Who are the CWU

[Puppetmaster]

Can someone please explain who the CWU are now .?
When I joined RM years ago I decided to join a Union that fought for workers rights, and appeared to be doing a good job, felt many of the strikes were justified.

Last time we went on strike it was in our office not about the money but about increasing the size of rounds and proposed lapsing. none of which had happened then.
All of a sudden ,the National leaders said the strike was about pay , got us a pay rise told us to go back to work. That was the last I have heard of the union CWU.

Since that strike, rounds are made larger annually to the point of being able to deliver all the mail only on quiet days or stay out. summer lapsing goes on almost all year round ,in weeks we are going to have to empty post boxes as well. Sickness rate continue to rise dramatically. Holidays are almost impossible to get .

We appear to have now yet another layer of management now called the CWU ,both locally and nationally the CWU Union appear to be acting more in a Management role than a Union role.
Their answer is safeguarding full time jobs which is commendable ,But at what cost?

The stress levels of Postmen and the physical long term effects of the large rounds are being ignored by the very people who were meant to be their for us.

I realise the CWU want a place at the top table next to RM management but the people who pay for CWU should be given a choice on the direction it takes and the issues it deals with ,which in most cases being ignored at present.
The national guys need to come and listen to the guys on the ground, or god forbid actual go back on walks and see what they are really like now, not like the old days when you could on a Saturday, be home for 10.00 am ,now we are leaving the office that time.

[red666bear]

Out by 10 on a Saturday! A miracle occurs every Saturday at our office people who can`t complete during the week miraculously out the door by 8.30.

[bustedflush]

Can someone please explain who the CWU are now .?
When I joined RM years ago I decided to join a Union that fought for workers rights, and appeared to be doing a good job, felt many of the strikes were justified.

Last time we went on strike it was in our office not about the money but about increasing the size of rounds and proposed lapsing. none of which had happened then.
All of a sudden ,the National leaders said the strike was about pay , got us a pay rise told us to go back to work. That was the last I have heard of the union CWU.

Since that strike, rounds are made larger annually to the point of being able to deliver all the mail only on quiet days or stay out. summer lapsing goes on almost all year round ,in weeks we are going to have to empty post boxes as well. Sickness rate continue to rise dramatically. Holidays are almost impossible to get .

We appear to have now yet another layer of management now called the CWU ,both locally and nationally the CWU Union appear to be acting more in a Management role than a Union role.
Their answer is safeguarding full time jobs which is commendable ,But at what cost?

The stress levels of Postmen and the physical long term effects of the large rounds are being ignored by the very people who were meant to be their for us.

I realise the CWU want a place at the top table next to RM management but the people who pay for CWU should be given a choice on the direction it takes and the issues it deals with ,which in most cases being ignored at present.
The national guys need to come and listen to the guys on the ground, or god forbid actual go back on walks and see what they are really like now, not like the old days when you could on a Saturday, be home for 10.00 am ,now we are leaving the office that time.

Hear hear! As an (ex) rep said to me when I started:
"You work fast to complete your job most of the year. During summer, you could relax a bit, take the urgency out of your walking and almost stroll round with the confidence you'd finish on time, or a few minutes early. Your body would recover both physically and psychologically. Now you get double-lapsing and thus maintain the pace all year round, and your body simply can't take it." (paraphrasing him a bit)

I was off for 1 month when my knee packed up and was diagnosed with arthritis. I am back on light duties now. There are three or four that have been off far longer with joint issues. This lapsing is costing RM money and partly responsible for many long-term health issues. I am lucky in that the DOM is being very sensible with me personally, wants me to go out (after ATOS advice) for just 30-mins to take left-in lapsing loops for the next week, then build up to an hour and see how it goes. He is doing it by the book and being very fair and working with me, not against. Kudos where it is due.

This brings me back to a lino (who was acting DOM for a while) who last week stated "If we didn't have sick pay you lot wouldn't be off as much..."
Funnily enough the ex-rep who heard him say that told him bollox and would he have our kids going up chimneys too?

Basically if people seldom need the services of the rep they are in a 'good' office. Chances are if he's always got cases going they aren't.

[Darren Bent]

I think the union have gone a great job in the past but nowadays the top don't seem to fighting tooth and nail to protect our health and too many changes have been agreed which I don't like.

