Vote Labour - Communication Workers Union · R oyal Mail’s latest annual accounts show that, despite tough trading conditions and unfair competition, the hard work and extra effort

More than any election in recent memory, on June 8 the country will be faced with a clear choice that will have a huge impact on the world of work, living standards and our ability to stand

up for you as a union. It can’t be said that politicians are ‘all the

same’ or that ‘it doesn’t matter who you vote for’. Theresa May and the Tories have overseen an

explosion of insecure employment and in-work poverty. A generation of young people can’t aff ord a decent home. We’ve seen Royal Mail sold off , BT threatened with break-up, the Post Offi ce plunged into crisis and a crackdown on trade union rights.

So, when the Tories repeat the mantra that they’re off ering ‘strong and stable government’ and will ‘stand up for the national interest’, it’s no more than a three-card trick. The same narrow vested interests they stand for will, again, be the only winners in the future.

LABOUR'S BOLD POLITICAL VISIONBy stark contrast, whatever people have felt about the Labour Party in the past, it is now off ering the boldest vision of any political party since the Second World War.

For CWU members it has committed to renationalising Royal Mail, putting signifi cant investment into superfast and ultrafast broadband, setting up a Post Bank, halting the Crown Offi ce closure programme, protecting the ‘triple lock’ on the state pension and introducing a range of strong new employment rights, including scrapping the agency workers’ loophole. All of these refl ect longstanding CWU campaigns.

Alongside this, Labour is now putting forward a wider agenda

to deliver fundamental change. A National Education Service; 100,000 council homes a year; renationalising

rail, water and energy; £6bn extra for the NHS; investment to grow the economy outside London and a crackdown on a labour market that operates like the old wild west.

In the EU referendum last year the country voted to ‘take back control.’ Labour’s manifesto will deliver this for working people, without the

fear and division courted by the Tories. Put simply, the status quo is neither acceptable

nor sustainable. In the fi fth richest country in the world, don’t let anyone tell you decent housing, jobs,

pensions or social care should be out of reach. Don’t let anyone tell you that our economy can’t be made to work for the many not the few.

Whatever the outcome of this election, it’s time for the trade union movement to step up to the plate. All unions need to come together and develop a major strategy to tackle insecure employment and in-work poverty head-on. I’ll be saying more on how we do this in my next column.

Whatever the outcome of this election, it’s time for the trade union movement to step up to the plate. All unions need to come together and develop a major strategy to tackle insecure employment and in-work poverty head-on. I’ll be saying more on how we do this in my next column.

GENERAL SECRETARY@DaveWardGS

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REMEMBERTO VOTE

ON JUNE 8

People's Politics CONFERENCE

Never did I think I’d be stood in front of you today – a girl from a council estate who was told I’d

never amount to anything,” Angela began, opening up to the audience about her early life and the challenges she struggled to overcome.

“When I was growing up, my mum couldn’t read or write, so when I went to school I wasn’t school-ready and I was already behind my peers.

“Of course, I didn’t understand that at that age. I didn’t understand the life and the opportunities that were stolen from me or from my mum,” she explained.

The Ashton-under-Lyne MP spoke of how, as a teenager “I was looking for love and I ended up pregnant at 16” and that she had “left school with no qualifi cations and felt a bit of a waste of space.

“I felt ashamed. I felt I’d let everyone down, including my parents.”

But having her baby boy, Ryan, in 1997 made her determined to build a better life, she told her audience, using her own life story to illustrate how absolutely essential are the public services that many of us take for granted.

OPPORTUNITIES UNDER ATTACKThe National Health Service gave her son, born at 23 weeks, “the opportunity of life.” The availability of council housing meant she and Ryan had a home, and the welfare support that this small family unit received enabled Angela to study and fi nd a pathway into work.

“I went into adult education. I went back into school. And it was the fi rst time I’d ever had a love of education,” said the Shadow Education Secretary.

