We Need A New Union ASAP

[twobags]

In the past few weeks ive been to a union meeting where the area rep said they could not look at individual cases its to problematic ? before the same meeting we were told that our office rep would quit if we voted to work to our hours and we would end up with no union representation , the same rep last week when someone approached him on unfair treatment regarding going over and ips times etc said to the man in the same sentence " take out a greivance against him . but youll know he will take it personal ". [wtf how was he to take that].Basically you do something your alone and you will have to go through alot of crap with minimal support and no real back up .there were three union reps at the meeting that did not give an individual a glimmer of hope ,so whats the point of having them ,ive not been on here for a while yet the topics are all about the same things as when i first come on here a few years ago except im tireder , angrier ,as frustrated as ever oh ! and poorer yet i work harder :dcfo :ncfo :crazy ...and at some point in the near future vince cable is gonna introduce new employment laws that will make it easier for a company like royal mail to do all of the above to an individual whether you been there 1 month or 20 years and limit also the cost of any compo if they do a bad job of screwing you over :vcfo rant over

[wacko74]

Our office rep has just resigned from his role as union rep, due to the complete lack of support and backing he was getting from the area reps.... they proved to be just as bad as RM management for trying to bully and bulls**t us into making changes that aren't even part of any national agreement and losing yet more hours out of the office!

It's a shame 'cos he was trying his best and doing a better job than any previous reps that our office has had.


Maybe I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist but I'm seriously starting to think the problems with this union are a bit more sinister than just being useless, out of touch and incompetent... there's plenty of cases (both historic and recent) of union executives being bribed and corrupted by the employers they're supposed to be challenging.

[twobags]

Maybe I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist but I'm seriously starting to think the problems with this union are a bit more sinister than just being useless, out of touch and incompetent... there's plenty of cases (both historic and recent) of union executives being bribed and corrupted by the employers they're supposed to be challenging.

i agree no one can be as ineffective as our rep is being hes been doing it to long .

[clashcityrocker]

........complete lack of support and backing he was getting from the area reps.... they proved to be just as bad as RM management for trying to bully and bulls**t us into making changes that aren't even part of any national agreement and losing yet more hours out of the office!

You have to accept that an Area Rep's agenda is different to a Unit Rep's.
They see a much bigger picture and play a bigger political game with their counterparts.

For instance:
As a unit rep you believe a stage 1 warning under the attendance procedure has been incorrectly/unfairly given.
You turn to an Area rep for help. He isn't really interested because a) there is no right of appeal at this stage and b) he will deal with it when it gets to stage 3. Below that it isn't worth him bothering about.
As a unit rep you feel as though you have let your colleague down and s/he now has the stress of not triggering a stage 2.
And even if they do your Area Rep still can't/won't intervene.

And the problem with a unit rep on delivery is s/he is very isolated. I've spoken to reps in MCs and they have 3/4 reps per shift. They can pool experience/information and have a better chance of disseminating information.

Obviously it depends on the size of the office but I think the unit rep needs to be replaced by a committee.

[shuffler3]

The union is a complete joke!!!

[Martin Walsh]

Due to one area rep and one local rep you can say we need a new union !!

No you don't you need new reps with the balls to do something getting another union does not solve the situration at all as under a new union you are likely to have the same reps.

Equally if we had a new union that union even if it did get recognised would have no agreements in place be that paid meal breaks , delivery supplements , shift allowances or anything at all. You prepared for that Royal Mail would love having no agreements in place.

No if you don't think the area rep or local rep is doing the job right then stand against them. it's a volunatary postion and if you think you can do better than nothing is stopping you standing if your a union member.

it is your right to be critical but if you want change then get involved rather than sit on the sidelines moaning.

[P13]

........complete lack of support and backing he was getting from the area reps.... they proved to be just as bad as RM management for trying to bully and bulls**t us into making changes that aren't even part of any national agreement and losing yet more hours out of the office!

You have to accept that an Area Rep's agenda is different to a Unit Rep's.
They see a much bigger picture and play a bigger political game with their counterparts.

For instance:
As a unit rep you believe a stage 1 warning under the attendance procedure has been incorrectly/unfairly given.
You turn to an Area rep for help. He isn't really interested because a) there is no right of appeal at this stage and b) he will deal with it when it gets to stage 3. Below that it isn't worth him bothering about.
As a unit rep you feel as though you have let your colleague down and s/he now has the stress of not triggering a stage 2.
And even if they do your Area Rep still can't/won't intervene.

And the problem with a unit rep on delivery is s/he is very isolated. I've spoken to reps in MCs and they have 3/4 reps per shift. They can pool experience/information and have a better chance of disseminating information.

Obviously it depends on the size of the office but I think the unit rep needs to be replaced by a committee.

