cwu

[user2010]

edited

[not me]

Hi all,
Im PI**ED off with my cwu reps. Our depot has had a lot of sh*t, we are short staffed and are taking on lapsed duties on a daily basis for maybe 1 1/2 yrs!!
Yet one cwu rep (ex manager) agrees with managment about situation and the other disagrees but seems to want to employees to kick off before he will...

I have had enough, £13 * 12 = £156 union fees = my childrens xmas clothes...

How do i approach situation?
How do i leave CWU if i choose to?
How will this affect me if i do leave CWU - i dont want to leave myself high and dry without a union but in 8 years have never once needed a rep until now and i feel let down...

why worry about the union
what are you and your co workers doing?
unless they are doing the job properly then theres only so much a rep can do

[user2010]

Hi all,
Im PI**ED off with my cwu reps. Our depot has had a lot of sh*t, we are short staffed and are taking on lapsed duties on a daily basis for maybe 1 1/2 yrs!!
Yet one cwu rep (ex manager) agrees with managment about situation and the other disagrees but seems to want to employees to kick off before he will...

I have had enough, £13 * 12 = £156 union fees = my childrens xmas clothes...

How do i approach situation?
How do i leave CWU if i choose to?
How will this affect me if i do leave CWU - i dont want to leave myself high and dry without a union but in 8 years have never once needed a rep until now and i feel let down...

why worry about the union
what are you and your co workers doing?
unless they are doing the job properly then theres only so much a rep can do

Thanks for your reply, according to all cwu reps we are taking on more than we should.

The more conservative rep (ex manager) thinks we should agree with management and toe the line.

The other senior rep thinks its unjust and says so but wont do anthing until the workers do - which seems to be accepted by the employees.

We all agree that whats happening is unjust and against cwu agreements - yet we all do as we are told and nobody - including myself - wants to put their head above the parapet.

One reason for this is beacuse we all do actually have a good relationship with all levels of management despite the wrong doings - its a funny situation...

This is my worry about the union - i am not being paid extra to confront management - those that are paid extra (my union fees) are neglecting their duty..

We all, on a daily basis, take out more than agreed by cwu and management/RM, infact some alot more than others -
those recently employed by RM start 1/2 - 1 hour before duty unpaid to clear their duty - as they dont know every route (reserve) and it takes them twice as long to complete the duty.

I dont agree with this and start at my duty time (taking out more than the duty agreed), take my agreed breaks and consequently, i finish most days at the end of my shift with undelivered mail -
feeling i have let the company down, my colleagues down and am I reminded that because of our bonus scheme undelivered mail = less chance of bonus, a dire situation...

Leaving the union wont help my situation work wise, but financially i am one wage away from an IVA/bankruptcy - the stress from work doesnt help but the £156 union fees might help at xmas...

[user2010]

Hi sry i forgot to say thank you to all for a great forum - very informative - im sure 90% of my coleagues dont know of this forum - i will inform them - thanks once again.

[bogstandard]

As a lay member, if you kick off and walk out the door and instigate industrial action, the CWU will send in possibly div reps to get you re-instated and address the issues you raise and hopefully come to some sort of agreement.

however if your rep kicks off, walks out the door and instigates industrial action, the CWU will disown them and they will be sacked.

your rep is bound by agreements and processes.
your rep needs to observe stage 1,2 and 3 of the IR framework, if this process is exhausted and its still not the decision they want and the membership is not willing to represent themselves, tough. they have to accept the decision
however if the membership is willing to represent themselves and display to RM that the local rep represents the feelings and wishes of the workforce, then they should.

[not me]

Thanks for your reply, according to all cwu reps we are taking on more than we should.

The more conservative rep (ex manager) thinks we should agree with management and toe the line.

The other senior rep thinks its unjust and says so but wont do anthing until the workers do - which seems to be accepted by the employees.

We all agree that whats happening is unjust and against cwu agreements - yet we all do as we are told and nobody - including myself - wants to put their head above the parapet.

One reason for this is beacuse we all do actually have a good relationship with all levels of management despite the wrong doings - its a funny situation...

This is my worry about the union - i am not being paid extra to confront management - those that are paid extra (my union fees) are neglecting their duty..

We all, on a daily basis, take out more than agreed by cwu and management/RM, infact some alot more than others -
those recently employed by RM start 1/2 - 1 hour before duty unpaid to clear their duty - as they dont know every route (reserve) and it takes them twice as long to complete the duty.
and theres an issue.how can a rep argue about duty lengths etc when the are being artificially completed outwith duty times.do you think a manager will stop this?
I dont agree with this and start at my duty time (taking out more than the duty agreed), take my agreed breaks and consequently, i finish most days at the end of my shift with undelivered mail -
feeling i have let the company down, my colleagues down and am I reminded that because of our bonus scheme undelivered mail = less chance of bonus, a dire situation... woah,what bonus scheme is this?