“The fi rst time I actually felt I was good at something was when I was able to do a vocational qualifi cation in care – and I was

Shadow Secretary of State for Education Angela Rayner ‘closed the show’ at CWU Annual Conference’s People’s Politics event (see page 19) with an inspiring speech, which won cheers, a prolonged standing ovation, and inspired people to work for a Labour election victory…

Our children deserve a better Britain!

May/June 2017 THE VOICE 03@CWUNews

“

able to become a home help,” she recalled, adding that, in that job, she had “learnt the best lessons in life.”

But, with the NHS under attack, adult education becoming another victim of austerity, and local authority care being privatised, Angela’s worry is that today’s young people may not have the chance to build a better life.

Her own vivid memory of herself as a vulnerable and disadvantaged young woman who needed the help and support that only a decent society can provide, and the thought of so many of our own young people in similar situations today, and tomorrow, is what spurs her on politically, Angela explained.

“I ask myself, what opportunities would the Angela Rayner of today have?” she wondered aloud, and, to loud cheers, revealed that “every day I’m in Parliament, when I stand at that Dispatch Box, I never forget that I’m there standing up for the Angela Rayners of today and those people who need our support.”

She urged everyone to “make sure that we stand up for every single parent in the UK. The Great British public want fairness, they want to work hard and be able to live.”

The election on June 8th is “about what we want for Great Britain,” Angela pointed out, setting out the stark choice facing voters.

“Do we want to leave desperation? To just manage our decline?

“Or do we want another Labour Government like the 1945 Labour Government, that created the National Health Service, created a welfare state, and was proud of council housing?” she asked.

“It’s not a pipe dream comrades – we can build a better Britain,” she concluded, bringing the arena to its collective feet and adding, amidst the enthusiastic applause and cheers, a reminder to “vote Labour on June 8.”

Angela Raynor speaking at the People's Politics event

Do we want another Labour Government like the 1945 Labour Government? It's not a pipe dream...ANGELA RAYNER

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https://twitter.com/CWUnews

WELCOME Postal News

Terry PullingerDEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY(POSTAL)

04 THE VOICE May/June 2017 www.cwu.org

Royal Mail’s latest annual accounts show that, despite tough trading conditions and unfair competition, the hard work

and extra effort of CWU members have delivered another strong set of company results.

But the solid financial performance also exposes the injustice of the company’s current plans to abandon our agenda for growth and stability, cutback on investment and pursue a race to the bottom on pay and conditions.

At a time when the company has declared £712 million in profits, £600m in cost savings and paid out another £225m in dividends, it is grossly unfair that they are choosing to attack members’ terms and conditions on grounds of affordability.

Indeed, the latest results show the company has the financial platform to deliver the CWU’s Four Pillars of Security.

Since privatisation, Royal Mail has made almost £3 billion in profits and shelled out £800m in dividend payments to shareholders.

But the company need to get their priorities right, turn their focus away from short-term shareholder interest and honour the promises they made to the CWU at the time of privatisation to protect terms and conditions, maintain our agreements, safeguard the USO and deliver the added investment needed to secure long-term growth and innovation in the business.

Our members have delivered success and they deserve their fair share of the reward.

DGS COLUMN

Look out for the CWU’s Four Pillars of Security campaign, which is heading out to branches across the country over the summer, as the fight for fair pay and pensions, job security and the future of our industry steps up the pace...

Speaking to The Voice, deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger said: “The response so far from Royal Mail to our well-thought out, costed and constructive Four Pillars proposals has been extremely negative and increases the risk of a national industrial dispute.

“Over the summer, the CWU postal leadership team will be visiting members in all parts of the UK, putting the case for the union’s Four Pillars principles and seeking to win the strongest possible backing from you, the members.

“We’re approaching a situation where a stark choice will need to be made by us all – to stand up and be counted

Four Pillars campaign gets set to travel the country

in the struggle to secure decent pay and pensions and protect our current agreements, or allow the management to carry out their agenda of managed decline and a race to the bottom on terms and conditions,” he warned.

At Conference last month, delegates enthusiastically backed the Four Pillars policy and strategy and unanimously approved an Executive resolution warning the company that any attempt by them to impose their proposed cuts to pensions, allowances, and other terms and conditions will “activate an immediate ballot for strike action.”

