ANNOUNCEMENT : ALL OF ROYAL MAIL'S EMPLOYMENT POLICIES (AGREEMENTS) AT A GLANCE (Updated 2021)... HERE
ANNOUNCEMENT : PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK AT ALL!
Get behind the union
-
borders
- Posts: 1303
- Joined: 11 Sep 2007, 09:10
Get behind the union
as bad as you may think the CWU is / has been now is not the time to ditch them . we are entering a period of time, whereby the elite are expecting us to pay for everything that is and has recently gone wrong with their not so wonderful Capitalist System, in effect what we have is akin to Class War.
"why should it just be the bankers, politicians and the idle rich who get all the best things ? we demand a standard of living for our members that enables them to share in the fine wines and times that the likes of Cameron and his Eton buddies take for granted " - the late great Bob Crow RIP.
-
borders
- Posts: 1303
- Joined: 11 Sep 2007, 09:10
Re: Get behind the union
dont take just my word for ot spend a few moments and read this article from Bill Greenshields who is a past president of the National Union of Teachers and a member of The People's Charter for Change Commission.
Mention the class war - it's already here
Sunday 12 September 2010Bill Greenshields ...... All aspects of working people's lives are under attack - an attack carried out under the smokescreen of "dealing with the deficit."
Only masters of deception or self-deception can continue to argue that "we are all in this together," that the financial and economic crises were and are some sort of terrible natural disaster or unforeseeable aberration in the system for which we all have to "share the pain."
Sadly there are many willing to play that role, even within our own movement.
The fact is that the crisis, brought about by the demands of the free-market system and its dominant neoliberal ideology, is now being used by those responsible as an excuse to assault every area of working-class life.
Having seen £1.3 trillion of our money used to bail out the banks, our jobs, our pay, conditions and pensions, our public services, our industries and our communities are all now under attack. Union organisation and rights to take action are directly threatened.
As job losses escalate and the Con-Dem coalition promises to cut benefits, the amount of unpaid tax by the super-rich continues to rise. It now stands at between £120 billion and £130bn. The profits and bonuses of the finance industry are predicted to exceed £90bn by the end of this year, yet the government has working people in its sights.
This is not business as usual for the rich and powerful. They have declared war on us, and their government is happy to lead the charge.
They accuse us of "class war" politics whenever we simply point out the huge and widening disparities in wealth and privilege and the iniquities of the mega-bonus culture in a society in which the richest 10 per cent already own 78 per cent of the wealth.
Yet their policies are those of real class war. They are determined to undermine and reverse every gain made by working people since WWII and to turn all aspects of society over to the private sector as a source of profit.
We need to respond with equal determination.
All workers are under the cosh, whether private or public sector, urban or rural, industrial or service. Many who may have thought of themselves as "middle class" now find themselves facing job insecurity, just one or two salary cheques away from poverty and the loss of their homes.
As the struggle facing us unfolds we can expect the state and the media to do all that they can to divide worker against worker, whether on grounds of ethnicity, gender or country of origin, or between public and private sector.
One of the main principles of both the trade union movement and the People's Charter is to ensure that such divisions are overcome by revealing the true nature of our divided society.
The real division is the widening gap between the haves and have-nots, not just in terms of huge wealth differences but in terms of power.
TUC Congress 2009 overwhelmingly endorsed the charter, a six-point programme aimed at building the coalitions and alliances that are essential if we are to not simply protest but turn the tide and go on to organise for a Britain for the people instead of the bankers and bosses.
We need to build bridges between our unions and communities in fighting back. We need to unite the campaigns on housing, jobs, the environment, anti-racism, for civil liberties, equalities, state education and public services - and we need to develop an integrated programme for a progressive future.
That's the job the charter has taken on. For success it needs to have the trade union movement at its heart at local, regional and national level.
In the last year the charter has gone from strength to strength. Local charter groups have sprung up throughout Britain. In some areas they have grown out of individual union branches or out of trades councils. Sometimes the launch of a new charter group has rejuvenated the local trades council and given unions more relevance in the eyes of currently unorganised workers who now see people speaking up publicly for working people.
Many unions have pledged support and some have contributed generously financially. But progress is not fast enough.
We need to keep pace with attacks from our enemies - and they are not hanging about.
At this year's Congress, the People's Charter will be approaching all delegations and general secretaries seeking affiliations and representation on the charter commission. We are confident of a positive response, but this needs to be reflected in the policies adopted by Congress and in strategic action to win those policies.
Many communities and working people have become dispirited and lost confidence, feeling abandoned. Congress offered a lifeline last year to the Labour Party, urging the adoption of progressive policies such as those of the People's Charter in the run-up to the general election. That lifeline was left sinking in the water.