I agree with you Clash i think most DO's should have a committee instead of a single rep

[fishtank]

Committees....
They can work but unless they are very like-minded you can go round in circles,at the end of the day they won't all get release so a lot of sacrifice is necessary and someone usually has to take the lead.
As an aid to a rep....great idea...as a replacement...not convinced.

[Stormproof]

At the beginning of the year I put posters up in my office for people who were interested in setting up and being on a committee. I had 1 person out of over 150 enquire

[drb]

As a unit rep myself,I would like to place my experiences on here. I am beginning to dread..yes dread going in sometimes! Management? Not really! I can deal with them as the CWU do have a policy on EVERYTHING. Now the members are a different kettle of fish. Let's take absorption. Before I place an example let us be quite clear here. Members have rejected the union's advice on working your hours. The business know this as well as CWU HQ. However a minute element of the offices do get bullied because of the majority. Now..on to the example:

Member to rep: I can't absorb today (the time they have tied up is 8:30 and they have 3 hours docket with them)


Rep to member : Will you finish before your actual paid time ( 17:33).

Rep argues with manager and gets absorption off,manager then delivers absorption.

The next day the manager informs rep that said member finished at 12:30 as he gave his card to a collections driver. and dumped an unsigned packet to a runaround

Now in terms of the revision,the attendance pattern is "minimum of 1 in 4". However members in various offices have voted for minimum "1 in 6". This thinking is that Saturdays will remain shorter. No! That argument is 3 years old. However despite the vote going in on BT 2010 and gaining the £400..all of a sudden...it's the reps fault!

Listen! Members ARE the union..not the reps,Billy Hayes,Dave Ward or who ever. I do understand that reps need training. I sit with nine other branches at times and none,(and I mean none) say they have issues! (?)

[jcjd]

At the beginning of the year I put posters up in my office for people who were interested in setting up and being on a committee. I had 1 person out of over 150 enquire

And the other 149 said the union was a waste of time

[fishtank]

It doesn't really matter whose fault you think it is drb,the end result will be the same so what we need is some new ideas because the status quo will just result in the continued decline of the union's influence in the workplace.
We've blamed stupid members long enough and it's gotten us exactly...nowhere,in fact less than nowhere,we're going backwards.

With regards to "doing the job properly" there is no stomach for it because from a member's point of view not only as you point out do you have to work your hours it also brings a s**t load of grief your way in the shape of bullying and harassment which up to this point members have largely had to face on their own.

From the union's point of view although they make a song and dance about it most area and divisional reps won't push it because quite frankly it's as popular as a dose of syphilis amongst certain "sections" of the membership who are obviously also potential voters in area and divisional elections.

If you want to make a difference start pushing for electronic work time monitoring(clocking in/out)...it'll never happen but at least you'll be pushing in the right direction.

I sit with nine other branches at times and none,(and I mean none) say they have issues! (?

And i look like Brad Pitt.

[P13]

Committees....
They can work but unless they are very like-minded you can go round in circles,at the end of the day they won't all get release so a lot of sacrifice is necessary and someone usually has to take the lead.
As an aid to a rep....great idea...as a replacement...not convinced.

I think you are probably right and they definately would not get release in my office, therefore any meetings would have to be outside working hours and as Stormproof has pointed out it would be difficult to get volunteers anyway, we struggled to get one person to be the rep but I still think it is a good idea as it would maybe bring the office together instead of the every man for himself mentality which exists in my office

[drb]

Hi Fish,

Good point on the clocking back! Why not campaign on here for members to sign back in as compulsory?

By the way....I might look like Brad Pitt!

[LinChong]

Indoor units with different work sections on different shifts should push for weekly team talks with their manager in a private room. At the end of the session they should ask the manager to leave them for a few minutes so they can talk about issues they want to raise with their rep.

Reps should push for weekly team talks as this helps achieve employee engagement. Management should want to organise their workforce and we want to organise our members. A team is an organised group of people. If organising work sections makes work get shared out fairly and reduces bullying we should be for it.

Despite efforts to change the hands off management technique of letting sections 'manage ' themselves by allowing staff to develop their own pecking orders and choose what tasks they do, unit managers are still doing this. It is this 'sit back and watch them fight it out' technique that has led to the high levels of bullying. HR have put in systems that on the face of it ensure employee engagement goes on but unit managers despise HR who they see as "poncey" graduates with no operational experience who will back down if they get barked at by an operational 'hardman' with a regional accent.

Reps must push for change and get local agreements for weekly team talks.

Bullies who sit on self designed cushy duties should be challenged. Tasks should be rotated within sections and managers should actually manage their staff and direct rotation instead of disappearing so that the staff are forced to fight it out between themselves.