Presenting the motion to Conference, Terry said that it was aimed at “challenging the employer on their broken promises, lack of integrity and lack of ambition.

“Agreements and industrial stability have been challenged by Royal Mail a

number of times in the past couple of years and managers in every division have tried to undermine our agreements; agreements we’re prepared to honour, they’ve been breaking on a regular basis.”

But, he continued, “sometimes being right isn’t enough – you have to fight for it and we, as a fighting union, need to be ready for that.”

In the subsequent debate, divisional reps from London, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland, South West, South Wales, North West, North Wales, North East, Anglia, South East all came to the rostrum, backed the motion and voiced their determination to win the Four Pillars of Security for members.

In total, 25 delegates contributed to the discussion and the unanimous vote to adopt the policy resolution reflected the robust unity on show during the debate.

Speaking afterwards, Terry told The Voice: “It was great to see a proposition from the executive winning the support of every single division in the union – this is unusual and reflects the strength of feeling right across the CWU on this.

“We need everyone to get 100 per cent behind unit, branch and area reps in support of the Four Pillars campaign.

“Watch out for further information coming your way and let’s all unite to deliver the security our members need and deserve,” he concluded.

CWU Annual Conference - the democracy of our union - has set the agenda for the year ahead

– and now it’s the Executive’s job to address the priorities that were set by delegates in Bournemouth.

In BT we are tasked, amongst many other things, with eradicating disparities between the terms and conditions of those employed since September 2014 and their longer serving colleagues - or at the very least narrowing the gap as quickly as possible.

We will also be looking to stamp out low pay for Manpower employees on BT contracts - an injustice which has gone on for far too long.

Job security for members in 0₂ is another key priority - as is achieving better new-starter pay and attendance patterns for our members in Santander.

Another top priority will be opposing any attempt by BT to close the defined benefit BT Pension Scheme for future accrual - and, crucially, negotiating improvements to the much inferior BT Retirement Savings Scheme.

So, there’s much to do - but also a renewed sense of collective purpose and positive developments too on some fronts, not least the assurances given by Openreach CEO Clive Selley, in a presentation he made to Conference, that there will be no risks to members’ future job security or terms and conditions when they transfer into Openreach Ltd.

As we enter into TUPE negotiations later this year we’ll be making sure BT sticks to its word.

Andy Kerr

DGS COLUMN

DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY(T&FS)

The CWU has sent a clear message to Telefónica that it will fight ’by all means necessary’ any move towards compulsory redundancies as the company moves towards a stock market flotation of O₂.

Following the collapse of the £10.3bn takeover by Hutchison, three years of uncertainty and a major reorganisation earlier this year in which 163 CWU grades were put at risk of redundancy, delegates at the union’s Telecoms Industry Conference in April unanimously committed the Executive to place job security issues centre stage in any discussions with the company.

Proposing the motion in the name of

Any attempt by BT to close the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) to future service accrual will be opposed “by all means including industrial action.”

That was the unequivocal message to BT from CWU Annual Conference where, apart from reaffirming the union’s long-held ‘red line’ on the BTPS, delegates also unanimously voted to commit the CWU to seek improvements to the BT Retirement Savings Scheme (BTRSS) of which half of all employees are now members.

Proposing the first motion, DGS Andy Kerr highlighted concerns that the looming triennial valuation of the BTPS is likely to show a substantially increased deficit. Taken in conjunction with the struggle the CWU faced earlier this year in getting the pay award even part-pensionable for

the T&FS Executive, assistant secretary Sally Bridge insisted the ’stakes were high’, citing Telefónica’s long track record of outsourcing, offshoring, cost cutting and job shedding.

“During the recent consultation period we got extremely close to the very thing that the union fears the worst, which is compulsory redundancies,” Sally pointed out.

“We cannot assume that the latest wave of reorganisation will be the last…and we need to instil our message into Telefónica that we will, if necessary, fight to save our members’ jobs.”

BTPS members, he concluded the scheme is “obviously under threat”.

