Meeting this Saturday to organise for a no vote

[EJL]

How did the meeting go?

Did anyone bother to turn up.

[left739]

How did the meeting go?

Did anyone bother to turn up.

I went.

I think the meeting went well.

I didn't count but I think between 30-40 people turned up, and there were some apologies sent from people from Scotland and elsewhere who couldn't attend. There were a few non-postie lefties in attendence but they were told that while they were welcome to stay they couldn't participate in the discussion. This probably helped the quality and focus of the meeting.

A few people including Dave Warren spoke and then there was a lot of discussion from the floor. The meeting had two halfs: one about the state of the opposition within the union, reports of the national briefing etc. and indications of which way different branches are likely to go in terms of recommendation on the ballot. The second part was on what we are going to do to get a 'no' vote. There was a recognition that time is short so the meeting was very focused around the task in hand. The difficulty of this task against the resources of the union machine was recognised but people thought we have a fighting chance. Ways of getting leaflets around the country were discussed - as posties it was noted we have a rather good system covering the country that we can use! RMC was mentioned as an important forum and someone whould be posting stuff up soon. An unobjectionable statement of the campaign was agreed. It was agreed to reconvene as soon as a the ballot result was in, if its 'no' to get the strike going again and if its 'yes' to turn this campaign for a no vote into something else. A steering committee was formed of anyone who wanted to stick around after the meeting. I had to be somewhere else so I didn't stay.

All in all it felt a very positive meeting. Maybe others who were at the meeting will add more.

[dw77]

30-40 people less the non-postie lefties less the list of people billed to speak means hardly anyone actually turned up??

[left739]

30-40 people less the non-postie lefties less the list of people billed to speak means hardly anyone actually turned up??

\There were I think only a few non-postie lefties, but I guess in relation to a membership of 130,000 that 30-40 isn't very many.

If I wanted to make excuses I could say that the vast majority of posties did not know about the meeting so couldn't be expected to turn up, I could point to the fact it was on a Saturday so realistically it was a London not a national meeting, I could say that even when the national union with all its resources calls a rally they usually only get a few hundred people, and most of all I could say that political meetings are a minority sport.

Anyway, what do you think can be done to fight back against Hayes and Ward's miserable stitch up ?