Industrial Action Funding?

[Picket]

Hi I'm wanting to know who to contact at CWU HQ about IA funding. I"m wanting to ask what is the possibility of setting up either local or regional funds to help members on IA. For example...

our branch has 1800 members - 5p a week from them would...

= 90 pounds a week
= 360 pounds for 4 weeks
= 4680 pounds for 52 weeks

This then would be a separate fund to be used only to compensate members on industrial action.

Maybe there is some legal or tax reasons why this isn't a policy already but i would like to find out who to ask...any ideas?

Cheers

[dvbuk55]

That's a very good point and it is strange that a strike fund hasn't been set up nationally - that way those who aren't on strike support those who are in a rotational basis as presumably the roles will at some point be reversed.

We seem to have money for all sorts of lame excuses so why not a strike fund - it may actually encourage those who worry about finances to take the plunge and vote to take action if there was a subsistence fund - then again we all know what happens to the road tax the government collect - it probably goes into the MPs expense account and what's left is used to repair the roads.

[Big Daz]

Didnt the CWU get a load of donations during the 2007 IA?

I seem to recall a LTB about it.

[Big Daz]

Its a bloddy good idea, but set it at 10 pence a week if not higher and consult with the membership on how it should be.

[janitor]

I remember UNISON having a national strike fund which was topped up and rolled out when required in the past. Whether it is still in existence I don't know. What payments are involved and how it works I am not sure. I should imagine there will stringent rules applied on its use in law. A former union I belonged too (NGA) had its own strike fund and payments were made to striking members irrespective if the dispute was local, area or national. It has to be said that the subscriptions were higher, but it did pay for the strike fund and full-time branch (and higher office) union officials too.

Would such a fund appear in the Annual Accounts and Report of the CWU if it did exist? With the likelihood of industrial action looming in the foreseeable future over current RM practices it is certainly worthy of consideration at ALL levels of the CWU.

yep when i was in unison we paid 20p a week into a fighting fund, i left before we had a fight so not sure how it distributed.

[Big Daz]

Not only that UNISON political fund structure is far superior to the CWU although our GS Billy Hayes spoke against the CWU having that set up at last years conference.

[dvbuk55]

Not only that UNISON political fund structure is far superior to the CWU although our GS Billy Hayes spoke against the CWU having that set up at last years conference.

Why? What were his reasons - surely by instituting a strike fund it would give due notice to all and sundry that we were prepared and ready.

[Big Daz]

Political fund not strike fund.

[scottyb]

i was going to set up a strike fund in my office but because of people that would run and tell the dom had to rethink it.
someone well defo tell the dom and you would be in the s**t big time. but what about setting up a i,a fund under a different name if you get my meaning but watch who you tell, trust no one.

[DGP1]

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