“Let me be absolutely clear - if BT does attempt to close the BTPS the Executive will have no option but to ballot for industrial action, and I have no doubt we’ll have the membership solidly behind us,” Andy stressed.

He pledged that a vigorous defence of the BTPS would go hand-in-hand with a new CWU drive to secure improvements to the BTRSS - a theme continued by assistant secretary Nigel Cotgrove who outlined plans to press BT to increase its BTRSS contribution levels, make allowances pensionable, improve medical retirement benefits and take on responsibility for the scheme’s administration costs.


Full story at www.cwu.org/voice/


Telecoms & Financial Services News WELCOME

There's much to do - but also a renewed sense of collective purpose and positive developments too on some fronts

Stark message to Telefónica

Tough stance on BT pensions

SEE SPECIAL VIDEO MESSAGE FROM

TERRY PULLINGER HERE

https://www.facebook.com/ThecommunicationsUnion/videos/1408820039197471/



INDUSTRY NEWS Telecoms & Financial Services

Negotiations demanded on Workforce 2020 contracts

Fight continues to address BT performance management woesABUSES STILL RIFE IN SOME AREAS

The ending of performance manage-ment (PM) in its current form within BT must remain one of the union’s top priorities, CWU Annual Conference has agreed. Telecoms & Financial Services delegates overwhelmingly supported a motion praising efforts of CWU national negotiators to address the punitive and counter-productive elements of a system that is destroying lives and damaging the business to boot – while also reiterating existing CWU policy that the long-term aim must be to eradicate PM altogether.

“We knew this was going to be difficult, not a single battle but a long campaign,” acknowledged Mark Elwen of West Yorkshire branch in moving the motion. “We must also remind ourselves and BT about our ultimate aim...let’s give performance management the red card – let’s kick it out!”

Despite acknowledging the significant progress that has been made tackling the worst elements of PM in Openreach, speaker after speaker stressed that developments in other parts of BT – notably Consumer, Business and Ventures Voice Services – paint a very different picture.

Executive speaker Dave Jukes concluded: “For things to change to where we want them to be the company has to start trusting its employees,” pointing out: “We still have the ability to take industrial action if that’s necessary.”n Delegates also unanimously backed a motion deploring the way that a PM-based pay system has been applied in BTMSL. “We have evidence of forced distribution which ultimately affects our members’ pay,” explained Executive speaker Ken Woolley, stressing the current situation is “unacceptable”.


WE NEED TO TALK, BT TOLD

Negotiations are to be sought with BT in an attempt to improve the terms and conditions of staff employed on NewGRID Workforce 2020 contracts.

Telecoms & Financial Services Conference delegates unanimously

committed the union to the ultimate goal of eradicating disparities between the terms and conditions of those employed since September 2014 and their longer-serving colleagues. There was a general acceptance, however, that the

union’s initial aim must be to seek to narrow the gap as far and as quickly as possible.

Proposing the composite motion on behalf of the TF&S Executive, deputy general secretary Andy Kerr stressed that, while the union had agreed to the introduction of Workforce 2020 Ts&Cs in 2014 with the specific aim of bringing previously contracted out work back into BT, “the time is now right for us to have a meaningful discussion with BT about improvements to that contract.”

Pointing out that the huge increase in direct recruitment by BT in recent years had vindicated the difficult decision made by the union in 2014 to accept the new

contracts, Andy told Conference: “We need to remember that those 8,000 jobs would not be in place had we not agreed this contract. We did the right thing then, but we always said that at some point we would come back looking for improvements. Let’s get out and campaign for that now.”

Seconding the motion, Jonathan Young of South London, Surrey and North Hampshire branch pointed out that “different members have different issues” with Workforce 2020 contracts, with discrepancies in pay, hours, annual leave and sick leave all causing varying levels of irritation dependent on personal circumstances.

Liam Reed of South East Central, himself a Workforce 2020 engineer, confirmed that for him it was less about pay and more about “hours worked, sick pay and other terms and conditions” - and Jacqui Stewart of Lancs & Cumbria

agreed that the 37.5 hour week was the biggest single bugbear amongst Workforce 2020 members at Accrington call centre.

