Policy Forum-Bullying & Harassment debates

[makingsounds]

There were some extremely emotional and angry debates regarding Bullying and Harassment in the workplace during the Policy Forum in Liverpool. Some stories were stomach churning and very raw. This is now a massive issue for Royal Mail and they will be very uncomfortable at the stories coming out about how some of their managers are acting in the workplace, hiding behind a managerial position to clearly bully, harass and lie on a daily basis. The effects on some postal workers is at times devastating.

[Lincox]

But to date CWU have not provided Royal Mail with the details.

[britwrit]

At the very least, it seems like, it's time for another lawsuit.

[obscurityknocks]

But to date CWU have not provided Royal Mail with the details.

Who cares if they provide royal mail with details or not. If a member says they have been bullied then I for one believe them. It's rife in royal mail and we all know it. I agree with what bob Gibson said and that's if one member is being bullied them we all walk. Simple.

[knackeredneedadayoff]

Its about time this union went to the press its getting beyond a joke there ineptitude got on my nerves so much i left,i walk upto 12 miles a day 5 days a week and bring home below average wages.I have been on strike 5 times to come out with less sometimes than i went out for.They stop the strike action to climb down for rubbish deals and we get our final salary pension stopped with out a fight.I see weak members sneakily harrassed and members sacked for things they shouldnt.Boy am i glad i havent long to go before im off.

[BoltonPostie]

The CWU don't need to provide details.....Royal Mail already know the problem exists from plenty of ET cases it has lost but the fact is they don't give a toss,they see one or two defeats as collateral damage.

[fishtank]

At the very least, it seems like, it's time for another lawsuit.

If the union fails to deal with the situation properly especially with the 700 cases brought to their attention they may bring some unwanted legal consequences down on themselves.
The union has a legally-binding contractual obligation to provide a "fit for purpose" system for monitoring and dealing with complaints of Bullying and Harassment.
It is fairly obvious that something has gone badly wrong with this system.

Considering the HCD process was reviewed last year and very little change was made primarily because branches couldn't be arsed responding it could be very dangerous if the union were to try to sweep this under the carpet.

In early 2012 the Equal Opportunities Department conducted a review of the HCD process
and LTB 080 was issued accordingly. The LTB sought to gain an input from branches as to
how the current process could be improved.

Disappointingly, there were only four responses from a total of 145 CWU branches, which suggests that branches, for whatever reason, are currently not connected with the mechanisms in place or are satisfied with the current process.

Some branches and branch officials need to up their game considerably when it comes to dealing with grievances and B&H complaints or if they are not interested or not capable,they should admit the fact and for want of a more polite turn of phrase....f**k off.

[Lincox]

Obscurity, I agree with what you are saying, but when we contact members of parliament, who then contact Royal Mail, who state that although they have been made aware by CWU of a list of members who have made complaints, but then say that CWU have not provided them with the details, so they are unable to investigate, it makes you wonder what has been going on the last 3 or 4 months

[Martin Walsh]

The union has made progress on the bullying and harassment and has now got a joint statement titled Digity and Respect in the workplace. This includes a independent review of the case by a third party. The problem with reviewing the cases is that some members were too scared to put their names or offices and asked the CWU not to reveal their case to Royal Mail.

The CWU will now have to ask these Indivduals probably by a letter to each workplace whether they wish for their case to be reviewed.

There is clarification on the 30 minute flex and that no indivdual has to work beyond their time and those who wish to work beyond their time have to be paid overtime.

over and above this the union carried a number of amendments on bullying Including whether bullying and harassment is going up due to unachievable levels of savings and calling for an independent enquiry.

On top of this the future delivery strategy and review 100bsi and of course the refusal to agree the pace of change document unless it does not have a link to 100 BSI ,it has the menu of options and no later starts etc.

There is no doubt that all of these issues including pay , pensions the boycot and the refusal to agree any more mail centre and RDC closures is going to lead to a ballot for strike action at some point in the next few months.

[steven100]

But what do you do with hibitual(?query spelling) liars?????

I wonder if managers lie to their wives???

[Danelectro]

Some branches and branch officials need to up their game considerably when it comes to dealing with grievances and B&H complaints or if they are not interested or not capable,they should admit the fact and for want of a more polite turn of phrase....f**k off.

the problem is they wont f**k off.I cant remember what recent CWU document it was but it stated in one of the sub sections that branches would have to meet certain minimum standards but it didnt state what these standards were and what would happen if these standards were not met.

There needs to be an independent process to hold the branch and its ARs to account as in my experience they tend to cover each others arses when they are challenged for not following CWU policy.As in the RMT the grass root member and local rep should be treated with respect and not in some cases isolated by the union structure and hierarchy.

[BoltonPostie]

The union has made progress on the bullying and harassment and has now got a joint statement titled Digity and Respect in the workplace. This includes a independent review of the case by a third party.

what utter s**t!
where is this so called independent review?
No 3rd party appointed,utter crap from a weak union only to happy to play the Royal Mail game.

[fishtank]

The union has made progress on the bullying and harassment and has now got a joint statement titled Digity and Respect in the workplace.

From this month's Voice....

In June and July, the postal outdoor department at national CWU HQ received formal industrial action ballot requests for over 40 delivery offices, ranging from large and small units in cities, towns and even small villages, potentially including thousands of members.

“In the majority of cases, the disputes are being caused by managers attempting to
increase workloads outside of any national agreements in the pursuit of budgetary savings, which often results in members being bullied and harassed - even though we recently agreed a national joint statement to deal with this.

“If we don’t see a marked improvement very soon, we will have to take a different course of action,”.

So "Dignity and Respect" was just a waste of time as predicted by many,another few months of wasted chattering and another empty agreement.
It is getting dangerously close to the point where members stop listening,There is only so many times you can expect people to believe in change when none is forthcoming.
Eventually the members will just give up.