GENERAL CONFERENCE: SUNDAY/ MONDAY 22nd 23rd April Report by Lee Walsh

CONFERENCE REPORT :

GENERAL CONFERENCE: SUNDAY/ MONDAY 22nd 23rd April.

The first two days of conference were about the union as a whole and the way we are going forward and manovering ourselves to meet the challenges ahead in this ever changing society. The 4 pillars campaign proved communication is king amongst members and we must build on that and engage as a union. But only half of our branches have a website which shows how much more work we need to be doing going forward.

Only 23% of the workforce are members of a trade union in the UK and it’s expected the CWU will lose approx 3000 members in 2019. The CWU will be going through a redesign this year and attempting to streamline their finances and make the union more efficient, whilst keeping the strenght to enable us to tackle the employer. The 4 pillars campaign alone cost over 1 million pounds to fund and as subscriptions haven’t gone up in 3 years we need to save money to fund such campaigns. The salary bill in CWU HQ has been reduced by £900,000 a year due to EVR packages and streamlining of staff. HQ are asking every Branch to look at the ways they are spending money to come up with ways of being more efficient financially. We are a cash poor but asset rich union and need to continually invest in training for our Reps. The ultimate goal is to have a Rep in every workplace fighting for members and changing and shaping the business for the better. THIS COSTS MONEY.

CWU HQ are maybe looking to sell Wimbledon HQ, Alverscot training centre and the elstead hotel in Bournemouth it owns to release cash. There will be a redesign conference in November this year.

Jeremy Corbyn was a guest speaker at conference Monday and got a rousing reception as expected. He said in the last 8 years alone £37 BILLION POUNDS HAS BEEN PAID OUT IN DIVIDENDS BY COMPANIES PREVIOUSLY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.

He said under a Labour government royal mail would be put back into the hands of the public where it belongs and run firstly and foremost as a public service.

The company is profit first only and these stats glaringly hilight this:

Last year the Royal mail were fined 40 million pounds and BT 42 million pounds for failing to comply to the regulator regarding price fixing.

Royal mail were fined 1.6 million pounds and BT only £900,000 for health and safety failures.

MAKES YOU WONDER IF HEALTH AND SAFETY IS ACTUALLY TOP OF THEIR AGENDA?

Tuesday onwards is postal conference which where  everyday workplace issues will be discussed and debated. The issues that effect us all at work every day as members of a trade union.

I will be hoping to do some more reports to keep you all up to date.

cheers Lee