Jonathan concluded: “This is going to be a long process, and it’s not going to happen

overnight, but we need to start these negotiations with BT as soon as possible.”

Mark Elwen

Andy Kerr

Jacqui Stewart

06-The-Voice-May-June-2017.edited.indd 6 25/05/2017 08:48

Royal Mail pensions FEATURE

R ather than propping up two flawed pension schemes currently in existence, the union has proposed an end to the current two-tier

pension provision and for everyone to belong to a new, genuine Wage in Retirement Scheme (WinRS) from April 2018.

The new scheme aims to preserve the best elements of a defined benefit scheme –fixed contribution rates and guaranteed benefit outcomes – and scrap altogether the inferior defined contribution scheme.

Terry Pullinger tells The Voice that, “our ground breaking and innovative WinRS proposal, developed in association with First Actuarial and supported by a growing body of industry experts, academics, politicians and financial commentators, not only meets the union’s objectives to secure a decent income and retirement security for all our members, but will provide a lasting pension solution that addresses all the company’s concerns around managing future pension costs and long-term risk.”

However, despite conceding that all of the WinRS modelling and figures are robust, that a new growth-based investment strategy is possible and that our scheme will work for at least the next 20 years, Royal Mail have argued that it is “unaffordable” and “too risky.”

But, Terry points out that the company’s arguments “simply don’t stand up to close inspection.

“On affordability, the company has again chosen to prioritise short-term cost considerations, by seeking to cut overall pension costs and completely de-risk future pension liabilities,” he explains.

“Royal Mail is effectively breaking the pension promise made at the time of privatisation, when it committed to safeguard the future of the RMPP and maintain annual employer pension contributions at £400 million,” our DGSP continues.

On investments, Royal Mail is arguing that it is “too risky to invest 100 per cent of pension money in riskier assets such as shares” – at present, most of the company’s investments in the RMPP

are in low returning bonds.But Terry says this misrepresents the

union’s proposal, which is based on a “reasonable, alternative investment strategy and a diversified portfolio with a large allocation to growth assets that will deliver better long-term returns and better pension outcomes for members.”

And Royal Mail has not only conceded that a different investment strategy is possible but it plans to do exactly that with its own cash balance scheme, he points out.

On the question of risk, WinRS is fundamentally predicated on long-term risk management, with funding checked annually and the benefits adjusted where necessary to match the return on the assets – as a result, there is no need for Royal Mail to de-risk the assets.

As the scheme is open to all employees, and assuming Royal Mail is confident in the scope to manage the scheme within its fixed contribution rate, the primary reason for

running a DC scheme, cost control, is met. The DC scheme could therefore be closed

and the new scheme could receive new entrants.

“Instead of placing all current RMPP members into the DC scheme, the company has proposed its own complicated cash-balance, lump-sum scheme,” says Terry.

“But the illustrations that the business has sent out in its own communications to staff comparing members’ pension outcomes between the DC and cash-balance scheme are misleading – they should compare current DB benefits with the outcomes from the DC or cash balance schemes.

“The simple fact is: the outcomes from both of Royal Mail’s proposed schemes will still mean members receive vastly inferior benefits to those provided by either the current DB scheme or WinRS,” Terry adds.

Based on our actuarial advice, the CWU remains convinced that WinRS is more cost efficient than either of the current schemes or the newly proposed cash balance scheme, it can be managed within the fixed contributions provided by the employer and employees and will deliver far better benefit outcomes than any DC alternative.

“We are determined to expose Royal Mail’s dogma and deliver a fair, equal and secure wage in retirement pension provision for all,” our DGSP concludes.

Over recent weeks, as part of the Four Pillars campaign, deputy general secretary (postal) Terry Pullinger and his senior CWU negotiating team have been in talks with the business on the future of pensions in the company. The Voice asked Terry for an update…

Our Wage in Retirement proposal


The simple fact is both of Royal Mail’s proposed schemes will still mean members receive vastly inferior benefits...

