TUC Lobby- Letter to Branches
Many of you will have seen the shambolic events unfold after the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister last month. Her plans for the new budget to cut taxes for the wealthiest in this country, whilst leaving working people struggling through the cost-of-living crisis are a disgrace. However, the Conservatives have now managed to make things worse by cutting their energy support plan and causing further market chaos.
The voice of working people in Parliament is now more important than ever. That is why we are supporting the TUC’s Parliamentary Lobby on Wednesday the 2nd of November from 2-6pm.
The Lobby will engage hundreds of trade union members with MPs from across the political spectrum, in short meetings on issues raised as part of the We Demand Better campaign. The CWU wholeheartedly supports the campaign and wishes to get as many of our members involved as possible.
Some of the demands of the campaign are as follows:
- A £15 minimum wage as soon as possible
- A real pay rise for public sector workers
- New union bargaining rights for whole industries – protect the right to strike
- Ban zero hours contracts and stop fire and rehire
- Cut bills and nationalise energy retail
- Hike universal credit and pensions now
- Raise women’s incomes and stop workplace racism
How it works
The Lobby will take place in Westminster, with members gathering in the Central Hall and addressing MPs by region and constituency. You will likely have a meeting with other members or members from other trade unions, where you can discuss the demands of the campaign and the issues facing our workplaces and industries.
If you wish to meet your MP on these issues, you must register with the TUC here by Tuesday the 25th of October.
The TUC will contact you and help you book a meeting with your MP and make the most of the meeting. They will make sure you have all the information you need. There will also be several CWU representatives and staff on the day, located at the CWU stand in Central Hall, to help direct you once you arrive for your meeting.
Following the Lobby, there will also be a rally at Central Hall from 6pm-8pm, where General Secretary Dave Ward will be speaking alongside other trade union speakers.
We encourage every member who is able to travel to London on the 2nd of November to register to attend. Please contact your branch for details on covering travel and expenses.
Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office at jdunn@cwu.org
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
E1 – EMERGENCY MOTION
Congress condemns Royal Mail’s recent disgraceful actions in announcing on Friday 14th October up to 10,000 redundancies by August 2023.
This comes after the company posted record profits in May 2022 of £758 million, paid £400 million to shareholders and walked away from a Modernisation Agreement without any explanation.
The recent announcement is part of a wider jobs and asset stripping business plan that will lead to the breakup of Royal Mail, the end of the Universal Service and a wholesale levelling down agenda on postal workers jobs, pay, terms and conditions.
The plan is about turning Royal Mail into a gig-economy parcel courier, managing existing employees out of the business and replacing these with self-employed owner drivers and new starters on 20% less pay and 3 hour increase in the working week.
Congress resolves:
- To call upon the Royal Mail Board to immediately abandon their planned job losses and work and agree with the union an alternative business plan in the interest of the workers, customers and the company.
- To call on the Government to intervene immediately to protect the Universal Service and widen their current investigation into a takeover bid by VESA (a private equity investment group based in Luxembourg), to now include an immediate inquiry into the actions of the CEO and Royal Mail Group Board.
- That the General Council will work with the CWU and all unions who wish to defend this public service and save the Universal Service Obligation.
Dave Ward Karen Rose
GENERAL SECRETARY PRESIDENT
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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