Trade Union

[CORTINA]

We are where we are because the Trade union have got us there...... the fact that most members are not happy says it all.

Poor union system poorly acting in our interests.......

If things were great it would be OK ...but things are not or have not been since crozier appeared ..HE Made few million and moved on to ITV to make even more millions....That says it all about motivated greed from those that gain greatly from workers below then, Bankers and others in the same bracket.....

Meanwhile the complete fob off and 5 year farse of regulation we had creating less profitabilty and lower profits to RM...if the public can see the folly of it all,... why oh why ...can`t the union and TUC open their eyes to see it also....... They are like a block of ice scared to come out in the sun.....They are headline news just by their absence at the time of any problem or issue... they rub their hands and say ..keep paying your subs lads...

The union in many peoples opinion can an should be more of voice to be recognised with in our society. And with the economic financial climate set to get worse over the next 10 years. a bit more backing from a union that we fund, now under hard and difficult times would seem an obvious expectation...

If as some say the union are an insurrance policy, then nows the time then to start making a claim for a better deal to combat poor morale at work for a start..... the pressure is on and the union is there to help releave that pressure when needed.....

[sheff postie]

You are right, point A is probably the main reason why things get voted in.

After BT2010 was voted in, I was talking to some delivery staff about it and they were blaming MC staff for voting it in, I made the point that if all delivery staff voted no I didn't think that MC staff numbered enough to get the yes vote and alot of MC staff (including me) saw that it was a poor deal for staff as a whole and voted no so alot of delivery staff must have voted yes to get the agreement through.

[drb]

I think if we take two parts to the service we provide in terms of trade union and the business :

Members

If you did a survey amongst the membership on what members actually want,strikes would not be on the list,that is a certainty. All the issues are on the floor. Shrinking membership,(not due to people leaving the CWU but dismissals and IHR is the cause here. Plus the influx of part timers,FTC's who have no interest in joining or the recruitment drive is poor). The question being,are the CWU's levels/parameters on representation fit for purpose? National commitee's/postal committee's. Then you have national officers/divisional reps,area reps and most importantly local reps. Is this structure too long winded in dealing with members issues within days? You would also be surprised at the lack of IR disagreements from branches around the country. You would also be surprised at the lack of training for reps who do not email,write letters,write disagreements, aware of joint policies and enforcing them. Also able to address members en masse. There fore the local reps expect elements of the CWU to run the office/MC via remote control. So their are elements of accountability not just from the branches but from it's members. At present when the local rep goes in,they are constantly "putting out fires". It is one directive after another from senior to local management. Have we the structure to see the "fires" and put them out nationally? Within days? For example,let's take this forum. Look at the questions asked in the "Blue Shirts" section and look at the questions in the "BT Transformation" section. Some members from the "Blue Shirt" section ask the most basic questions. There fore they are from an office/MC with no rep or a rep who does not know. It ends up with Royal Mail Chat having to represent that member via a forum.

The Business

You would be surprised at the lack of knowledge from directorship down on joint policy's. They are either disregarded or ignored at local level Why? Because the local managers, (I use the term loosely), are not qualified. The DOM/line managers,(and front line bear in mind), are,micro managed. Their staff are not priority. It is the easiest and biggest mistake they make. So they run the office/MC on just "goodwill". They have not a clue on the Indoor Workload Tool/Delivery Forecast tool/Way Forward/Pensions/Pay & Modernisation/BT Transformation. If they have a rep present who is not trained they are able to ignore these agreements.

If we can agree on the business hierarchy control,the question would be "how do we influence that control". Do we take a seat on the board? Perhaps a major shake up on the CWU structure. Please bear in mind though that the business are engaging the tactic "union avoidance" on a major level. The tactic itself is big business from the companies that run this method. (World Class Mail?).

[fishtank]

Please bear in mind though that the business are engaging the tactic "union avoidance" on a major level. The tactic itself is big business from the companies that run this method. (World Class Mail?).

If i assume that you are correct drb that leaves a rather difficult question unanswered..
There are only two possible reasons for HQ's continuing and increasing policy of employer engagement and joint communication.

1)They are very,very stupid and don't realise they are being taken for mugs.

2)They are well aware that they are being taken for mugs but as long as it suits their own agenda they are happy to go along with the farce which means they are in fact taking the membership for mugs.

Either way,incompetent or corrupt....it doesn't fill me with much hope for the future.

[drb]

it doesn't fill me with much hope for the future.

Fair point. However WCM was put in places without a fight nor disagreement,(initially). Why? Area safety reps,(some anyway), do not get involved with IR issues. Why? Is this lack of training? Perhaps some form of new Branch charter is required. One in which IR training is compulsory. One motion in Bristol,(postal forum), was to have a rep at every "pillar" of WCM in a mail centre. Where are these reps to be found?

[fishtank]

it doesn't fill me with much hope for the future.

Fair point. However WCM was put in places without a fight nor disagreement,(initially). Why?

Not strictly true.
What happened was national policy took over from local disagreement and the national policy was simply non co-operation.
The vast majority of union members held that line but unlike revisions it's relatively easy to implement WCM without union involvement,all you need is half a dozen non-members,some crayons and pretty coloured paper.

[drb]

The vast majority of union members held that line

Now there's a start!