Union conundrum

[Cyclopz]

I have a question.

WDC is a very small RDC that has been swallowed up by network 2012.
All our work has gone to PRDC.
Some of us have elected to stay at WDC as we have been offered the chance of a job working under the umbrella of HWDC.
Now the changes have really stared kicking in and HWDC are about to flood the place with work and agency staff.

My question is seeing as how our work is now coming from HWDC should we be looking for an HWDC rep?
It is HWDC management calling the shots so consequently is it an HWDC union issue?
We have now become an HWDC outhouse.

Any comments appreciated.
Thanks.

More details tomorrow as we progress.

[Martin Walsh]

Are you in the same Branch as HWDC ? ie South East no 5 if you are then this will be a help. If not you should have got an agreement that your rep would be involved in any talks at HWDC when they are discussing the Woking site.

You will not be able to have an HWDC rep as you are not on site. However you should be involved in any disucssions on the future of international mail.

Woking is a good news story as you would have been closed and the work would have gone to PRDC. Now you still have an operation and that is likely to be for some time as HWDC cannot cope with the amount of international work which has grown so much.

[Cyclopz]

Thanks Dingo.

I agree Woking is a good news story, we all thought we would be driving to PRDC everyday or be out of a job.
HWDC are building a new purpose made outhouse which should be ready by September or maybe in the new year if there are delays.
The staff at WDC have been given the pick of these new duties based on seniority at the Woking site and when we move to the new building near Heathrow
we will be given the first pick of the new duties there.

As far as job security goes this is quite positive because international packets is one area of the business that is growing whereas the domestic
customer collections of mailsort that we were doing before is an area that is shrinking due to unfair terms imposed on the business regarding
downstream access, bulk customer mailsort collections have been devastated as a result of downstream access.

I am fairly sure HWDC comes under the same branch as WDC, IE south east 5, I will find out for sure today.

[Cyclopz]

HWDC do indeed come under the same branch as WDC.

Our place is in a state of flux at the moment as we are still going through the signing for duties/ VR etc routine.

It's not actually a bad job but I think when things really start moving and we have the place up and running at full capacity space is going to be an issue.
WDC is quite a small building.

[Cyclopz]

Here's a question for Dingo or any rep/postman that is knowledgeable about such things.

During the changeover from mailsort to international packets an agreement was drawn up between union and management.
This agreement was signed by our branch and the head honcho at HWDC.

Now management at our place keep referring to this agreement IE whenever we have a question about staffing levels or duty times they always say
that they are only following what is written in this agreement.
No one in our place has seen a copy of this agreement and we are in the dark as to what is actually written in it.

What do you think the possibilities are of seeing this agreement?
As members are we entitled to view a written agreement that is referred to often and involves our futures?
As members of the CWU is it our right to view this document?

Comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[fishtank]

This agreement was signed by our branch and the head honcho at HWDC

Contact your branch.
If they signed it they must hold a copy of it.

[Cyclopz]

Well my question is really this:

"Am I allowed as a member to view it"?

If my branch gives me static and excuses saying it's not for my eyes etc what is my best argument?

I really want to see this document, I want to know what is written in it and how it will affect our futures.

Do I as a member of the CWU have a right to see any document signed by my union on my behalf?

Or are some of them beyond my reach?

Comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Cyclopz]

Well luckily enough the head of our branch paid a visit to the site today and a few of us managed to get him to one side for a chat.

He seemed like a reasonable bloke and he said that no formal agreement has been drafted yet.
Most of the business changes being discussed it seems are on verbal agreements between HWDC and us at WDC.
The local staffing levels and shift patterns etc are all being decided by local agreement.

I guess the point I was trying to get across to him was although we are very grateful for having jobs there seems to still be
a lot of uncertainty and anything that is written and signed by both management and union would be good to get hold of.
It would help should any grievances surface.
The guy from branch said as soon as a final agreement is drawn up he will make sure a copy is available.

We are kind of in limbo but I think the document that has most relevance to us is MTSF2 and also the mail centre
rationalisation agreement, the guy from branch said there is nothing new to add to these and these two documents are still being used as guidelines.
He also said that a lot of what is being discussed cannot be put into public documents as it comes under business confidentiality clauses so on some
subjects we just have to accept the business or the unions word as we are not allowed to know the full details of what is being discussed.

The union have done what they set out to do and that is fight the case for our centre to be used as an HWDC outhouse, their fighting seems to have been
successful as we are still open.
I would personally love to know more about what is being discussed in the meetings that union and management are having but well I just have to hope that information trickles down.

But right now it looks like a bit of MTSF2 reading is in order.