This week, facing up to the war waged on us through the Con-Dems, Congress will surely act urgently and offer hope and a lead to working people, both in terms of co-ordinated action between unions and in longer-term strategic planning to challenge the very causes of financial and economic crisis - the dog-eat-dog, profit-driven free-market system. The People's Charter will play its part.
We are living through pivotal times. We owe it to future generations of workers to show confidence and determination - and to rise to the enormity of the task.
Mention the class war - it's already here
Sunday 12 September 2010Bill Greenshields ...... All aspects of working people's lives are under attack - an attack carried out under the smokescreen of "dealing with the deficit."
Only masters of deception or self-deception can continue to argue that "we are all in this together," that the financial and economic crises were and are some sort of terrible natural disaster or unforeseeable aberration in the system for which we all have to "share the pain."
Sadly there are many willing to play that role, even within our own movement.
The fact is that the crisis, brought about by the demands of the free-market system and its dominant neoliberal ideology, is now being used by those responsible as an excuse to assault every area of working-class life.
Having seen £1.3 trillion of our money used to bail out the banks, our jobs, our pay, conditions and pensions, our public services, our industries and our communities are all now under attack. Union organisation and rights to take action are directly threatened.
As job losses escalate and the Con-Dem coalition promises to cut benefits, the amount of unpaid tax by the super-rich continues to rise. It now stands at between £120 billion and £130bn. The profits and bonuses of the finance industry are predicted to exceed £90bn by the end of this year, yet the government has working people in its sights.
This is not business as usual for the rich and powerful. They have declared war on us, and their government is happy to lead the charge.
They accuse us of "class war" politics whenever we simply point out the huge and widening disparities in wealth and privilege and the iniquities of the mega-bonus culture in a society in which the richest 10 per cent already own 78 per cent of the wealth.
Yet their policies are those of real class war. They are determined to undermine and reverse every gain made by working people since WWII and to turn all aspects of society over to the private sector as a source of profit.
We need to respond with equal determination.
All workers are under the cosh, whether private or public sector, urban or rural, industrial or service. Many who may have thought of themselves as "middle class" now find themselves facing job insecurity, just one or two salary cheques away from poverty and the loss of their homes.
As the struggle facing us unfolds we can expect the state and the media to do all that they can to divide worker against worker, whether on grounds of ethnicity, gender or country of origin, or between public and private sector.
One of the main principles of both the trade union movement and the People's Charter is to ensure that such divisions are overcome by revealing the true nature of our divided society.
The real division is the widening gap between the haves and have-nots, not just in terms of huge wealth differences but in terms of power.
TUC Congress 2009 overwhelmingly endorsed the charter, a six-point programme aimed at building the coalitions and alliances that are essential if we are to not simply protest but turn the tide and go on to organise for a Britain for the people instead of the bankers and bosses.
We need to build bridges between our unions and communities in fighting back. We need to unite the campaigns on housing, jobs, the environment, anti-racism, for civil liberties, equalities, state education and public services - and we need to develop an integrated programme for a progressive future.
That's the job the charter has taken on. For success it needs to have the trade union movement at its heart at local, regional and national level.
In the last year the charter has gone from strength to strength. Local charter groups have sprung up throughout Britain. In some areas they have grown out of individual union branches or out of trades councils. Sometimes the launch of a new charter group has rejuvenated the local trades council and given unions more relevance in the eyes of currently unorganised workers who now see people speaking up publicly for working people.
Many unions have pledged support and some have contributed generously financially. But progress is not fast enough.
We need to keep pace with attacks from our enemies - and they are not hanging about.
At this year's Congress, the People's Charter will be approaching all delegations and general secretaries seeking affiliations and representation on the charter commission. We are confident of a positive response, but this needs to be reflected in the policies adopted by Congress and in strategic action to win those policies.
Many communities and working people have become dispirited and lost confidence, feeling abandoned. Congress offered a lifeline last year to the Labour Party, urging the adoption of progressive policies such as those of the People's Charter in the run-up to the general election. That lifeline was left sinking in the water.
This week, facing up to the war waged on us through the Con-Dems, Congress will surely act urgently and offer hope and a lead to working people, both in terms of co-ordinated action between unions and in longer-term strategic planning to challenge the very causes of financial and economic crisis - the dog-eat-dog, profit-driven free-market system. The People's Charter will play its part.
We are living through pivotal times. We owe it to future generations of workers to show confidence and determination - and to rise to the enormity of the task.
"why should it just be the bankers, politicians and the idle rich who get all the best things ? we demand a standard of living for our members that enables them to share in the fine wines and times that the likes of Cameron and his Eton buddies take for granted " - the late great Bob Crow RIP.
