Now let's finish the job

goinpostal · Post by **goinpostal** » 12 Jul 2007, 17:16

Now letâ€™s finish the job!
Workers Power Leaflet for CWU strikes on 12â€“13 July 2007

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The 29 June strike was a tremendous blow to Allan Leighton and Adam Crozier. Ninety-five per cent of the union's members came out. Royal Mail was shut down. All the signs are that this week's strike will be no different.

Reports from up and down the country told the same story: sizable picket lines, determined workers up for a fight and empty offices, often locked for the day. Many smaller offices were as strong as larger, traditionally more militant ones. In many places the strike was 100%, with only managers left to rush around with maps, trying to get specials delivered.

Before the strike, CWU activists reported managers making threats that we might return to work to find draconian changes imposed - or even that we would not have a job anymore! A letter from Allan Leighton stated we couldn't refuse overtime, so workers would be forced to clear the backlog created by the strike, despite the fact that it is our right to refuse overtime and work to our contracted hours if we like.

But the solid strike has changed all that, and left management on the backfoot. Royal Mail is waiting to see what our next step is - they have decided to see if we are serious about the strike. Let's make sure they get the same message next time round!

All out to win!

After giving Royal Mail yet two more weeks to talk, with Dave Ward sending yet another letter to Alan Leighton asking for negotiations, CWU leaders have set another one-day strike. This starts at 7 pm on the Thursday 12 July and ends the following day at 7 pm Friday 13 July. But what if Royal Mail still won't budge? What if they start to victimise reps or follow through on threats to impose changes?

Now that we've seized the initiative, we should keep it. If Royal Mail has not returned to the table after 13 July, we should demand that CWU leaders step up the action. If the next one-day strike doesn't work, we should immediately prepare for a two-day strike, then three days and so on. Workers Power thinks that an all-out indefinite strike is the quickest and surest way of winning this dispute.

Some strikers on 29 June agreed with us that such a strike would knock Royal Mail for six and create a real crisis for its big business users. They're not the only ones! Direct Mail Association said they hope the strike won't last long or hit hard because "there are only very limited opportunities to use another operator for delivery to customers".

The fact is, we are the only delivery option for the mass of mail. Despite Royal Mail's boasts that they have contingency plans in place for another strike, this is a hollow claim. The power is in our hands to shut down this industry till the business plan threatening its future is dropped once and for all.

Public sector alliance

Despite media lies that the whole strike is about pay, on every postal worker knows that we are fighting for our future, not just a few extra quid. Competition will eat away at our job levels, pay and conditions and Royal Mail will lose more and more of its profitable bulk end of the market, until privatisation becomes inevitable. Unless we can stop it.

Yet millions of other public sector workers - civil servants, teachers, council workers and nurses -could be our allies. On 1 March, Gordon Brown froze everyone's pay at 2%, when inflation is over twice that at 4.8%. Every union conference reacted with anger. If the economy is in trouble, why shouldn't the fat cats be made to pay? Why did business get tax cuts, while we got pay cuts? Nearly every other public sector union is now preparing for strike ballots.

In fact, the PCS civil service union has been on strike twice this year - over pay and job cuts - and could strike again. PCS leaders told its members to visit CWU picket lines on 29 June and in dozens of cities this happened. Next time, we should strike together.

If we co-ordinate the strikes, coming out on the same days, staying out until each and every one of us has won, we could turn this treacherous attack into a major defeat for Brown and the privatisation bandwagon.

Public sector pay campaigns uniting different unions, the CWU included, have been set up in Leeds, Bristol and elsewhere. We need them in every town, so we can hold public meetings and demonstrations to get solidarity and financial support for our own struggle, and co-ordinate action - demonstrations, lobbies, and strike ballots - to maximum effect locally, win the public to our side. We should demand our national leaders do the same.

Strike committees in every office

More and more postal workers are thinking seriously about how we can win. Many posties have become more actively involved in the union. Now we need to harness that militancy.

Strike committees in every office are essential to draw on the enthusiasm created by the strike. We've got a big job to do. We need to get in touch with local trade unionists, who can give solidarity and money for hardship funds, collect money on the local high street, prepare to foil management tricks, answer any doubts among wavering members, and support nearby offices that might need help. One or two reps can't do that, we need a strike committees elected by workplace meetings.

Such committees will inevitably reflect the mood and opinions of the members. They are in the best position to inform union strategy and to implement it. That's why we think local strike committees of delegates elected from each office, and a national steering group of delegates from the local committees, should run the strike and oversee any negotiations at the local and national level.

Not only this. Strike committees are directly elected by and answerable to those whose pay, jobs and working conditions are up for grabs, to those who are making sacrifices by going on strike. So they are less likely to call off action unnecessarily or agree to a deal that doesn't really satisfy our needs. The union tops were far too eager to sign up to the Efficiency Agreement last year, which cost us dearly in jobs. It's time the rank and file members of the union were in control of their own dispute.

Members and branches should start the ball rolling with letters or petitions signed by everybody in the office and sent to Wimbledon CWU HQ, calling for escalation of the action and unity with other public sector unions.

If Royal Mail doesn't come back to the table, and Billy Hayes, Dave Ward and the national executive still don't step up the fight, militant branches and the CWU left should organise a national conference to do so.

We can win!

The action we are taking has shown that postal workers are far from defeated by the cuts of the last year. We can knock back Leighton and Crozier and their privatisation-happy puppet-master Gordon Brown. Now is the time to advance further and finish the jobs, with a decisive and victorious strike. Our future is in our hands - let's seize it!

