Branch Secretary’s Report 2009

It gets harder each year doing this job to try and be positive about our jobs and the way we all work for the industry. On looking back at previous Annual Reports and for those of you that save them for prosperity will know on checking them I could virtually repeat the previous years report, industrial action, bullying obstructive management, job losses poorer services the list goes on.

I will try to start on a positive note at least, in Royal Mail the recent Industrial Action ballot only 200 members voted NO to strike action that clearly shows RM have got it wrong when dealing with the membership on Merseyside. Regardless of money spent by RM on trying to convince members otherwise the message is clear the members aren’t fools.

It is always difficult to find any positives when involved in Industrial Action but during the recent bout in Liverpool and the Wirral it became apparent that even when national and local polls run by various media outlets suggested public and businesses opposed our action on Merseyside that wasn’t quite the picture. A university lecturer from Finland joined the picket line in support of the union and its members, he had done so because his mother was a postal worker back home and she had been in the job 30 years and understood our concerns. He spoke to the media and made some great points as to why it was important to support your local postal worker. Local businesses came along with teas and coffee’s even McDonalds turned up at copperas hill one day. A morning text vote was carried out on the second day of action by radio listeners saw support rise to 75%. Letters of support came into the branch offices from all walks of life and indeed other unions joined picket lines, on the Wirral Government Minister Angela Eagle joined pickets. A positive message from the action certainly was that when the public and business heard our case they came out to support you.

The Liverpool Parcel Depot became the best depot in the country for its quality of service, as a union we often overlook that statistic as a management initiative but what it does show is that our members in Parcels have delivered that success.

Royal Mail Group released figures showing over £300 million in profits year ending April 2009 and released half yearly results of £148 million up to November and no money for a pay rise, when can you legitimately ask for one if you can’t get one when in big profits.

The role of the Learning Centre and the ULR’s has continued to grow and benefit our members, it is no surprise some of our reps have been celebrated for the work they done over the last year. We still have two stand alone learning centres (Copperas Hill & Rocket depot) and continue to run workshops at delivery units across the branch.

The Post Office and the CWU have been supported by all sorts of groups including the Government to take the mantle of the Peoples Bank, with the current mistrust of banks and shareholders it makes sense to use the Post Office still one of the most trusted high street brands to bring banking back to all. The recently nationalised banks and building societies have shown the old banking system only guaranteed greed followed by failure.

It probably won’t bother the majority of our members but the branch being a stand-alone branch not relying solely on the employer to survive has continued to make progress in securing its future. Over recent years I have documented the savings we have made in bringing our costs down we still continue to do this today. As part of those measures we hope to continue working with the other CWU branches across the city and Merseyside utilising each other’s expertise. The Vehicle Services section of the Merseyside & SW Lancs branch now work out of 47 Seymour Terrace. Following on from policy set several years ago we continue talks with other branches to work more closely together and look at the future.

We have again held training courses not just for our reps but also other branches reps on the premises at 47 Seymour Terrace, the success of local courses over recent years has continued and we hope to put several more courses on over the next 8-9 months for the activists amongst you.

The negative aspects of the year unfortunately follow, the continued threat of closure still hangs over Copperas Hill with RM showing little regard to how its treats its people. We have now been served a redundancy notice on the building, strange since they told us on day one there would be no job losses and criticised the union for scare mongering.
Indeed the two alternative sites put forward by the CWU and Liverpool City Council have now been used by other companies ironically both relocated to Liverpool.

As a branch we have been to lobby Merseyside MP’s on several occasions throughout the year to gain support for our workers across Merseyside and to keep pressure on the Government during the proposed sell off of Royal Mail. Only two MP’s on Merseyside refused to sign the CWU’s sponsored EDM to stop the sale of RM George Howarth Knowsley and Ben Chapman Wirral (Ben has since decided to stand down over his excessive claims), other Merseyside MP’s signed the EDM and the ministers amongst them agreed privately that the sale was wrong for the workers and the country. Joe Benton (Bootle) a CWU sponsored MP has again been working tirelessly on behalf of our members and I’m glad to report has recovered from his bypass operation. Politically it will no doubt be another busy year we are already due to lobby Parliament in January regarding the RM Pension Scheme and will again call on local MP’s to back the CWU on Merseyside. With a general election looming in the next few months that will probably see many of our members undecided whether or not to vote Labour; it is not for me to tell you how to vote but one thing I can say is that the vast majority of Merseyside MP’s have worked with the CWU over the years Labour have been in power and on occasions joined our picket lines.

In closing my report I should mention the passing of former Liverpool Councillor and Lord Mayor Jack Spriggs who was a big supporter of the Merseyside branch, he was pivotal in keeping Copperas Hill open twelve years ago and also one of the founder members of the One Fund For All. Jack was the modern working class hero who for many years toiled to improve workers pay and conditions and then in public as a councillor worked to improve people’s lives.

Finally can I thank Ray Lucas and Phil Callaghan for their support over the last year, the Reps from across the branch for all their efforts and you the membership for your support of the Communication Workers Union.

Mark Walsh

Branch Secretary