Union reps, friend or foe?

Helloall · Post by **Helloall** » 24 Jun 2020, 23:13

Hello All!

Starting to question the 'support' given by union reps, I know things have changed but this is taking the biscuit. The union representatives in my delivery office seem to actively go against you, convince you of policies that don't exist and always have private meetings with managers and come out with a twisted conclusions. Are union reps, really there to help or is my membership money down the drain?

Post by **aiden01** » 24 Jun 2020, 23:20

Helloall wrote:Hello All!

Starting to question the 'support' given by union reps, I know things have changed but this is taking the biscuit. The union representatives in my delivery office seem to actively go against you, convince you of policies that don't exist and always have private meetings with managers and come out with a twisted conclusions. Are union reps, really there to help or is my membership money down the drain?

Hi an welcome most reps will do their best for you but there will always be a few who look after themselves.

spartakus · Post by **spartakus** » 25 Jun 2020, 01:08

Helloall wrote:Hello All!

Starting to question the 'support' given by union reps, I know things have changed but this is taking the biscuit. The union representatives in my delivery office seem to actively go against you, convince you of policies that don't exist and always have private meetings with managers and come out with a twisted conclusions. Are union reps, really there to help or is my membership money down the drain?

There is a decent lad(union rep) in our office. But I wouldn't even send him to buy me a paper.

Do your research and confront any mishandling.

wf · Post by wf » 25 Jun 2020, 12:42

There are some real real bad reps ,when I say bad I don’t mean that they aren’t much good
I mean as the op said they actively go against you ,hold grudges ,try to get members sacked that stand up to them
They operate In gangs ,have every position sewn up ,have deals with management that anyone that stands against them has withdrawn .ie release time
Before any one jumps on the usual ,stand against them .this has been made impossible when they hold every positron .
What I would like to know is ,who these people are actually accountable to .seems if the union are bully’s they are untouchable .
Sorry this does not apply to all reps ,just this small select crew ,I appreciate good reps who are in it for the right reasons and know it’s not any easy thing to please everyone .but when they are actively getting people sacked I suggest there’s a major problem

gand · Post by **gand** » 25 Jun 2020, 15:34

Definitely foe in my office. An example of this is the pandemic. When everyone in royal mail was given the Saturday to deliver parcels. My division was made for the whole time to clear all mail on the Saturday. Of course all the reps where heading home at 10am on the Saturday while my division was out to 3. When questioned about this we were told by those reps that you have to work to your time.

I have since cancelled my Union membership.

Post by **fb1969** » 25 Jun 2020, 16:05

Absolute foe in our office. The DOM won't fart without checking with the rep that its ok if he does. Rep does maybe 2 days delivery a month, and then brings loads back - while making sarcastic comments about anyone else that has to cut off.

doorstepped · Post by **doorstepped** » 25 Jun 2020, 16:27

Having been a rep in my time, I found that a few bad apples does indeed spoil the whole barrel.
some people will see a rep as a bad guy from the start, due to stories of others in the CWU.
this is a real shame because there are some bloody good reps out there.

clashcityrocker · Post by **clashcityrocker** » 25 Jun 2020, 16:35

The problem isn't at a local level.
If there are bad unit reps who is allowing them to continue in that role?
Why is there a total lack of oversight from those reps on full time release? Area/Divisional/Branch?

The problem is the structure of the union.

wf · Post by wf » 25 Jun 2020, 18:21

clashcityrocker wrote:The problem isn't at a local level.
If there are bad unit reps who is allowing them to continue in that role?
Why is there a total lack of oversight from those reps on full time release? Area/Divisional/Branch?

The problem is the structure of the union.

The wagons are circled every time .the further you scratch the surface the worse you find it
Every single time you are sent to branch,.the union will die if the keep their heads in the sand ,knowing full well what’s going on .total shame .

HA1 · Post by **HA1** » 25 Jun 2020, 18:26

The rep in my office stands up to the mangers until they list him on his days off then he does nothing.

yubin282 · Post by **yubin282** » 26 Jun 2020, 18:40

Helloall wrote:Hello All!

Starting to question the 'support' given by union reps, I know things have changed but this is taking the biscuit. The union representatives in my delivery office seem to actively go against you, convince you of policies that don't exist and always have private meetings with managers and come out with a twisted conclusions. Are union reps, really there to help or is my membership money down the drain?

Well said, in my experience there more bad than good. It's all about a backhander here - secret handshake there with management.

Even tried to convince me that the boss CAN treat me totally unfairly because I'm a reserve. Thinks it's totally fair that he gets a saturday off every 4 weeks but I'm lucky if i get 4 per year.....amongst other things.

If things dont improve pretty soon the CWU will have 1 less member.