforce regarding the college shares and pay deal dates. My request to speak was over shadowed as the same questions were being asked by others.

With regards to the college share she apologised and said this was already in place before she joined the company however through future talks such as the Table of Success talks would progress.

On Pay she again commented on 1st April would remain and again the Table of Success talks would continue as previous years.
The increase in the price of stamps was only slightly increased compared to other countries. She also mentioned what a wonderful job the Royal Mail Group do and have done for many years ,delivering not only in towns and city centres but rural as well and she wants to see this continue for many years to come.

She was due to talk for around 15 minutes and answer questions for the same period of time.
Her talk went slightly longer due to pensions and more on investment around letters sorting offices. Parcelforce did get mentioned.

The bottom line is that the top table through Dave Ward and Terry Pullinger is that we do enter into discussions with the business which conference was requested to advise members through reps that this is the way forward. This action was also made very clear during the General Secretary Billy Hayes speech to general conference on Monday. Several Motions on the pad concerning Parcelforce were carried. A full list will be published on the branch web site in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately the Branch Secretary had to return home due to illness and I am pleased to inform you he is on the mend.

Also due to the business not releasing me due to operational requirements I was unable to attend several central committee meetings which has now been rectified with the assistance of the Regional Organiser and Branch.

This is my report.

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CWU REP.

[Cut Off King]

we must act on Privatisation, not taking meal breaks, B&H, health & safety, etc. etc. etc........

It's too late, the horse has already bolted.

These thing should have been tackled as they appeared, not after they have taken root !

RM management is leading the way & the CWU is behind the curve

[knackeredneedadayoff]

cwu who are they, i thought they were a charity i was giving to in my payslip

[Danelectro]

'and the need to carry on recruitment of new members and the service we provide to current members - representation,protect, talk more and communicate etc……..'

[BELIAL]

Means f**k all to me .Gave them money but got no say on delegates or motions,never even informed about the dates or location of any conference Hardly democratic is it?
Feels a bit like a mafia protection scam - pay in or we'll let management sack you - just keep your gob shut and the cash flowing

[JackBurton]

look at the money i have given the CWU over the years and look at the state we are in (partly unions fault) i really am thinking of pulling out i just dont see what good they have done to my working day infact i fail to see how worse it could get LET DOWN.

[Lounge Lizard]

I know they mean well and we deserve some feedback but seven thousand words is well beyond ones cocentration span when you get to my age.

[BELIAL]

I know they mean well and we deserve some feedback but seven thousand words is well beyond ones cocentration span when you get to my age.

All I ever wanted was a cocentration span

[Carp]

Trying to recriut new members to CWU Haven't they thought about trying to save the members that had has enough first