Starting at 7am
Lapsing/absorbing
Increased work load on Saturday.
Losing door to door money in return to delivery supplement
Increasing door to door from 3 to 6.

But on other hand pay have improved a lot over last 7 years
Double prep and WSM is great improvement, scanning with PDA (Despite crap PDA)
Getting paid delivery supplement on week off and holiday is nice.

I want back to 5am start and no more lapsing and no more working on Saturday but it won't happens :(

[TrueBlueTerrier]

To be fair to the Union you not only have to what they have won or lost, but also at what Royal Mail wanted to do.

Zero Hour contracts and 1 hour ones were actually brought in for RM staff - They stopped that - for now.
RM wanted to cease to pay anything for D2Ds and increase them substantially - The CWU captured part of the D2D budget and turned it into a supplement that increases year on year and is paid out on leave and sick.
They got a 1 hour reduction in weekly hours for FT and a 2.5% pay rise for PTimers alongside other pay rises.


The CWU biggest failing, for me, is that the communication is very omnidirectional, and, with some of the stylistic language used in LTBs it seems as though they want to keep it that way. Even on Facebook they are starting to remove decent activists whose only fault is they are using a non-de-plume to protect their identity. They want to know who is saying what, and while their original intentions were no doubt founded on good principles , I think that acceptance of the motion was a mistake. Without some of these well intentioned but secretive contributors being allowed to post as they are then communication and engagement of the ordinary members is going to suffer.

If here is one thing I have learnt moderating for RMC its that you can't try to control the message and engage people at the same time, you have to chose one or the other.

Hopefully whoever is the leader of the Union after the election they will start to tackle the problems they have with both engagement and communication, as people are getting mightily fed up with sermons from above, and lectures on how much worse it could be without the Union.

[dvbuk55]

They need to recruit and engage the actual workforce in union affairs not just the sit down and chatter brigade. Too often work practices are being added supposedly within existing agreements without any acceptance by the shop floor giving the impression that the CWU ARE another tier of management. This fact seems to be emphasised by the never ending "Joint Statements" which rather than giving the impression of being "Joint" negotiation more RM diktat.

[Whysoslowyehcfc]

Like I've said before, all the people who make the decisions, don't work in any delivery office or mail centre, don't work at weekends and sit in the ivory towers earning more money then you or I, until that changes it will just get worse, because they are so out of touch about what is really going on, on the shop floor.

[Darren Bent]

and I don't recall an election to vote for or against Dave or Billy over last 8-9 years in the union. Why there is no vote for them.

[P13]

and I don't recall an election to vote for or against Dave or Billy over last 8-9 years in the union. Why there is no vote for them.

There has not been a vote because no-one has stood against them

[dvbuk55]

and I don't recall an election to vote for or against Dave or Billy over last 8-9 years in the union. Why there is no vote for them.

Because there hasn't been any other contenders DB.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

and I don't recall an election to vote for or against Dave or Billy over last 8-9 years in the union. Why there is no vote for them.

However this year there will be.

[Bernardson]

Yes but they are standing against each other
Are ther any other candidates

[enskied]

" Their answer is safeguarding full time jobs which is commendable ,But at what cost? "

But they aren't protecting them at all. Of the last 11 full time duties in our office to become vacant not one is full time now. This same "Full time protection" mantra alienates the part time workers who get third class service from Management and CWU.

[dvbuk55]

Yes but they are standing against each other
Are ther any other candidates

The question should be why does Billy want to go a year early. Anyone seen a pre-election address by either party. If it transpires that there is an offer of a seat at the next election or a nice little earner on some board or other the whole election process is a farce.

[dvbuk55]

" Their answer is safeguarding full time jobs which is commendable ,But at what cost? "

But they aren't protecting them at all. Of the last 11 full time duties in our office to become vacant not one is full time now. This same "Full time protection" mantra alienates the part time workers who get third class service from Management and CWU.

There seems to be a misunderstanding here, the full time jobs they are talking about is theirs of course, not members. I see the BS peddled time after time that they are protecting full time jobs when in reality the ratio which has been touted as 75/25 is now only predominantly FT without a ratio being offered. Now that is no protection at all for full timers because the ratio could be 51/49 and would still be within the realms of the agreement.