the cwu is dead

[L Tommo]

Ello dazza, I feel you have facts on your side as you see it.. I cant and wouldnt argue.. U have had a kick in the teeth from CWU HQ as many have i know.. I still back and want to be apart of the CWU. But with a better backing from up top in HQ as ive been up there and felt that it was all lip service and no action.. It was concerning a H&B case i had against RM and screws. HQ didnt want to know and Simpson and miller just want cases that look good or are PC.... In my opinion.... two bob........

I here your bitter asu are mate, im much the same and say good luck in your new job...
I might be in the same boat soon??? RTU in process from original H&B Case.. Via a CofC accused by RM of me that i put in my H&B case in "BAD FAITH"... it aint come to a thing so far as im still off tom n dick... 8 mnts... Fighting but pissed off n had enough!!


OUT


DONT LET ANYONE GRIND YA DOWN OR TAKE THE PISS....

PS ORIENT!!!!!!!!! EAST EAST EAST LONDON!!!!!

[johnnyp]

It is gutting when you hear of incidents like you people have experienced at work and even worse when the people who are meant to be on your side let you down,all i can say is in the 21 years i have been in the c.w.u. our reps have always done the business on behalf of the membership in our office.Theres always one bad egg in a basket and you had him,one thing i do know if we had no national, area and local c.w.u. our terms and conditions would be non-existent.Just what Royal Mail would love and WANT.

[KawasakiKid]

If the CWU are dead, then so are we------------------KWACK

[cjp]

Sounds like you've had a bad experience with poor union members and an equally poor rep. I think if you asked Big Dave from our office about his support, even though he is not yet back in work, I know that he would say that he could not have asked for more. I guess it varies in different area's but the support has to start in your own office.
Sorry about your experience but without a union we would be a lot worse off.

[evilc]

Whilst I agree that on occasions the CWU cannot always do what we would like them to, I am sure we would be far worse off without them.

[F0zziebear]

An unhappy poorly motivated workforce in times of low unemployment is not what any company would want. If the top management in RM think otherwise then they will suffer in the medium to long term. However, they have held a view for sometime that the number of frontline staff and management is too big for the company. This is in light of improved technology and also that management increased headcount during the 90s to way beyond what was needed. For top management to successfully do their job they need the fewest amount of managerial layers between them and the frontline, otherwise bureaucracy gets in the way and nothing ever changes.

They are looking for a frontline workforce of about 100,000 posties with a minimum amount of management on top (personally don't know the figures) but a few years ago non-ops heads was about 25,000 (excludes area mgmt, which was about 3,000 av.100 per area x 30 areas).

As I said before public sector workers generally get paid a higher salary than private sector workers, and with better conditions attached e.g. pension etc... Now the problem is that RM is in theory a private company owned by the government. So they essentially want the best of both worlds. They want to pay you less per unit delivered, and need fewer overall heads to be able to reduce non-ops headcount as well.

Now this is all fine and dandy, but when u are working in a D.O you only care about what you can see (which is fair enough). Each D.O's reps vary and I reckon from previous experience that whilst you cano nly influence national pay agreements to a certain extent (one vote etc....) you can influence your local working conditions as you know they vary from one part of the country to another. So I suggest that be your main area of focus and see what you can get locally. This may include accepting further job cuts, but in exchange better conditions for those who are left. SO if some people do want to go, then it may make sense?

Good luck with the ballot as I reckon senior mgmt would want to avoid it at almost all costs, but then again last time Leighton said OK bring it on and he still put in SDD, Mail Centre Review, and Transport Review (a bit of a mess granted!)

What is interesting at the moment is that TNT are staying very quiet. Their modus operandi has been to shout from the roof tops about every contract won. Something is up there and don't be surprised that if a strike happens they may start attempting to deliver their own mail esp. in Manchester. Any Manchester posties out their? Let me know what you think about this

F0zz over and out

[ROCKY]

TNT HAVE BEEN ON THE RISE FOR YEARS NOW WITH EVERYTHING GOING THEIR WAY,NOW THEY HAVE PROBLEMS ON THEIR HOME SOIL AND ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE TO MEET TARGETS IF THEY TRY TO JUMP IN NATIONALLY AT THIS POINT,AND ONE THING THEY DONT WANT IS THE KIND OF FINES WE HAVE BEEN GETTING,IF THEY BLANKET SAY MANCHESTER DURING A STRIKE WITH STAFF AND DELIVER THEIR OWN MAIL WOULD THEY NOT THEN HAVE THE SAME USO APPLIED TO THEM AS WE HAVE

[evilc]

to be fair you posties have been SOLD down the river by the cwu, if r/m want to do it they will, the job is dead they will get there strike breakers and screws to do the work if you lot go on strike, leighton and crowzier have got dave ward in there back pocket, the cwu is a spent force from the top down to the area reps, i no the reps in se london are in the pocket of the som for the past 10 years they have been having breakfast with the som they are his little puppets who wont rock the boat as they want to keep all there benfits ie 40hrs withdrawn,shift allowances and they BIG se1 bonus, it time to get these FOOLS out and put in people in with a back bone

If you are not happy with the reps in your office, when it comes to re-elect the reps, get others to stand " with a backbone "and simply vote them out.

