Issue at work, who do you go to....

[norris9]

Hi people....

Say your line manager is harassing you, maybe you feel they have lied to you, have told you to do something you shouldn't be....

Do you go to the DOM or do you go to your union rep?

If I am unsure of the rules about something, but feel a manager may be wrong about an instruction they are giving me I try to get clarification from my union rep. Because I have been lied to before my management I also don't trust the DOM to give me the correct information about a specific situation. The Union rep is looking out for my interests more than a DOM is....

But should I actually go to the DOM? I have gone to the Union Rep a couple of times now over different issues and they didn't have an answer. I am not sure how much they are supposed to know about the processes at work, or how quickly they should respond to your concern if they don't know the rule on the specific matter right away.

Maybe the obvious answer is: Go and see both the union rep and Dom for clarification....

But would also be good to know.... how much about the job should a Union Rep automatically know? should they know the rules more or less inside out? The question I put to them I thought was pretty basic knowledge and I thought they would know.

[osgoody1970]

Union rep all day long, if they don’t know the answer, they have the area rep to go to, who has a whole network of union officials to go to, someone, will know the answer!!! Wot some the problem, if I may be so bold??

[rogersh]

My suggestion would be to put your concerns in writing to your DOM & REP to seek clarification on the situation & request a written response. Give them the option to contact HR or Area Rep respectively if they are unsure of the instruction/process you refer to.

Use a phrase like “you have been given an instruction which you feel needs clarification” request a response within 10 days.

If you do not receive a response, or are not satisfied with that response, you could then contact HR & the Area Rep yourself.

I have also used justsayit@royalmail.com , you will receive a response but they will also refer the matter to your manager. (which is not a bad thing, depending!)


Human resources
0345 606 0603 / 0114 241 889

[norris9]

ok, thanks.

This has been resolved now anyway. I was just asking incase a similar situation happens in the future as I feel the response from the union rep was non existent and didn't help me at all. I would have thought a union rep would know the basics of how processes work, who does what, how and when.

[rogersh]

When I had reason to question erroneous information given by a union Area rep posted on the union board I contacted Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, as it was his name on the LTB which contradicted what the Area rep had told the membership.

Davie Robertson replied directly and stated "Thank you for the enquiry... I would agree that they contain significant discrepancies from the nationally agreed position which should have been straight forward."

[Exrep]

ring h/r and put in a grievance