Waiting patiently

[hans solo]

so do we do it ourselves without say so from hq
would make it v interesting national unofficial action

[BernardBresslaw]

what a f***ing joke so basically another extension a token walkout by area reps keeps the ballot alive.I for one will be cancelling my CWU subscription as off tomorrow if this is correct. Cant the CWU see that we cannot allow RM to get through XMAS without a deal, so they can turn round in January and say they are walking away from the table the ball is in the unions court whilst we can strike during xmas pressure weeks why can they not see that.If i remember right the last strikes we went out and a deal got done so what is the difference now.Wake up and smell the coffee Billy (AKA THICK SCOUSER).

1. What will cancelling your CWU membership achieve? Either you are a trade unionist or you are not.
2. If striking during xmas pressure was such a brilliant tactic, how come we have never done it?
3. What exactly do you think Billy Hayes had to do with this?

Billy Hayes is the head honcho of the union so if he has nothing to do with this god help us what are we paying the guy to do.

Well dave it's like this, you see you need someone to hob-nob with the politicians, eat posh meals at Royal Mail whilst chin wagging with Moya and generally be paraded round at media functions as the titular head of the union speaking intellectually on a vast number of issues............yes I know - a demented chimp would be much cheaper but it wouldn't eat Greggs pies.

His latest twitter update tells us to "be patient"

Shows you how out of touch the guy is really.

[postality]

Having thought about it, the 15 min thing could be just a tool for the union to keep the ballot alive and an agreement could be very close. It may never reach that point, so yes as hard as it is to accept...

Patience really is a virtue.

[BernardBresslaw]

Having thought about it, the 15 min thing could be just a tool for the union to keep the ballot alive and an agreement could be very close. It may never reach that point, so yes as hard as it is to accept...

Patience really is a virtue.

It is an easy platitude to trot out but time IS running out.

[dvbuk55]

His latest twitter update tells us to "be patient". Shows you how out of touch the guy is really.

Always assuming he has ever been in touch. Patience my arse, this has been going on for months. It doesn't affect Billy, he's not employed by Royal Mail, although sometimes it makes you wonder, no - he's employed by us................I know, it seems incredible that we would pay someone £100,000 a year, plus expenses, plus cheap loans and whatever else - just to pretend to be a Muppet. Guess what he doesn't have to negotiate for our pay rise nor terms and conditions and even better he doesn't have to negotiate his own pay rise, it's just voted in by the servants of the CWU.

I know it would seem ludicrous EXCEPT it's the reality of life employed by the CWU.

[postality]

Having thought about it, the 15 min thing could be just a tool for the union to keep the ballot alive and an agreement could be very close. It may never reach that point, so yes as hard as it is to accept...

Patience really is a virtue.

It is an easy platitude to trot out but time IS running out.

But we want an agreement not IA, this keeps the ballot live and a probably very complex negotiation continues. Also only the reps (a thankless task sometimes) lose money if the 15 mins action is taken and not all the members taking a hit so close to Christmas.

[dvbuk55]

Having thought about it, the 15 min thing could be just a tool for the union to keep the ballot alive and an agreement could be very close. It may never reach that point, so yes as hard as it is to accept...

Patience really is a virtue.

Well give it a bit more thought, why on earth would they need to keep the ballot open? Nobody in their right mind would believe that there's the remotest possibility of a strike. It isn't a threat when the window of opportunity for IA has long gone so exactly what is this going to achieve but more to the point what does the PEC think it's going to achieve? Royal Mail realise the CWU is serious and immediately up the ante

[dvbuk55]

Having thought about it, the 15 min thing could be just a tool for the union to keep the ballot alive and an agreement could be very close. It may never reach that point, so yes as hard as it is to accept...

Patience really is a virtue.

It is an easy platitude to trot out but time IS running out.

But we want an agreement not IA, this keeps the ballot live and a probably very complex negotiation continues. Also only the reps (a thankless task sometimes) lose money if the 15 mins action is taken and not all the members taking a hit so close to Christmas.

Yes you have a point there postality, but who's going to miss them for 15 minutes they probably spend that amount of time having a fag or a crap and really if you're on £32,000 a year they're probably not going to miss 15 minutes pay.

[bolton1969]

My moneys on royal mail hanging it out to the new year, then pull the plug on the whole deal. Christmas and new year gone and the strike will have little or no effect. No one wants to lose pay with industrial action but it does get to the point where you have to say enough's enough. Yes it's complex but it's December now and this has been going on for far too long.

[mr hil.]

You will miss the three percent drop in your Christmas bonus, only for the units that have these reps though

[Ahebban]

To continue the panto theme I propose that it's taken dressed as Widow Twankey.
Where would the picket line be?

How about the gates at HQ? See if Dave et al. cross the line ... or not let them pass into HQ until they get a proper deal signed, sealed and delivered as instructed by the membership.

You asked for my support in the consultative ballot ... you got it
You asked for my support for industrial action ... you got it
You asked me to be patient and postpone IA ... you got it

Don't test my patience further by expecting me to wait forever and a day to suit you anymore.

Members at my DO will laugh when I get them together for a gate meeting to tell them the news. I can be confident in predicting that at least 3 members will have resigned by the end of the week and I haven't got a scrap of information to counter the disappointment at recent events. At least have the decency to put out an LtB tonight to support Reps in what is going to be a difficult day tomorrow.

[k979aaa]

so do we do it ourselves without say so from hq
would make it v interesting national unofficial action

It's at boiling point already even the top brass of the CWU cannot put the lid back on even with Royal Mails help! Only a matter of time till we all go out and time is running out for all.

[gashead-postie]

well all those posties that work near the cwu hq should be going around there to demand some answers..its fast becoming a farce now

[BernardBresslaw]

Having thought about it, the 15 min thing could be just a tool for the union to keep the ballot alive and an agreement could be very close. It may never reach that point, so yes as hard as it is to accept...

Patience really is a virtue.

It is an easy platitude to trot out but time IS running out.

But we want an agreement not IA, this keeps the ballot live and a probably very complex negotiation continues. Also only the reps (a thankless task sometimes) lose money if the 15 mins action is taken and not all the members taking a hit so close to Christmas.

If Royal Mail string it out any more, there will be no agreement, or at least one beneficial to us - that is the whole point. While Christmas is ahead of us, we still have leverage. If RM see the union as so weak, that it refuses IA at arguably one of the most important times in our employment, they know we never will.

I fear the battle is already lost, as there is no motivation amongst the shop-floor workers to strike now - there was, back in early November but not now.

Royal Mail have truly played the game to perfection and made the union negotiators look unbelievably naive, bordering on incompetent.

[cloherty1976]

Having thought about it, the 15 min thing could be just a tool for the union to keep the ballot alive and an agreement could be very close. It may never reach that point, so yes as hard as it is to accept...

Patience really is a virtue.

It is an easy platitude to trot out but time IS running out.

But we want an agreement not IA, this keeps the ballot live and a probably very complex negotiation continues. Also only the reps (a thankless task sometimes) lose money if the 15 mins action is taken and not all the members taking a hit so close to Christmas.

If Royal Mail string it out any more, there will be no agreement, or at least one beneficial to us - that is the whole point. While Christmas is ahead of us, we still have leverage. If RM see the union as so weak, that it refuses IA at arguably one of the most important times in our employment, they know we never will.

I fear the battle is already lost, as there is no motivation amongst the shop-floor workers to strike now - there was, back in early November but not now.

Royal Mail have truly played the game to perfection and made the union negotiators look unbelievably naive, bordering on incompetent.

I agree with you and have said this from the beginning but I suppose you just got to hope the union have a master stroke up there sleeve.