Leaving the union wont help my situation work wise, but financially i am one wage away from an IVA/bankruptcy - the stress from work doesnt help but the £156 union fees might help at xmas...

TBH it sounds like the whole office needs to toe the line a bit more
as for the bonus scenario.who told you this?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

The other senior rep thinks its unjust and says so but wont do anthing until the workers do - which seems to be accepted by the employees.

The rep is not the Union - You and your work mates are. If you see an injustice take action and the Union (and rep) will support and advise you.

We all agree that whats happening is unjust and against cwu agreements - yet we all do as we are told and nobody - including myself - wants to put their head above the parapet.

If no one is willing to stick their neck out then I have to say why would you expect your rep to do the same without support. Two of the pillars of Trade Unionism are solidarity and collective action, if you have neither then Management will do what they are doing.

One reason for this is beacuse we all do actually have a good relationship with all levels of management despite the wrong doings - its a funny situation...

Are you sure. You and your colleagues may have good personal relations with the managers as individuals, but if they are treating you as a Group in the way you describe, is it really a good relationship.

This is my worry about the union - i am not being paid extra to confront management - those that are paid extra (my union fees) are neglecting their duty..

Reps are not paid for their Union Duties until they reach HQ level AFAIK, reps from local to division are all paid by Royal Mail at the normal rate for their grade and are released to perform the Union duties. They are not paid anything extra for doing their CWU work, unless their branch has voted on a Honorarium payment which is a one off payment each year of usually fairly modest amounts.

We all, on a daily basis, take out more than agreed by cwu and management/RM, infact some alot more than others -
those recently employed by RM start 1/2 - 1 hour before duty unpaid to clear their duty - as they dont know every route (reserve) and it takes them twice as long to complete the duty.

I dont agree with this and start at my duty time (taking out more than the duty agreed), take my agreed breaks and consequently, i finish most days at the end of my shift with undelivered mail -

SO should the rest of your colleagues but you can only lead they have to follow.

feeling i have let the company down, my colleagues down

No its a management problem and its them that have let you, your colleagues and customers down not you. They are paid to MANAGE the workload let them do it. As long as you work hard within your hours you have nothing to worry about.

and am I reminded that because of our bonus scheme undelivered mail = less chance of bonus, a dire situation...

There are no bonuses at present for anyone below Management grade so not sure what you mean here. If you mean the ColleagueShare scheme your day to day work has no effect on it at all as the payouts are based on RMs own view on the value of the company at any particular point and are therefore largely arbitrary and not affected by the actions of a single office never mind 1 postal worker.

Leaving the union wont help my situation work wise, but financially i am one wage away from an IVA/bankruptcy - the stress from work doesnt help but the £156 union fees might help at xmas...

Only if you save the same amount as you spent on Union dues and only you can know if that is a realistic possibility.

[dave7634]

As a lay member, if you kick off and walk out the door and instigate industrial action, the CWU will send in possibly div reps to get you re-instated and address the issues you raise and hopefully come to some sort of agreement.

however if your rep kicks off, walks out the door and instigates industrial action, the CWU will disown them and they will be sacked.

your rep is bound by agreements and processes.
your rep needs to observe stage 1,2 and 3 of the IR framework, if this process is exhausted and its still not the decision they want and the membership is not willing to represent themselves, tough. they have to accept the decision
however if the membership is willing to represent themselves and display to RM that the local rep represents the feelings and wishes of the workforce, then they should.

Halleyuya Bogstandard. I wish people would understand this more in our office. They moan and groan about collapsing to me as they walk through the door with the added extra mail having had no meal relief but with the prospect that they'll maybe finish early because those lovely managers have said that if they collapse they can "go out earlier" not remembering of course that they've not had their meal relief so take off that 30-40 minutes or whatever.

[andy2007]

Have you asked your Rep (the one who agrees with you, not the ex-Manager) to hold a meeting to discuss the situation?
If not, it'd be a good idea to do so. If you can get a decent number of people together, and show your Rep that there's support there. Then there's a good chance that he'll be in a position to sort out your problems.

If you've tried this, and it didn't work (or if you try it now, and not enough people turn up). Then your Rep would have a very hard time, trying to resolve anything. Remember: There's safety in numbers.