[F0zziebear]

The competition do not have to deliver to every address. If RM go on strike then all of the Downstream Access business will suffer, which means the competition's customers (former RM customers) won't get their mail delivered. If competition decide to only deliver to urban addresses then they have to pay RM more money under the new zonal pricing system for bulk mail. This is one the main reasons why competitors are not delivering their own mail as it is not showing up to be economically viable, not enough volume per drop point etc.... However, it might make sense for them to attempt to deliver thier own mail during a national strike, especially in urban areas and also where journalists live (no surprise that complaints in Notting Hill Gate always make it into the press!) I know that most of the country has been mapped for delivery walks and that TNT/DHL could thoeretically mobilise a delivery workforce.

Obviously it is not quite as simple as that as suddenly going out one morning and attempting to deliver domestic mail. However, if the strike goes on for a while I wouldn't be surprised if they are encouraged to start delivering mail, especially to business addresses.

Having said that RM have alternatives during a strike to get Special Delivery and bulk business mail out (reverting a postcode sector sorting approach). I know this as I implemented such an approach at the office I was running during a strike. This approach isn't the most efficient for a normal postie, but is easier to understand for someone coming in and attempting to do it for the first time.


I do not envy the decision you will have to make when the ballot comes round

Yours

F0zz

[ROCKY]

CHEERS FOZZ,THE MORE I THINK ABOUT THINGS THE MORE EVERYTHING SEEMS BIASED IN EVERYONES FAVOUR EXCEPT OURS,I NO ITS AN OLD JOKE FEELING THAT THE WORLD IS OUT TO GET YOU BUT STILL?????

[KawasakiKid]

The decision is easy. We cannot accept the garbage RM is dishing out, we have no choice but to vote in support of theCWU----------KWACK

[POSTMAN]

Dazz,i'm from SE Lon and i've never had a prob with reps,or the area guys.
Interested in knowing what office ect you're on about,you can pm the bits if you want.
You've left the job so you've nothing to lose.

[Homer]

Dazz, sorry to hear you had a bad experiance with the union but theres good and bad reps up and down the country, thats the same in any union, at Burslem weve always had good reps but i havnt always been happy with the union at top level, but i know at office level i would get excellent representation if i had a problem.

[L Tommo]

It seems that Daz and many others have been let down badly by the CWU HQ and many on the Exect.... I can vouch for SOME of this as ive bn let down and a good friend and REP had the same treatment.. FECK ALL BACKING WHEN NEEDED!!!

When you hear of BURSLEM AND LONGTON pulling together as a UNION on there own it is GREAT!!!!!

This is what ive said many times over, that WE as a union should be strong from ground level 1st... Then tell HQ how WE want them to interact on OUR behalf!!! NOT for the CWU few in HQ to make OUR future safe... Dave Ward etc has been voted in by US.. So use him as OUR mouth piece.. CUT thru the red tape and crap that we get fed and let them as voted to deal with it!! I know it must be hard to talk with the slime in RM old st!!! But WE have to be strong as Units D.O.'s M.C.'s Counters if IN CWU? The trouble is locally in The S/E we have the biggest amount of new entrants that havnt got the foggyest of who or what a UNION IS???? RM have bled the stream of newbies in, A.G. short term contracts. And the union have opened the door for this as a pay off of MORE SUBS!!!! So We all are weakened!!!! Unions are more inbred up north, EX miners, Factory, Steel,Rig workers Had the shite knocked out of them and there towns and citys!!! London and the south have had only one to my knowledge and this was WAPPING Printers under that c*** MURDOCH... My old man will not buy rag from him again.... I do just for fantasy football. And he slates me for it everytime!! This is my point. Ive bn softened by time n properganda.. Im sorry to say this Liverpool WONT buy a Murdoch rag if it kills em!!! GOOD FOR THEM!!! We need a FULL MAJORITY IN THIS VOTE JUST TO SHOW WE CAN BE A UNION WORTH THE WORD!!! Yes this will damage RM and the future but the greater good i feel is for us to stand and show WE AINT AND CANT SUFFER THIS ACTION FROM RM ANYMORE!! If they want a race to the bottom as old Dave Ward says then its on there shoulders.. Not ours!! DONT LET THEM PUSH THE BLAME ON US!!! ITS NOT OUR FAULT!!! WE ALL KNOW THIS!!! THE PUBLIC DO TO!!! WE STAND NOW AND LET EVERY BODY KNOW WE WILL THEN ITS NOT JUST US ON THIS SITE THAT WILL FEEL THE SAME!!!

OUT

LET THE WORD SPREAD. "WE WILL NOT BE MOVED.."

[KawasakiKid]

You're a passionate man TOMMO, your heart is on your sleeve. Let's hope there are enough of us who feel as you do------------KWACK