CWU WAS 4pm Live with Dave Ward and Terry Pullinger

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 01 Apr 2020, 17:04

With regards to what Dave and Terry are doing this is the thing.

At the moment it's a one way conversation which is the easy bit, you can say what you want to the members talk tough and they'll lap it up but what really counts is the response from the employer and more importantly the union's response to that response.

So far Royal Mail have implemented changes to working practices that they have felt necessary to comply with government guidelines and protect themselves from legal action all without input or pressure from the national union.

They have not officially responded to any of the union demands at national level since the start of this outbreak despite the union attempting to take credit for any positive moves. They seem happy to give local reps some involvement in the process deliberately bypassing the national officers. It seems to me anyway like a deliberate attempt to distance members from the union leadership.

So the question is how will the national union respond to being frozen out of the process and how they'll play this if Royal Mail refuse most of these demands.

Will they still have our backs or in order to get back to the table will all of those demands be watered-down to something that suits the employer more?

ssdd · Post by **ssdd** » 01 Apr 2020, 17:31

Woody Guthrie wrote: They have not officially responded to any of the union demands at national level since the start of this outbreak...

From: UPDATE ON THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS AND OUR DISPUTE WITH THE ROYAL MAIL posted 26th March

Update on our dispute

"Since we announced our ballot result last Tuesday, we have had three meetings with the Chief Executive and the senior management team. These meetings have prioritised the Coronavirus crisis, but we have also had discussions on resolving our dispute and our offer for Royal Mail to act as an additional Emergency Service.

The position we have reached to date on the dispute, is as follows:-

• The company has confirmed that they will cease all executive action that had been announced but not yet deployed.
• The company has confirmed that their 2024 Strategy Plan for the future is on hold and that they are now prioritising how we deal with the Coronavirus crisis.
• The company has confirmed their plan to TUPE Parcelforce members into a separate company has now been put on hold.
• The company has confirmed that they are willing to agree a process for talks to resolve all issues in dispute"

As far as I know there were no government guidelines that forced them to go ahead with the above measures...

Decky Boy · Post by **Decky Boy** » 01 Apr 2020, 17:38

Terry and Dave were due to meet with our CEO today. Unsure how this meeting went but what I do know is "We are going to be in the s**t with this virus pandemic !" Our leader ( the invisible man) Rico Back, was telling us we were f****d and that there was no money before all this broke out ! Here where I work Mail volumes are dwindling. I fear redundancies and heavier workloads once all this angst is over !

Sure we have a ballot for strike action... but now is not the time ???

Rico if you are reading this...your time has come... now would be a good time to show some leadership and make an address to your workforce. I don't really care what you say. Just say something. When we are all getting messages from CEOs in our mailboxes, why not one from you ? ? ?

Grumpyoldmailman · Post by **Grumpyoldmailman** » 01 Apr 2020, 17:41

Decky Boy wrote:Terry and Dave were due to meet with our CEO today. Unsure how this meeting went but what I do know is "We are going to be in the s**t with this virus pandemic !" Our leader ( the invisible man) Rico Back, was telling us we were f****d and that there was no money before all this broke out ! Here I work Mail volumes are dwindling. I fear redundancies and heavier workloads once all this angst is over !

Sure we have a ballot for strike action... but now is not the time ???

Rico if you are reading this...your time has come... now would be a good time to show some leadership and make an address to your workforce. I don't really care what you say. Just say something. When we are all getting messages from CEOs in our mailboxes, why not one from you ? ? ?

It went badly, statement to be made tonight.

sindba · Post by **sindba** » 01 Apr 2020, 17:56

It went very badly. Check out Dave Ward's twitter.

To summarise- Rico refused to come and sent the tea lady the meeting instead. RM think everything's fine, we're all happy, we don't need PPE, and we should carry on as normal.

Post by **postiewhite** » 01 Apr 2020, 18:08

Profits first, employees second.
In these testing times this has now confirmed what type of employer we are working for and people say there are far worse employers to work for? Well take your rose tinted glasses off because for me as soon as I can get out then im gone whetjer that is in 1yr or 5yrs.. There is no forgiving with this company and they will not back down even with any potential strikes. I work a measely 30hrs a week with no overtime as such. This company is not worth it for me.

Spartacus · Post by **Spartacus** » 01 Apr 2020, 18:10

At this moment in time the CWU leadership are doing as much good as they would if they were sitting in a park with a bag o' cans shouting at passers by.

It's time for them to lead or stand aside.

We need leadership on the issues of employee safety and we need it now.

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 01 Apr 2020, 18:59

ssdd wrote:
Update on our dispute

"Since we announced our ballot result last Tuesday, we have had three meetings with the Chief Executive and the senior management team. These meetings have prioritised the Coronavirus crisis, but we have also had discussions on resolving our dispute and our offer for Royal Mail to act as an additional Emergency Service.

The position we have reached to date on the dispute, is as follows:-

• The company has confirmed that they will cease all executive action that had been announced but not yet deployed.
• The company has confirmed that their 2024 Strategy Plan for the future is on hold and that they are now prioritising how we deal with the Coronavirus crisis.
• The company has confirmed their plan to TUPE Parcelforce members into a separate company has now been put on hold.
• The company has confirmed that they are willing to agree a process for talks to resolve all issues in dispute"

As far as I know there were no government guidelines that forced them to go ahead with the above measures...

Those are not 'go ahead measures'.
They are 'put a hold on measures'.
Did you really think they would continue making changes in the middle of the Coronavirus with the government ordering a lockdown ?
Read the language, does any of it say Royal Mail agreed to?
The company has confirmed that... blah, blah, blah.

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 01 Apr 2020, 19:20

Woody Guthrie wrote:At the moment it's a one way conversation which is the easy bit, you can say what you want to the members talk tough and they'll lap it up but what really counts is the response from the employer and more importantly the union's response to that response.

Dave Ward wrote:We will now take these matters up directly with the Government, the TUC and our legal representatives. We will be issuing appropriate press statements. Finally, the union’s Executive will meet to discuss further actions.

ssdd · Post by **ssdd** » 01 Apr 2020, 21:40

Woody Guthrie wrote:Did you really think they would continue making changes in the middle of the Coronavirus with the government ordering a lockdown ?

Well you never know with this crowd. Who's to say they still won't 'due to operational needs', if, as you say, they haven't officially agreed to these measures.