Terry Pullinger

07-The-Voice-May-June-2017 edited.v2.indd 7 25/05/2017 08:49


Tracking ILM data abuseOPENREACH WARNED

A stern warning has been delivered to Openreach that it risks triggering a dispute if clear management breaches of the agreed protocols on the use of ILM tracker data don’t cease by the end of August.

Telecoms & Financial Services Conference delegates unanimously committed the Executive to challenge Service Delivery with evidence that some managers are flouting unequivocal company pledges to the CWU that data from trackers fitted in engineers’ vans would not be used as an “employee surveillance system or as a discipline tool.”

Supporting the South London, Surrey & North Hampshire branch demand for talks with the company to be initiated, assistant secretary

Davie Bowman told Conference: “We need to send a clear message to the company that, along with other changes that are taking place which will see the abolition of micro-management of members, other abuses of personal data must also cease.”


'SINK OR SWIM' UNFAIR

Dismay at the woefully inadequate training being given to current Openreach recruits erupted into a heartfelt plea for action on behalf of new joiners who are effectively being left to ‘sink or swim’ in the cruellest of ways.

On the final day of CWU Annual Conference speaker after speaker told of their sorrow and concern for inexperienced and often young workers who are being sent out into the field with little idea of how to do the job - yet still being subjected to the same high expectations being placed on highly experienced engineers.

Urging national negotiators to lobby Openreach to conduct an immediate investigation of its current training arrangements, and to institute the quickest possible remedial action, Francis

Chudley of Great Western branch spoke of “poor new recruits being sent out with less than four weeks’ training” and sometimes being buddied by colleagues with less than six months’ experience themselves.

Hanna Williams of North Wales & Chester Combined

recalled pulling over when she’d driven past a new recruit working on a cab box, only to find out that he’d been there for three hours desperately trying to work out something that she was able to tell him in seconds.

“It’s really sad that these guys are being sent out

without the training they need, as well as the fact that they’re often scared to call their managers for help.”

Adding his own voice to the clamour for change, national officer for Openreach Davie Bowman pointed out the current situation is not just placing intolerable pressure on new joiners but harming the company to boot as network quality and customer service is inevitably suffering.

Stressing that the problem is primarily one of desperately inadequate follow-on training as recruits are ‘let loose on the network’, rather than a criticism of the “fantastic job” carried out by regional and satellite schools, Davie concluded: “I hope that the managers sitting upstairs in the gallery have listened to what’s been said very carefully indeed!”


Better training needed, Openreach told



Davie Bowman

‘High risk area’ protocols must be observedSAFETY PROCEDURE FLAWED

Pressure must be placed on Openreach to follow its own protocols that state that engineers should be alerted when they are allocated work in a ‘high risk area’, CWU Annual Conference has agreed.

With speakers citing evidence that this isn’t always the case - and also reporting long delays with regards to back-up being provided to covering jobs in locations designated ‘two-person working areas’ - delegates unanimously backed a Coventry branch motion committing the union to seek to tighten procedures designed to prevent engineers carrying valuable equipment being left vulnerable to attack.


08-09-The-Voice-May-June-2017.edited.indd 10 25/05/2017 08:49


Telecoms & Financial Services INDUSTRY NEWS

An unequivocal message has been sent to BT that cast iron guarantees are needed on the union’s continued ability to collectively represent members across the whole of BT

Group before the legal separation of Openreach can occur. Simon Alford reports

W ith a mass TUPE of around 31,000 Openreach

staff to a new legally separate wholly-owned subsidiary now a certainty – following Ofcom’s welcome decision to rule out a fully-fledged break-up of BT – the union is insisting it expects TUPE negotiations to culminate in a binding agreement that defends the interests of members across BT Group.

Safeguards being demanded cover not just members’ terms and conditions, but also free movement of staff between BT and the re-named Openreach Ltd – including redeployment rights as defined in NewGRID.

Unanimously backing an emergency motion in the name of the T&FS Executive, delegates at CWU Annual Conference agreed that it must be made crystal clear to the company that the union will not accept any attempt by BT or Openreach Ltd to use legal separation as a vehicle to undermine Ts&Cs – and that any company failure to agree the binding safeguards the union is demanding will be met with stiff resistance, including industrial action if appropriate.

