LTB 219/17 - Annual Conference 2017 - Emergency Motion No 1 - Four Pillars of Security

[TrueBlueTerrier]

LTB 219/17 - Annual Conference 2017 - Emergency Motion No 1 - Four Pillars of Security

No. 219/17

19th April 2017


TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS

Dear Colleagues,

Annual Conference 2017 - Emergency Motion No 1 - Four Pillars of Security

Please find detailed below the terms of an Emergency Motion submitted by the Postal Executive regarding the above. The aforementioned Motion has been accepted onto the agenda by the SOC and was circulated in LTB 213/17 issued by the SDGS on the 13th April 2017.

It has been brought to the attention of the DGS(P) Department however that colleagues may not have had sight of the terms of the Motion, hence the decision to publish this LTB.

Emergency Motion No 1

FOUR PILLARS OF SECURITY

This Conference recognises the CWU’s Four Pillars of Security campaign has now exposed the company’s true strategic direction and priorities in respect of its people, its lack of growth, investment and ambition and their psychological acceptance of what constitutes success as reported by the National Postal Officers at the National Briefing held on 28th March 2017.

This Conference also agrees that the morality and mutual interest commitments and the spirit and intent of our Agenda for Growth Agreement are being broken in the interests of the conventional wisdom of privatisation based on short termism, cutting costs, maximising profits and delivering greater returns to shareholders.

According to Royal Mail, the promise of privatisation in 2013 was to deliver a modern innovative and growing business which would protect our members’ jobs, standard of living and pension security. However, the reality is greater pressure on staff, attacks on the CWU and our members’ jobs and conditions and growing concerns about the application of our national agreements reflected in recent proposals tabled by Royal Mail to reduce members’ pay and conditions, unpick our existing agreements and introduce a two-tier workforce across all grades.

The CWU recognises the serious challenges of automation, digitalisation, unfair competition and the insecure employment models of the ‘gig economy’ faced by our members. However, we believe the managerial response is defeatist, shrinks in the shadow of the challenge, will decrease the company’s reach, fail to defend our core products and directly threaten full time employment, the future of the USO and the livelihood of our members.
 
In uncertain times, the CWU believe that confidence and security are of the utmost importance and that the Four Pillars of Security campaign provides the appropriate foundation for refocusing the mutual interest culture and redesigning the business to deliver long term growth. In contrast to Royal Mail’s policy of managed decline, the CWU position has set out a positive, optimistic alternative which genuinely reflects the company’s heritage and the commitments detailed in our current agreements.

Conference therefore reaffirms its support for the negotiating policies agreed at the Policy Forum held in March 2016 and the union’s Four Pillars of Security campaign. Furthermore, Conference calls on the company to:

• adopt a vision that honours our heritage and recognises that Royal Mail is no ordinary employer and has a responsibility to maintain and enhance its role as the only provider with total connectivity to the social, industrial and commercial life of the UK;
• redesign our operations to grow and enhance Royal Mail’s ambition to be the UK’s best most reliable, secure and trusted delivery and logistics company;
• jointly defend the retention of the nation’s six day Universal Service Obligation (USO) to every address in the UK with equality of provision and service at a uniform tariff and no substantial change to current collection and delivery specifications;
• recognise and respect the CWU;
• maintain industry-leading employment standards; and
• create a more human workplace with a vocational sense of purpose and a work environment their own children would be proud to work in.
In the event the business fails to reach an agreement with the CWU or positively respond to the union’s Four Pillars of Security agenda by the end of August 2017, the Postal Executive are instructed to consider all means available to the union to progress our claim up to, and not excluding a national industrial action ballot in accordance with CWU national rules.

Postal Executive
To precede Motion 26, Section 2.2, page 37

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department quoting reference 11002g.

Yours sincerely


Ray Ellis
Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

[daveyeff]

fighting talk at last.

[k979aaa]

fighting talk at last.

We don't just need talk we need action and fast.

[daveyeff]

fighting talk at last.

We don't just need talk we need action and fast.

agreed, but mebbies around the September time when it starts to get busy, summertime will be a waste of time, and later in the year approaching crimbo and the will cack their strides

[jetblack]

We need to garner a consensus - and I have to say that the opinion formers at CWU HQ seem to be doing a bloody good job to me. The above is well written, taking the initiative and is by far the closest we have to any meaningful vision for the future of our industry and our terms and conditions going forward.

Whats the counter arguement ? Profit maximisation - and a £750 bribe ? It patently isn't good enough.