Eastern no 5 report from CWU National Briefing11th October 2022

Dave Ward

The CWU suggested talks and Royal Mail have asked for them to continue for the rest of this week and all of next week.
The feeling in the room is Royal Mail have changed their stance and there is movement from both sides.
Simon Thompson needs a reality check when he thinks he can speak to members like we’re his best mates shows how far he is from the situation. The only reason we are back in talks is because of you the members overwhelming support on the strike days. Royal Mail didn’t anticipate the amount of people who striked. You have delivered those talks. Royal Mail want to break the union their end goal is to remove the union this will give the the ability to directly attack the members, they want to be able to run the business their way, do what they want when they want wherever they want. They want to introduce performance standards, annualised hours, short notice shift and duty time changes, change the attendance and MTSF policies so they can force people out the business as cheaply as possible. The CWU have been in one to one talks with the Labour Party and they are going to be more vocal and come down on CWU side.
Andy Furey said he was encourage by yesterdays talks. and more are planned for this week and next. The mood music has definitely changed and again he reiterated it is only because of you the members support so far in this battle. He said we need to continue that strong support and with the threat of black Friday/cyber Monday will be crucial to force Royal Mail to do a deal. He addressed the name change, calling it cynical. The fear is if they win this dispute they will have the green light to break this company up. Which is why we cannot allow that to happen. He finished by saying the Postal executive are immensely proud of you the members and representatives because your solidarity and support has made Royal Mail get around the table it’s critical that the strong support continues.

Mark Baulch said we’re back in talks. The mood has changed and once again it is because of your support. Keep showing that support and we’ll win this and get a deal for our members they deserve.
Davie Robertson said this is a hostile dispute, Royal Mail kept upping the ante, releasing shocking statements trying to discredit the union but you the members have seen through that and shown that by your actions. What Royal Mail are not telling you is in mail centres our members can’t get overtime whilst they disgracefully spend millions of pounds daily on agency workers and outsourcing our work. This is clearly an attempt to eradicate the union from the business.

Simon Thompson has only been here a couple of years, he has removed a lot of experienced old school Royal Mail senior management and brought in new Jaguar Rover managers who have no idea how the postal business works and says we want to run our company our way they have no intention of being here long term . But it’s not their company it’s your company you have dedicated your lives to this company and deserve to be treated and rewarded fairly.

Carl Maden said Royal Mail want to get rid of MTSF and change our attendance procedure so you are on it longer and make huge changes to the sick pay policy . Introduce performance standards so they can manage people out of the business as cheaply as possible.
Andy Hopping said a massive thank you to the postal members for 5 days of full support which has forced Royal Mail to get round the table for meaningful talks.
The main message is WE STILL HAVE A VERY LONG WAY TO GO BUT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COMPANY THIS IS THE BIGGEST DISPUTE WE HAVE EVER HAD AND THIS IS THE BIGGEST ATTACK ON OUR MEMBERS TERMS AND CONDITIONS WE HAVE EVER FACED. YOUR SUPPORT HAS FORCED ROYAL MAIL INTO TALKS. WE ARE IN A GOOD POSITION AND WHEN YOU CONTINUE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT WE WILL WIN THIS WAR KEEP UP THE FIGHT STAY STRONG!