How to win the strike
â€¢ Defend jobs and conditions - no efficiency deals that trade jobs for pay

â€¢ Raise our pay to Â£400 a week, the average pay rate in Britain

â€¢ Escalate the action: up to and including an indefinite strike

â€¢ For rank and file control of the strike - for a rank and file movement in the CWU

â€¢ Solidarity committees in every town and city - unite the public sector strikes!

What we fight for
â€¢ For a rank and file movement in the unions to end bureaucracy: for all officials to be regularly elected and recallable, and paid the average workers' wage

â€¢ For fully nationalised public services run under workers control, without any compensation to the profiteers

â€¢ Unions, workers: break from Labour and form a new workers party - one that doesn't lie to us in order to get into power every four years, but one that mobilises millions of workers to overthrow the capitalist system that lies behind the attacks on the working class and the poor

â€¢ For international solidarity with all those resisting America and Britain's wars - troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan now

â€¢ For a socialist society, based on democratic planning not private profit, that abolishes poverty, exploitation and discrimination, and provides for a sustainable future - and freedom for all!

jafferpants · Post by **jafferpants** » 12 Jul 2007, 17:34

JUST A SMALL SUGGESTION FOR THE CWU ON THE NEXT STRIKE DAY AFTER THE 13TH. HOW ABOUT THE DAY THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS ARE DUE OUT. IT WOULD BE A BLOW AND NO MISTAKE.

postie28 · Post by **postie28** » 12 Jul 2007, 17:45

it would have a massive impact. not too sure it would go down well with the public though . some may say we're taking it out on kids

wakkono · Post by **wakkono** » 12 Jul 2007, 17:47

harry potter day is a great idear and the one before it and the one after if this campaign isnt stepped up soon people are going to scab and once one starts they will all be going in

jafferpants · Post by **jafferpants** » 12 Jul 2007, 18:05

WAKKONO YOUR RIGHT ON THE MONEY THESE ONE DAYERS ARE DOING FA, AND AS FOR UPSETTING THE PUBLIC IF WE DONT START UPSETTING SOMEBODY SOON WE MIGHT AS WELL PACK IT IN.

wakkono · Post by **wakkono** » 12 Jul 2007, 18:10

YES M8 I KNOW THERE IS ALLREADY RUMBLINGS IN OUR UNIT PEOPLE ARE SAYING WE HAVE LOST ONE DAYS MONEY ALLREADY AND R M AINT MOVING AN INCH , ID RATHER LOOSE 2 FULL WEEKS MONEY AND SORT IT OUT FAST AND NOT LET IT DRAG ON ALL SUMMER AND PERHAPS EVEN THROUGH THE WINTER AT LEAST THAT WAT IT WOULD BE SORTED ONCE AND FOR ALL IF ALL THE BOXES GET SEALED UP THE GOVERMENT AND MINISTERS WOULD HAVE TO STEP IN THEN

Post by **disheartened** » 12 Jul 2007, 18:27

It has been RUMOURED i repeat RUMOURED,that out of good will to the general public the CWU will not cause the release of the newest Harry Potter to delayed........BUT a strike for the following week could be called,possibley a 2 dayer this time.Myself i am hoping that RM and CWU will both compromise and broker some sort of deal.

Common sense tells us it needs to be a "two way street"in these situations,as far as i can make out quiet a few of the strings have been dropped and it seems to me that one of the strings RM still want is the "later starts"i dont really want this to be drawn in to another "later star times"thread,but a number of posties i have chatted to over the last few days in my travels as a mail center driver would relish the idea of a later start.

Dont shoot the messenger

Steve

IWW Fellow Worker · Post by **IWW Fellow Worker** » 12 Jul 2007, 18:44

They probably haven't realised the implications. It's a pay cut, and shortens an already short weekend. If you're working until 14.00 on Saturdays (and it will come the way things are going) just try getting to your nearest football ground for a three o'clock kick off. As for any earler games, forget it.

Par_BS23 · Post by **Par_BS23** » 12 Jul 2007, 18:50

it's not the later start times but the forced loss of the early start allowance. Now if that was to be concolidated.........................

Par_BS23 · Post by **Par_BS23** » 12 Jul 2007, 18:51

Can't spell Consolidated

IWW Fellow Worker · Post by **IWW Fellow Worker** » 12 Jul 2007, 18:58

By the way goinpostal, that's a fine piece of writing. It always makes a difference when people involved in a dispute write the literature.

Post by **disheartened** » 12 Jul 2007, 19:13

Par_BS23 wrote:it's not the later start times but the forced loss of the early start allowance. Now if that was to be concolidated.........................

Good point + Monday-Friday(dont think postcom will allow that) would be a decent job then.......But of course it would mean no need for the reserves to cover the rolling days off,so are we prepared to sacrifice our work buddies so we can have a Monday to Friday job and of course it would also answer the RM claim of 40,000 cut in the workforce,the money they would save by no Saturday working would be a fortune....

Steve

ROCKY · Post by **ROCKY** » 12 Jul 2007, 19:38

nice post echoes what i had been thinking there are not many large unions left it could be the time for us all to band together and stick it to the govt who seem to have forgotten just who it is they work for and by that i mean us,they are supposed to be in theory there to do what is best for the population of this country not themselves maybe its time they were reminded why their jobs exist,once they ignore what the people of this country really want they become a dictatorship and their positions by definition become void,cwu how about a petition for a lack of faith in our govt

kinmad4it · Post by **kinmad4it** » 12 Jul 2007, 21:07

Calm down Cromwell

The Harry Potter idea isn't a good one. We need all the public support we can get during this difficult time. More public support means more pressure on Dumb and Dumberer.

wakkono · Post by **wakkono** » 12 Jul 2007, 21:11

disagree with that last comment guys we need to cause max disruption to everything just to get us noticed harry potter ideal oppurtunity to engage public in what we are fighting for no good messing around we need to make an impact !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!