CROWN GUARANTEE VITALProposing the motion, deputy general secretary Andy Kerr started by insisting that the union will not accept the transfer of a single member over to Openreach Ltd until the so-called ‘Crown guarantee’, that has covered the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) since privatisation, is “absolutely buttoned down and extended to Openreach Ltd.”

Turning to Ts&Cs, Andy added: “We’ve made it clear to BT that we expect those people to move over in a seamless fashion – they move from one day working for BT Plc to the next day working for Openreach Ltd. Nothing should change, and that’s what our position needs to be.

“There will be just one set of pay negotiations for all NewGRID members

with BT Group next year, the year after that and for evermore as far as I’m concerned. What we also need to get in place, however, is a guarantee that people will still be able to be redeployed across the piece – from BT Plc to Openreach and vice versa.”

Andy insisted that he was “absolutely confident we can get the safeguards we need” – stressing that a number of assurances have already been verbally given by the company,

but he added: “If we can’t get a written binding agreement we’ll campaign amongst our membership and ballot for industrial action.”

BIGGEST TUPE IN HISTORYSeconding the motion, Bill Dixon of South London, Surrey and North Hampshire referred to legal separation as “the most monumental thing that has happened in BT since privatisation in 1984” – pointing out the need to get the safeguards right has been demonstrated by the divergence of terms of NewGRID grades in O2 following its divestment and also the union’s experience in EE (see page 13) and BTFS (see page 12).

“It’s going to be the biggest TUPE in history – and the CWU has to ensure it’s the best TUPE in history for our members,” Bill concluded.

Praising the fact that the safeguards being demanded are so wide-ranging and comprehensive, Angela Teeling of Greater Merseyside & SW Lancs joked that “if Carlsberg did motions it would be a bit like this one!” – but added with deadly seriousness that it was down to

the union to “drive this forward” because when it comes to defending members’ interests “BT isn’t going to do it itself."

On a positive note, however, in a special address to T&FS Conference delegates, Openreach CEO Clive Selley insisted that Openreach’s legal separation posed no risk to future job security and no agenda from the company to leverage change to CWU members’ terms and conditions.

BINDING SAFEGUARDS DEMANDED ON

OPENREACH SEPARATION

Angela Teeling

Bill Dixon

Andy Kerr



CONFERENCE ROUND-UP

Hundreds of union members, representing tens of thousands of members, spent

three days working hard in discussion, debate, and decision-making, setting the CWU’s industrial strategy for the coming year.

Topping the Conference agenda this year were the two top issues facing the union’s postal members – our Royal Mail national negotiations and the ongoing fight against the attack on our Crown Post Office network.

After delegates had unanimously backed the Executive’s Four Pillars strategy, (see page 4), attention turned to the struggle being faced by our Post Office members, with a proposition aimed at intensifying the fight to thwart management’s franchising and closure programme.

SAVE OUR CROWNSAssistant secretary Andy Furey paid tribute to the growing resistance to the destruction of our Crown network and the unprecedented attacks on the terms and conditions and job security of our Post Office members, as he moved the motion on behalf of the Executive.

Andy strongly praised members, who have taken six

days of strike action, organised local protests and have won strong public support, and he also thanked general secretary Dave Ward and deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger for their "sturdy support and leadership.

“Our members are under attack and they are facing a bleak future,” he said, going on to highlight a recent membership survey that had returned “enormous” 90-plus percentage majorities on a number of questions, including a vote of no-confidence in the national Post Office management.

After detailing the union’s ongoing strategy, and the activities planned for the coming period, Andy concluded: “We have the ability to make a difference, but we do need to return to a Labour government as it is the best way to protect our members’ jobs and the future of this great British institution, the Post Office.”

Two other key debates also addressed the Post Office crisis, with one further resolution – on local community-led campaigns against closures and franchising – being adopted and another motion – to ask for a “start-up meeting” with franchise partners – being defeated.

