"The people who rush around like there is no tomorrow...

[POSTMAN]

I would 'guess' he meant uninformed.

[woofwoof]

If it's such a struggle to fill jobs in London why not pay us northerners our digs in a B&B and travel via the Royal Mail network on put us on a 4 day week

[POSTMAN]

There is no struggle for workers down here at all,may have been in the old days but not now.

[Lounge Lizard]

Now do we drive an hard bargain in most offices yes , lets face it if we rolled over like some do then god knows where the rest of the UK would be now.

How hard a bargain can you drive, given that it has to be in line with all national agreements?
Or do you have separate "national agreements" to adhere to.

The reality is - London has a recruitment problem. This is a historic problem. The cost of living mean p/t contracts are difficult to fill and retention is as hard as recruitment. So in order to ensure there are enough bums on seats and the duties are covered, RM has allowed these inefficiencies. As you say - the employment model is different and that is all.
Consequently the only "hard bargains" you drive are the ones RM allows you to.
All this hubris about the London Division is total bollocks. If your reps are so good then send them out into the sticks to show everyone how it should be done.
My guess is that when faced with the realities of negotiating within the confines of national agreements and away from their "employment model" , all these "super" reps would be no better than those that "roll over" to use your rather offensive term.
And what happens when you do have to negotiate in line with national agreements:
London has seen 9 mail centres close in 20 years , all the stations close , RDCs and Vocs close

Haven't saved the bricks and mortar. Haven't saved the jobs. Just "rolled over"

"all the stations close" except PRDC which has been quite busy most of the past twenty years.

[Lounge Lizard]

There is no struggle for workers down here at all,may have been in the old days but not now.

There is probably no struggle for workers in the capital because of the London weighting which was only needed because several decades ago the introduction of the Green Belt stopped London continuously naturally expanding outwards to meet the increasing demand for housing. I blame the politicians.

[wannabeek]

Yer. Those crazy politicians and their blasted Green Belt and their audacity to keep a section of the country free from being built upon. Anyway, who gives a monkey about the wildlife or environment when the great city of London requires it's 'natural expansion'?

Surely you said that in jest, no?

[Martin Walsh]

Apologies I meant un-informed not uniformed !

[Edward Hunter]

No more room in London, plenty of room in cornwall to build a massive city. Lets be honest we need the accommodation, now our population is expanding rapidly.

[Martin Walsh]

First off apologies for people being offended by a mis spelling of the word un-informed.

One thing I am not is offensive to CWU members in uniform I meet different members in different offices almost every day. I am proud to be a CWU Representative of the members I cover who have always shown loyalty and a will to fight for better conditions and shown solidarity as well when other areas have been in dispute.

I get a lot of stick on here and I still put myself on offer why ? Because I believe members should know whats going on. I defend the union leadership when I think they are in the right and I try and change the policy through debate and conference when I think they are in the wrong.

Now if people think I offended then then I will kindly ask admin to delete me from here as it was not intended.

[chrisj]

Personally, I did not even read the un-informed bit as uniform.. And I though the other person was joking about 'uniform - that is us'. I do not understand why anyone would think Dingo meant uniform - it does not make logical sense.

However, when dingo said he puts himself forward - I beg to disagree. In my view, dingo has an agenda and a list of favourite topics that he cared to discuss or inform us about... So he is rarely putting himself forward for the common good - not like zx, fishtank or even clash...

I do not think dingo contributions* will be that much missed but why should he leave the forum because we might disagree with him or from time to time find some of his biased comments uncomfortable and annoying or even upsetting or below the belt.

Mild offence is to be expected on an internet forum.

And why is clash saying goodbye? that is odd!

* Of course, dingo might be helping people through private mail and/or people outside his catchment then I have misjudged him. But why be on a forum if you are just going to act like a politician and not really contribute and help people with your knowledge and position?

** If dingo is not allowed to offer general opinions on a wide range of subjects then we could do without the propaganda and London-centric postings. That is just me!

[borders]

Wow that is a contentious post Chris ! maybe you ought to re-read his 2nd sentence

[fishtank]

Opinions are like arseholes etc.

I think it's unfair to target people personally but it's completely fair to target their opinion if you don't agree with it, that's kind of how a forum works. I don't agree with some of what dingo posts but I do understand that he posts what he thinks based on his experience. Unfortunately that isn't an experience shared by everyone.

To call us un-informed is actually inaccurate, there is a collective experience on these boards that no union rep no matter how senior has but we do have to be careful, just like a room full of reps affected by bravado and peer pressure will not give you a true picture of the situation, neither will listening to one or two vocal members either in a delivery office or on an internet forum, that's why you should listen to as many people as possible and encourage as many to speak up as you can. That is where the union fails a great deal of the time basing its decision making process on the opinions of the same old faces and we (this forum) should be careful not to make the same mistake.

If Clash goes I will miss him a great deal, his was a voice of reason on these boards as often defending the union as he was criticising it but always backing up his position with a coherent argument.

[chrisj]

One thing I am not is offensive to CWU members in uniform I meet different members in different offices almost every day. I am proud to be a CWU Representative of the members I cover who have always shown loyalty and a will to fight for better conditions and shown solidarity as well when other areas have been in dispute.

So he is still talking about the area he covers - not necessarily about the entire body of the CWU and its members...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am sure he contributes more than that to the course of fighting for better conditions for all but he is very partial and partisan to the areas he covers and the people that show him loyalty and have solidarity.

* I might want to fight and be part of a group that shows solidarity but that is not always in my hands - it is up to the members in my area, the area rep, divisional, branch rep and so on... It does not mean I deserve less or I am yellow bellied or will easily roll over; as he puts it.

But I am an employee not a trade unionist or socialist; I am gainfully employed and I do try my best - the bits and pieces in between is neither here nor there; my employer is good, pay rate and conditions are fine. I work in a very efficient office with a good mix of FT and PT and that is something to be proud of - not looked upon as being weak.

Like I said, I may a clear distinction between dingo and the likes of clash or zx (I do not even agree with them or the way they post sometimes). These guys offer advice and opinion on a wide range of subjects and they have a good knowledge of the working of the CWU and the various guidelines and employment laws etc.

I am not advocating for dingo to leave - he is entitled to his opinions.

[borders]

well I am sure he will answer all that for himself in due course.

[Pinky 1]

** If dingo is not allowed to offer general opinions on a wide range of subjects then we could do without the propaganda and London-centric postings. That is just me!

It is just you. If DVB doesn't get his regular propaganda fixes on how great a job CWU London is doing, he's going to seize up.
Now he's retired, he needs something to keep the blood moving.