are union in royal mail pockets

[peedofpostie]

i am sure i read a bit on this site which said part of the 2010 agreement was rushed through because union are getting cash from rm am i right or did i miss read something i cant find it again

[dvbuk55]

There was actually two elements to the financial agreement between RM and the CWU, the first element was the continued release for which financial consideration was to be made by RM on a more consistent footing and the suggestion that the CWU owed Royal Mail in excess of 10 million for various sundries such as provision of offices, phone, heating, power etc. - swept under the carpet and for which no explanation has been tendered.

It has also been suggested that some branch funds outweigh the amount of money HQ can lay their hands on - still who knows.................I can guess who does know.

[POSTMAN]

Where is this financial agreement?

[Big Daz]

Many branch officals and reps get paid release, that costs RML money

RML also provide facilties for which RML love to work out what that would cost if the CWU had to obtain those faclities out of its own pocket/how much it costs RML to provide.

I belive they may also be looking at the process that is used for CWU to pay RM for unpaid release.


RM pay the wages as normal and the union release form acts as a invoice for unpaid leave.

[peedofpostie]

thanks for replies was nt sure what it meant but i know now

[dvbuk55]

Where is this financial agreement?

Well the new financial arrangements have never been published, though they have been referred to under the acceptance of the agreement and knowing the dire financial straits the CWU is in...........................

[dvbuk55]

Many branch officals and reps get paid release, that costs RML money

RML also provide facilties for which RML love to work out what that would cost if the CWU had to obtain those faclities out of its own pocket/how much it costs RML to provide.

I belive they may also be looking at the process that is used for CWU to pay RM for unpaid release.


RM pay the wages as normal and the union release form acts as a invoice for unpaid leave.

I'll tell you something BD I'll just bet there are many organisations would love to have free internet, heating, telephone calls, office space, desks rather than have to pay for it themselves..........................even charity organisations don't get that.

Now given the actual cost of release time and facilities don't you think that leaves the CWU in a vulnerable position when negotiating if RM said they would have to withdraw those facilities in order to save money?

[Martin Walsh]

No the union is not in the pockets of management at all.

There are 3 seperate issues which mean that the union negotiate with Royal Mail on and have agreements on which are going to be discussed.

1. Is check off - this is a facility which Royal Mail offer where Royal Mail deduct union subs straight from a members wages. For this service Royal Mail charge the union a yearly payment which is quite substitunal. Now a lot of unions have a similar arrangement , the RMT had theirs withdrawn a number of years ago and lost almost half their members intialy as then indivduals would have to pay in direct debits.

2. The level of pre scheduled release a rep gets , in the main this is for area reps. An area rep normally covers a number of different postcodes in delivery and deals with issues that cant be resolved at local level , assists the local reps , attends divisional meetings, national briefings , deals with protential dismissal interviews and appeals and negotitates on collective issues involving more than one unit in an area. The level of release is a negotitation at area level.

3. Central billing. Prior to 1994 any union release which was not paid release ie attending a tribunal , dealing with a personal injury case , attending a committee meeting , attending some union courses , conducting a ballot for elections , recuritment , or attending a conference were all unpaid for. Back then reps had to take special leave c ( unpaid ) and recieve a payment from the union for the loss of their wages. However it effected their pension and them obtaining mortages as the union never provided wage slips for the loss of earnings as a result of unpaid leave. In 1994 the union agreed central billing whereby an indivdual recieves their whole wage from Royal Mail and then Royal Mail bill the union for any unpaid union leave. This way the indivdual is not disadvantaged in any way for conducting union business.

Now this system has worked for a number of years but some Branch`s then failed to pay or in some cases were not able to pay Royal Mail the sums they wanted. So the union owed a major sum of money , so of course the union wanted to understand why Royal Mail had allowed this sum to rise and hence the fact they both wanted to discuss this further.

So only someone who has a cross to bear about the union would accuse the union of being in Royal Mail`s pockets. You might as well accuse an office of being in Royal Mail`s pockets as they have worse conditions then another office.

[fishtank]

Check off is a serious issue though dingo .It gives Royal Mail power over the union that it should not have.
As you say yourself withdrawal of this "privilege" would have serious consequences on union membership.
That cannot have gone unnoticed at Royal Mail's top table and i would be astonished if they didn't try to use it in their favour.

[Phantom]

So only someone who has a cross to bear about the union would accuse the union of being in Royal Mail`s pockets. You might as well accuse an office of being in Royal Mail`s pockets as they have worse conditions then another office.

I wouldn't say "cross to bear" I would say more like the crap deals we keep getting, grouping mail centre staff with delivery staff on pay issues and working conditions is a complete farce and has never worked.

[General Mannerheim]

1. Is check off -

Think you will find him on Star Trek actually!

[dvbuk55]

In fact it hardly matters now, they have the same agenda and sing from the same hymn sheet - so pocket maybe a small embodiment, probably bed would be a better description.

Check off is only one issue, there are others and the deal to finance union activities since the agreement has NOT been published and it should be.

There are no "grey"areas in neverland, everything is above board, I mean who would feel beholden to someone you owe money to? Lets just say, oh for arguments sake, someone you owed money to suggested a method of decreasing the debt which had no impact on you personally and furthermore future finances could be on a new footing - tempting?

[Big Daz]

In fact it hardly matters now, they have the same agenda and sing from the same hymn sheet -

I dont see that happening in my area.

[dvbuk55]

In fact it hardly matters now, they have the same agenda and sing from the same hymn sheet -

I dont see that happening in my area.

Who cares about your area? It's actually in the agreement BD.

[Big Daz]

I care, I have members to represent and look after.

My DOM aint gonna budge from the model week unless he is told he can and I aint goona agree to that model week if I dont think it is a sutiable period to use.

Sub Area Del Rep has registered disagrement on absorption as mangement want to increase it to 15% for every D.O in the area.