A MESSAGE TO ALL CWU MEMBERS – SUPPORT THE STRIKES 29/11/22

A MESSAGE TO ALL CWU MEMBERS – SUPPORT THE STRIKES

Dear members,

Thank you for your outstanding support for the strike action last week. In the face of serious intimidation from the employer – the strike was rock solid. This Wednesday and Thursday we must go again.

The CWU wrote to Royal Mail Group CEO Simon Thompson at the weekend, to seek serious negotiations to end this dispute. He has now replied and refuses to discuss anything other than the Royal Mail Group ‘best and final offer’ – showing no willingness to reach an agreement – other than on his terms.

Their so called ‘best and final offer’ would destroy your jobs, terms, conditions, and the service:

MASS JOB LOSSES AND COMPULSORY REDUNDANCIES

You are being asked to pay for their gross mismanagement of the company’s finances.

The number of job losses associated with Royal Mail Group’s plans represent the biggest assault on any group of UK workers in decades. Unless we stick together, Royal Mail Group will force compulsory redundancies and will employ unlimited numbers of self-employed workers and new entrants on lower terms and conditions. They aren’t bringing these people in to work alongside you; they are bringing them in to replace you. There is no union or worker in the country that would accept this position.

PAY

On pay, they keep claiming they are offering 9% (substantially worse for Parcelforce and Fleet members) – you know this is not true and have seen right through it. We cannot and will not accept an offer that doesn’t include backpay and is linked to you surrendering your terms and conditions.

Royal Mail Group continue to display outrageous double standards on the question of affordability. Just today, we have revealed that managers will receive up to 20% of their salary in a bonus payment if they push through all these changes. One rule for them and one rule for you.

DESTROYING THE SERVICE

Their decision to vacate the AM delivery period will mean drastically later starts in every single business and function – destroying a 500-year-old service and your unique relationship with your customers.

INTIMIDATION

Royal Mail Group’s desperate strategy and attacks on our members and representatives is all part of the union and worker busting tactics. They want you to feel demoralised. They want you to feel as if the action is not working. We will continue to expose their lack of honesty and integrity in every media interview we do in the coming days.

WIDENING THE DISPUTE

We can also announce we are widening the pressure points. On December 6th we have set up a meeting with major Royal Mail Group shareholders. We will use this meeting to dismantle Royal Mail Group’s reckless plans and set out the unions vision for the future of the company.

December 9th is the next strike day after this week. We are going to call a national rally in London on this day. We want every single branch to bus you all to London. Tens of thousands of postal workers outside Royal Mail HQ – demanding his resignation. Media interest in this is already red hot.

We are also working on the idea of a CWU leaflet that we will ask members, families, and supporters to deliver to every household in the UK.

STAND TOGETHER

We know how hard this is, but you all know what’s at stake.

We are at a crossroads. The company are raging a war against their own employees. The CEO himself is creating a huge mental health crisis across the company and their reckless approach is destroying the service we are so proud to provide.

The only way through this is to stick together. Let’s deliver the biggest support for strike action yet.

Solidarity

Dave Ward
General Secretary

Andy Furey
Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal)