Too Little To Late

[Postaltony]

Like has been said in other posts the CWU has been barely heard or seen to be doing anything.
I think the cwu has acted too little too late. Yesterday I received an email about drumming up support for a yes vote. This is too late considering the ballot ends next week. Communications like this should have started much earlier and more frequently. You might have noticed Royal Mail have not sat on their arses, they've bombarded us every week with their propaganda material.

Locally we have only had 1 meeting and that was for the area. Surely more should be done at such a crucial time?

Or maybe after we are shafted again we should look for new union leaders or god forbid leave the union!

[DiamondSmiles]

I wouldn't worry too much, I think we will have a sizeable yes vote

[bogstandard]

As a lowly local rep i can tell you that the CWU has made it abundantly clear to anyone who's listening that they cannot compete with RM when it comes to posting out stuff to you on an almost daily basis.
How many times do we need to be told to vote yes?
I and my colleagues locally were prepared to hold meeting, virtually daily if that was what was wanted, but few if any are prepared to give up their free time.
Excuses for not coming to meetings range from,
i go see my mum at that time, to, not on a Sunday i play football. Personally i don't answer the question how did the meeting go, because the question winds me up like nobody's business.
I'm sure you are one of the few, but please remember and ask your colleagues to remember your local rep is a volunteer. They volunteer their time, energy and resources.
Locally we have to pick and choose carefully to maximise attendance/interest. We are not the font of all knowledge but will do all we can.

[Postaltony]

Most of us have email addresses and Facebook and twitter, so as its free to set up once connected its very easy to communicate on a regular basis and get regular feedback. So come on we have the technology and it is the communication workers union. Key word here communication.

[flaminmoses]

several scenarios.

the government sneaking in front of the ballot may actually backfire on them and in a bad way.
the ballot hasnt been aired properly but imo thats not a bad thing.

people will be asking more questions next week and people getting squeaky bums when they realise their investment may be a very risky one.

the one question that will be asked is "why did a float go ahead when there was a strike ballot?"

[clashcityrocker]

people will be asking more questions next week and people getting squeaky bums when they realise their investment may be a very risky one.

I don't think the investors were bothered by the threat of industrial action.
I don't think they will be bothered by the reality of industrial action.

[chrisj]

True!
In fact, strike action had been priced into the original valuation of the share price. The thing is that there was very little opposition from the public against the privatisation or Royal Mail and the Union was not as pro-active in its opposition to privatisation. That might be in part due to the possible cost (and then failure) and the fact that postmen have other disputes as well as the opposition.

So the valuation was cheap, the govt offered generosus dividends and the interest rate is so low that even a 10% rise would have sufficed for most investors. So investors are not bothered about the strikes - not at all.

In fact, a strike will be a face-facing action for the government. The share price might be depressed a little taking some pressure off the government for selling some of the crown jewels so cheaply - despite being warned by some analyst and Labour.

A reduction in share will have Vince Cable breathing a sigh of relief until they can use another bad news to bury this debacle.

[flaminmoses]

wheres the evidence that the strike has been factored in??

its barely been mentioned.

all ive heard is the posties are getting a good payrise...so naturally most people think we arent going to strike.

[chrisj]

It is just a thought.

I doubt people know or care that we are getting a good pay rise - there is no evidence of that either...

However, if you are going to float a controversial company under a possible cloud of ideological opposition from within some in govt, opposition and general public, then you might as well set your price a little but lower to get the thing off the ground.

It is simple economics. The government (IMO) felt the this ideological privatisation has to be successful...

A lot of stuff might will have been factored into the floatation price including possible strike action.

[dvbuk55]

Got a leaflet in the office today, single sided, from the CWU - 150+ staff - 13 leaflets - saying VOTE YES The vote's practically over so it's a bit late IMO.

[Cut Off King]

Dingo wrote

The CWU has made it clear in all the meetings and comms that this fight is not about stopping privatisation and as sadly that ship was always leaving the port.

Thats not how it was sold to the few ( about 15% ) of the unit that turned up to the local meeting, It was ALL about stopping privatisation !

Now that we have BEEN privatised, most people i've talked to don't see the point of a strike, they just want to get the pain over with sooner than later, they've accepted that we have lost and Moya has won. They think that the CWU was too slow off the mark and that they have beem outsmarted again

[k979aaa]

Dingo wrote

The CWU has made it clear in all the meetings and comms that this fight is not about stopping privatisation and as sadly that ship was always leaving the port.

Thats not how it was sold to the few ( about 15% ) of the unit that turned up to the local meeting, It was ALL about stopping privatisation !

Now that we have BEEN privatised, most people i've talked to don't see the point of a strike, they just want to get the pain over with sooner than later, they've accepted that we have lost and Moya has won. They think that the CWU was too slow off the mark and that they have beem outsmarted again

Ownership matters little we fought against the NEW LABOUR government last time we did not get what we all wanted but it was better than royal mails first offer it is time we all took them to task again without fight and unity you are nothing!

[cloherty1976]

The CWU has made it clear in all the meetings and comms that this fight is not about stopping privatisation and as sadly that ship was always leaving the port.

Thats not how it was sold to the few ( about 15% ) of the unit that turned up to the local meeting, It was ALL about stopping privatisation !

The story changes on a daily basis. Remember just cross them off the original list . Whatever will be next.

[Postaltony]

Should we be looking for new union leaders?
Going off track a little, in the latest joint agreement which was part of using delivery methods.

When both parties agree that equipment such as lwt's are "Mandatory" why has the union not got their teeth into the failure of management to enforce it? Looks to me that CWU picks and chooses what agreements to enforce, just like management.

I for one will always support balloted action, but at present feel let down by the cwu. Not only now but for previous deals made which they advised we accepted but which ended up with us being shafted.

Sold down the river?

Well lets see what happens next.

[motch]

people will be asking more questions next week and people getting squeaky bums when they realise their investment may be a very risky one.

I don't think the investors were bothered by the threat of industrial action.
I don't think they will be bothered by the reality of industrial action.

indeed, they are only after the value of the buildings and network. which have been undersold price wise.