LTB No. 535/12 The State of the Union 2012

[Geezer]

Letter to Branches

No. 535/12 Ref: GS1.1 Date: 17 July 2012


To: All Branches


Dear Colleague

The State of the Union – 2012

The attached will be of interest to branches – see Page 2.

Any enquiries on this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office quoting the Reference GS : 1.1

Yours sincerely


W HAYES
General Secretary

[chickenwittle]

i can confirm the union is in a state

[newtimes]

i can confirm the union is in a state

[POSTMAN]

Hands up who thinks that have fecked up with the title.

[Ahebban]

[fishtank]

I think if you look at the way we're losing members the title is spot on.
275,000 in 1997 down to 208,000 in 2011.
Conservative estimates of another 5,000 in the last year and likely to dip below 200,000 some time in 2013.
That is The State of the Union.
Never mind we can always up the subs again.

[silly suffolk]

I think if you look at the way we're losing members the title is spot on.
275,000 in 1997 down to 208,000 in 2011.
Conservative estimates of another 5,000 in the last year and likely to dip below 200,000 some time in 2013.
That is The State of the Union.
Never mind we can always up the subs again.

union membership is decreasing across all workplaces not just royal mail. when unions in this country are just a foot note in history, and every one has to work like some poor serf, perhaps we can all think up some sarky comments blaming it all on dave and bill.

[fishtank]

union membership is decreasing across all workplaces not just royal mail. when unions in this country are just a foot note in history, and every one has to work like some poor serf, perhaps we can all think up some sarky comments blaming it all on dave and bill.

Union membership is decreasing but not really in the top 20 TUC unions,mostly it's been leaking away from the smaller unions.
That's not really surprising since a lot of the traditional "trades" are dying out.
Most of the larger unions have been holding steady over the past 15 years and in a lot of cases actually increasing membership with the notable exceptions of Unite...and of course the CWU.
Members leave unions all the time,mostly down to redundancy or retirement and unfortunately sometimes disillusionment but the issue with the CWU is not leavers but recruitment or more to the point...the lack of.
Who do you blame for that if not the leaders of the union,not just Billy and Dave but the entire structure?
We don't organise well and we don't recruit well...but we do waffle about it a lot.
Is that sarky enough?

[Martin Walsh]

fish the numbers of members in some unions is misleading ! A lot offer a payment holiday to attract new members , some discount membership etc. The reality is most unions have only seen real increases when they merge or in unites case take over unions. The RMT which fell to 25 000 members when the employer withdrew check off has since grown and now stands over 70 000 members. But is really only still strong in London and on the underground.

Unite is a combination of unions and is the most likely one which we will eventually get taken over by if some had their way. I totally oppose this and move the motion at the Liverpool conference to stop this just at Tony Woodley was due to attend to announce such a move. Unite is too big a union and I think if you ask both the Gate Gourmet workers , the Merseyside dockers and the British Airways staff being In a big union does not always help in a localised dispute.

Now as for the CWU we are at a cross roads union membership in the postal side of the union now stands at 81%, but is different regionally London stands at 86% whereas a couple of other regions stand as low as 74%. However statiscs can be misleading as in some regions some offices are 100 per cent or in the high 90s and some are bordering on the low 50s.

Has the the recent national agreements had an impact , maybe but some offices still have very high percentage numbers. Equally the membership levels were nationally ten years ago 90%. Now it has gone down to 81%.

Currently according to what the employer has provided and what it is paying in check off there are 25 000 non members.

Motion 60 meeting the challenge will start at a briefing on 23rd August. However just as important is motion 61 , one of the strands starts tomorrow and it is based on does the union structure at National , Divisional , Area and Branch level need to change.

it's a challenge which needs to be met by consulting with all tiers of the union.

[Cut Off King]

Motion 60 meeting the challenge will start at a briefing on 23rd August. However just as important is motion 61 , one of the strands starts tomorrow and it is based on does the union structure at National , Divisional , Area and Branch level need to change.

it's a challenge which needs to be met by consulting with all tiers of the union.

" Too little too late " comes to mind
Cwu membership is no longer about advancing out T&C's, its about managing decline, an insurance policy against being dragged into the office
Am I wrong?
Let the CWU do a NATIONAL survey, asking the members if they think the cwu has advanced our rights OR declined our rights within RM

Can you guess the answer ?

[Martin Walsh]

There is not a term and conditon which the union has not achieved everything from death in service which the union achieved to paid meal reliefs.

The industry has over the last 10 years achieved more in the way for delivery staff in terms of working attendances then it has done in the last 50. Up to 2003 the vast majority of delivery staff worked 6 days per week every week.

very few industries have faced the kind of changes we have over the last few years perhaps the print workers and the docks , the mines spring to mind.

look at what we have faced, 50% of the profitable mail is now done by DSA whilst we deliver the USO. A pension deficit which was bigger then the whole economy of Luxemberg , the digital revolution which has seen a decline in letters and an increase in packets and parcels. Revenue has fallen not least due to DSA. in addition successive governments have wanted privatise the industry and the Hooper report also recomended modernisation including automation. n top of all this the Government have demanded improved productivity.

it might have escaped your memory that is all the CWU faced. No union has got a veto on change its role is try and shape the change as best as it can protecting jobs and improving terms and conditions. I think the CWU have tried to do this but once again some will sit on the sidelines throwing mud. What I will ask you is what would you have done differently ? You see the union can simply post on a board it has to face the fact and deal with it. Plus the officers live and die on the back of agreements the members vote ans have the option of rejecting agreements.

Sure some members are not happy but I have been in the job 28 years and members have been unhappy at loads of agreement everything from SFMB , the Ending of IWM , Sunday Collections , RRP , Delivery Reuneration , Interim delivery agreement , PBS , DPMS , Way Forward , Pat and Major change the end of the second delivery Pay and Mod or BT 2010. You see people don't like change.

I don't view the membership as a revenue stream like you , I believe people join and remain in a voluntary organisation as they are stronger standing together as a collective body then a sole indivdual.

it's so easy for someone to come on here and slag the CWU off without knowing the real facts and agender or the indivdual. As with all things it may be genuine or it may be cause someone has a different agenda for slagging the union off !

[the flying postman]

Dingo get in the really world, or are you one of those overpaid union bods down London! R.i.p cwu

[fishtank]

R.i.p cwu

Applauding the death of the CWU could be likened to a turkey buying an advent calender.

[dvbuk55]

R.i.p cwu

Applauding the death of the CWU could be likened to a turkey buying an advent calender.

That's true. However the union are the architects of their own downfall. They have spent the last five years protecting their own backsides. Touching the forelock has a whole new meaning in the 21st century - it is now called a Joint Statement.

[fishtank]

R.i.p cwu

Applauding the death of the CWU could be likened to a turkey buying an advent calender.

That's true. However the union are the architects of their own downfall. They have spent the last five years protecting their own backsides. Touching the forelock has a whole new meaning in the 21st century - it is now called a Joint Statement.

Did you notice it was national Joint Statement day.
I will say one thing for Terry Pullinger...at least he puts the hours in.
When was the last time we had anything meaningful in deliveries?
A tweak here and a realignment there but always following the same dogma that the show must go on even though fewer and fewer are buying tickets.