-
shimmyrule
- Posts: 394
- Joined: 22 Jan 2009, 16:02
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
id rather trust the tory/libs these days than that shower of the last decade or so, and thats sayin somethin, i will NEVER strike again fir this mob, every single time weve had the company by the ball, these useless cwu big boys have refused to squeeze said balls. Im not interested in anything they tell me to do, 5 door to door this week, 2 extremely heavy, which would have given me around 45 - 55 quid,(now its 20-60), boy in adjacent sector has none - hes gettin 20-60, the phg gettin 20-60 and the van driver is gettin 20-60, i am pissed right aff, the last deal was even worse than that one that lost us double time for saturdays and time an a half for all other ot, still cant get my head round if you do more than 10 hours a week, you get less money ffs, useless, absolutely useless!
Straw poll in work today confirmed nobody gives a s**t if we are privatised,cant get that much worse than whats goin on the now,
Straw poll in work today confirmed nobody gives a s**t if we are privatised,cant get that much worse than whats goin on the now,
-
borders
- Posts: 1303
- Joined: 11 Sep 2007, 09:10
Re: Get behind the union
shimmyrule , i appreciate your views , that is the reality of your working day and i am not surprised you and your fellow workers feel like that.
would things be worse if RM get privatised ?, only time will tell i guess but how about doing D2D for no extra pay for instance ?
would things be worse if RM get privatised ?, only time will tell i guess but how about doing D2D for no extra pay for instance ?
"why should it just be the bankers, politicians and the idle rich who get all the best things ? we demand a standard of living for our members that enables them to share in the fine wines and times that the likes of Cameron and his Eton buddies take for granted " - the late great Bob Crow RIP.
-
jockstrapp
- EX ROYAL MAIL
- Posts: 970
- Joined: 28 Mar 2009, 17:58
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
borders wrote:shimmyrule , i appreciate your views , that is the reality of your working day and i am not surprised you and your fellow workers feel like that.
would things be worse if RM get privatised ?, only time will tell i guess but how about doing D2D for no extra pay for instance ?
That will happen within the next three years whether we're privatised or not
this union sucks.-
shimmyrule
- Posts: 394
- Joined: 22 Jan 2009, 16:02
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
WE MAY ACTUALLY GET SHARES OR A BONUS IF WE ARE PRIVATISED!
oops, caps off,
And i know its not money on the weekly wage.
We have been promised all this from the cwu right now an in the past, and its all came to nothin or very little, id take my chances wi privatisation, at the least , some o they hand in pocket gaffers will get the bullet.
As i asked, can things get any worse,?
Youll only get a definate yes they will from the most staunch union man on here.
oops, caps off,
And i know its not money on the weekly wage.
We have been promised all this from the cwu right now an in the past, and its all came to nothin or very little, id take my chances wi privatisation, at the least , some o they hand in pocket gaffers will get the bullet.
As i asked, can things get any worse,?
Youll only get a definate yes they will from the most staunch union man on here.
-
smartbhoy
- Posts: 93
- Joined: 17 Feb 2010, 14:54
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
Read the article??????????? This is not about US or RM being privatised or what we do d2d items for or the OT rate( None i agree with, i still think it's a disgrace) This is about the country in a whole, ALLLLLL working class people standing united against a goverment intent on driving huge numbers of working class people into poverty. They're cutting everything that the normal person relies on. From basic facilities like, libraries and swimming pools, to the more essential like Hospitals and nurses, decent schools for our children( Your children and grandchildren which will for decades set them back in terms of education and opportunities. Leaving them stuck in a rut with no decent basic education) and less police. Some areas in the Uk will end up like no go zones in Iraq and Afghanistan if this is allowed to happen. We'll get privatised and the shareholders of RM will get wealthy off your aching backs, while they reduce you to minimum wage, Statutory sick pay when you're off ( £78.15 a week) and every other benefit you have will go . Because we have a union( not a very good one recently i must admit) we at least still have some decent benefits. Try working somewhere, were you don't get full pay when you're absent from work. It's about solidarity and us the working man fighting back against the rich and their con-dem pawns in goverment. If we don't do it now it could destroy the heart and soul of every community across this land. Maybe to an extent were we will never recover. This is how serious i think the situation is.
