CWU

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has announced that it will ballot members working for Royal Mail and Parcelforce for strikes from 20 September unless Royal Mail agrees a “legally-binding” deal that guarantees to protect workers’ pay, pensions, and conditions in the event of the privatisation of the service.

The ballot would be due back on 3 October, with strikes expected by 10 October if it returns a yes vote. It would be the first national ballot of CWU’s 125,000 Royal Mail members since 2009.

CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: “We are dealing with a company that is preparing

After nine days of strike action postal workers at the Royal Mail Delivery Office in Friarn Street, Bridgwater have voted to end their summer-long dispute about oppressive managers and working conditions.

This follows a mass meeting of workers last night where a proposed agreement was endorsed by a 3:1 majority.

Bristol CWU Branch Secretary David Wilshire said:

“Following lengthy and difficult negotiations an agreement has been accepted that places the union back at the centre of all decisions that are made in Royal Mail Bridgwater. Crucially it states that future changes will not be made

Bridgwater postal workers show no signs of flagging in their fight against bullying bosses. They concluded their ninth strike day on Monday 19 August, and will seek the green light from their union, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), to launch a week-long strike from 2 September.

The strike has become a beacon for postal workers nationally, as burgeoning local disputes provided momentum for a national fight against the government's planned sell-off of Royal Mail.

Management culture in the postal service has become intolerable for many workers, and is described by union reps as based on

110 Royal Mail workers at Bridgwater Delivery Office in Somerset are currently in dispute with their local management over issues including management bullying and breaking agreements.

The official dispute has already involved several strikes lasting five days.

A national conference of CWU postal workers reps also voted to call a national ballot for strikes against the privatisation of Royal Mail, no later than September 2013.<

Dave Chapple is the Communication Workers Union (CWU) shop steward in Bridgwater, Branch Chair of Bristol and District CWU, and an editor of Trade Union Solidarity maga

Postal workers in Bridgewater, Somerset struck on Saturday 6 July in a dispute over job cuts and management bullying.

Communication Workers Union (CWU) rep Dave Chapple said the strike was “one of the best we’ve ever had”, with over 100 workers taking part.

Union reps have promised escalation if the dispute is not resolved.

In Peterborough, 170 postal workers held a wildcat strike following the suspension of a union rep.

There was also a strike at a delivery office in Plymouth. The CWU said members are fed up with increasing levels of bullying and harassment from bosses.

The strikes come in

Royal Mail workers have voted by 99% to demand an above inflation pay rise.

In the same consultation, Communication Workers Union (CWU) members working for Royal Mail returned a 96% majority in opposition to proposed privatisation, and a 92% majority in favour of boycotting mail from private competitors, and a 92% majority in favour of a policy of non-cooperation with company procedures in workplaces where budget cuts have made workload levels impossible to deal with.

With the company’s recent profits are in excess of £400 million, CWU has denounced its latest proposals on pay and conditions

Teachers at Bishop Challoner school in East London are balloting for strikes against management bullying.

Union activists say that the atmosphere in the workplace has become so bad that many of the school’s most experienced and longest-serving teachers are considering leaving.
Since the appointment of a new head three years ago, and subsequent management restructure which replaced the old senior management with new managers loyal to the head, and with no ties to the staff, workload and stress has steadily increased.
Members of staff spoke to Solidarity and told us about a litany of smaller and

The government plans to sell off Royal Mail, in what will be the largest privatisation since British Gas 26 years ago.

Labour MPs have branded the proposals “desperate”. The government hopes to raise £3 billion from the sale, with some Labour figures suggesting it is a quick-fix attempt to claw back some of a £245 billion overspend in government borrowing.
10% of Royal Mail shares will be distributed to employees. It is not clear whether they will be given the shares for free or have to pay. The rest may be sold off on the open share market or as a lump to a big company.
The Communication

At this year's Communication Workers Union (CWU) conference (21-25 April), the union voted to reaffirm previous policy on calling a general strike, and numerous motions that supported those affected by government cuts in welfare and public spending.

A motion calling for support for the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) was overwhelmingly rejected. Conference agreed to spend more money on getting the Labour Party re-elected in 2015 and agreed a series of demands to take into the Labour Party policy processes, including strengthening rights to take industrial action and improvements in

Bromley council workers blackmailed

Tory-controlled Bromley council has threatened to sack workers unless they agree to new, worse, contracts, imposed without consultation. As Solidarity went to press, Unite was reporting that up to 500 workers had not met the council’s 23 April deadline for accepting the new contracts and therefore faced the sack.

A union statement said: “While the majority of the workforce has accepted the new local contracts under duress, more than 500 workers don’t want to be bullied into accepting inferior contracts which slash pay and conditions.

“The threat to sack