-
dvbuk55
- EX ROYAL MAIL
- Posts: 16650
- Joined: 02 Jun 2007, 19:17
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
Serious! It is! For the last 14 years we have had a Labour Government supported by the unions who did absolutely nothing to repeal the anti trade union laws and so any united action will be dealt with most severely. The TUC now the ConDems are in power are talking tough - Brendan Barber? -crockboy wrote:Read the article??????????? This is not about US or RM being privatised or what we do d2d items for or the OT rate( None i agree with, i still think it's a disgrace) This is about the country in a whole, ALLLLLL working class people standing united against a goverment intent on driving huge numbers of working class people into poverty. They're cutting everything that the normal person relies on. From basic facilities like, libraries and swimming pools, to the more essential like Hospitals and nurses, decent schools for our children( Your children and grandchildren which will for decades set them back in terms of education and opportunities. Leaving them stuck in a rut with no decent basic education) and less police. Some areas in the Uk will end up like no go zones in Iraq and Afghanistan if this is allowed to happen. We'll get privatised and the shareholders of RM will get wealthy off your aching backs, while they reduce you to minimum wage, Statutory sick pay when you're off ( £78.15 a week) and every other benefit you have will go . Because we have a union( not a very good one recently i must admit) we at least still have some decent benefits. Try working somewhere, were you don't get full pay when you're absent from work. It's about solidarity and us the working man fighting back against the rich and their con-dem pawns in goverment. If we don't do it now it could destroy the heart and soul of every community across this land. Maybe to an extent were we will never recover. This is how serious i think the situation is.
I'm not convinced, coordinated strikes would be illegal and would generate fines which WOULD be upheld by the courts and drive many unions to bankruptcy - are they really up for that?-
borders
- Posts: 1303
- Joined: 11 Sep 2007, 09:10
Re: Get behind the union
couldnt agree more Crockboy, this is an attack on the poor by the rich.crockboy wrote:Read the article??????????? This is not about US or RM being privatised or what we do d2d items for or the OT rate( None i agree with, i still think it's a disgrace) This is about the country in a whole, ALLLLLL working class people standing united against a goverment intent on driving huge numbers of working class people into poverty. They're cutting everything that the normal person relies on. From basic facilities like, libraries and swimming pools, to the more essential like Hospitals and nurses, decent schools for our children( Your children and grandchildren which will for decades set them back in terms of education and opportunities. Leaving them stuck in a rut with no decent basic education) and less police. Some areas in the Uk will end up like no go zones in Iraq and Afghanistan if this is allowed to happen. We'll get privatised and the shareholders of RM will get wealthy off your aching backs, while they reduce you to minimum wage, Statutory sick pay when you're off ( £78.15 a week) and every other benefit you have will go . Because we have a union( not a very good one recently i must admit) we at least still have some decent benefits. Try working somewhere, were you don't get full pay when you're absent from work. It's about solidarity and us the working man fighting back against the rich and their con-dem pawns in goverment. If we don't do it now it could destroy the heart and soul of every community across this land. Maybe to an extent were we will never recover. This is how serious i think the situation is.
take this for an example.....
There is an annual tax gap of over £120bn - mostly of evaded and avoided tax from wealthy individuals and big business. By comparison, benefit fraud is just £1bn per year.
"why should it just be the bankers, politicians and the idle rich who get all the best things ? we demand a standard of living for our members that enables them to share in the fine wines and times that the likes of Cameron and his Eton buddies take for granted " - the late great Bob Crow RIP.
-
fishtank
- Posts: 19732
- Joined: 28 Sep 2007, 17:22
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
Last edited by fishtank on 13 Sep 2010, 19:23, edited 1 time in total.
good times, bad times you know I've had my share
-
dounome
- Posts: 91
- Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 16:21
Re: Get behind the union
i'll get behind the union....because i dont trust them behind me
-
Night Tonic
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: 23 Oct 2007, 21:35
-
Jambomatt1874
- Posts: 168
- Joined: 30 Mar 2010, 19:26
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
The cwu can go and take a run and jump if they think theyre going to get my support, bring on the free shares
-
madforitowl
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 25 Jul 2010, 21:14
- Gender: Male
Re: Get behind the union
Jambomatt1874 wrote:The cwu can go and take a run and jump if they think theyre going to get my support, bring on the free shares
Couldnt agree more they are a shower that as sold us down the road and sooner people relise the better
-
borders
- Posts: 1303
- Joined: 11 Sep 2007, 09:10
Re: Get behind the union
nice first post, care to enlighten us with some more of your wisdom ?madforitowl wrote:Jambomatt1874 wrote:The cwu can go and take a run and jump if they think theyre going to get my support, bring on the free shares
Couldnt agree more they are a shower that as sold us down the road and sooner people relise the better
"why should it just be the bankers, politicians and the idle rich who get all the best things ? we demand a standard of living for our members that enables them to share in the fine wines and times that the likes of Cameron and his Eton buddies take for granted " - the late great Bob Crow RIP.