In the weeks since Conference, Andy Furey, has been invited to speak at several public meetings in different parts of the country,

organised by residents opposing the loss of their local Post Office services.

Speaking to The Voice, Andy said: “This is clearly fast becoming a hot political issue, coinciding as it has with the General Election campaign.”

LOCAL CAMPAIGNINGDuring the week that we spoke with him, Andy had been at meetings in Norfolk (Diss), Yorkshire (Rotherham) and Essex (Leigh-on-Sea), with a further protest event planned in Cumbria (Ulverston).

“However far apart these places are, the issue in each of these towns is the same – local people angry about yet another threat to their public services. And small business owners, councillors, MPs and even a couple of town mayors have been speakers at these events.

“It’s clear that the Great British public are becoming ever more determined to save these vital community assets and that they’re not impressed with the Government’s downgrading plans.

“To every reader of The Voice, I’d ask them to please look out on the CWU website for details

Terry Pullinger addresses Conference

POSTAL CONFERENCE Round-up


news in briefCAPITA TVL PAYField workers at TV Licensing service provider Capita TVL are set for a 2 per cent boost in their June pay packets after voting, by a 91 per cent majority, to accept a deal negotiated by the union. The agreement, which is a one-year deal, provides for backpay to the start of 2017 and also includes a joint commitment to further negotiations aimed at reaching a “workable solution” to the complex subject of travel-to-work time. Speaking to The Voice, assistant secretary Andy Furey said: “This is a fair deal on pay, which recognises the hard work and dedication of our Capita TVL field members. “We’re determined now to ensure that we reach a similarly fair agreement on travelling time – an issue that has been a longstanding bone of contention at this company.”

FUNERAL RESPECTSCWU members joined family members and friends in paying their respects to Birmingham CWU Branch Chair Paul Maloney, when he was buried in the city last month. Speaking at his funeral service, deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger said that Paul had "captured the heart of the whole union" and he promised that the union would never forget his great example to others. Paul passed away last November, but his funeral was delayed for several months for legal reasons because the individual who attacked Paul and caused his injuries is now to be charged with murder.

Deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger praised the “inspirational spirit of unity” among delegates as he brought the curtain down on CWU Conference 2017 in Bournemouth last month…

CWU Conference 2017: Setting the postal agenda

10-11-The-Voice-May-June-2017.v2.edited.indd 10 25/05/2017 08:51

of any Crown Office Campaign events near you – and please come along and show your support.”

ORGANISINGSeveral motions focussed on the vital task of increasing CWU membership, density and organisation, both within Royal Mail Group and in the wider delivery and logistics sector.

Mark Greenhill, secretary of Leicestershire Branch, moved a successful proposition instructing the Executive to run a recruitment campaign aimed at employees of courier, parcel and mail companies outside of Royal Mail Group. Mark suggested that, on top of the normal organising and recruitment activities, the CWU should promote itself to these individuals through advertising in transport magazines and other publications “advertising the benefits of joining the CWU.”

Responding to the motion on behalf of the Executive, Shelley Banbury said that the leadership was in favour of extending the union’s organising and recruitment strategy to other companies, but insisted: “If we

do commit to this, branches have to accept the responsibility for new members.

“Following Conference, we’ll sit down and list the target companies,” Shelley said, adding that a campaign along these lines can only work “with the right strategy.”

Conference also adopted a resolution committing branch officers, area reps and unit reps to working with the union’s regional organisers to carry out the CWU’s organising and recruitment agenda with Royal Mail Group.

Moving this motion, South Central Postal branch secretary Chad Croom told delegates: “As a branch secretary, I’m involved in recruitment and we’ve got a very good relationship with

our regional organiser.”Only by working co-

operatively in this way can the union achieve its targets on recruitment, he pointed out.

Speaking to this debate, Shelley Banbury highlighted the success of the union’s recruitment and organising work within RMG, telling delegates that non-membership within the business had been brought down from 26,492 to 18,930.

“It’s important to remember that recruitment is everyone’s responsibility,” she stressed,

and highlighted the importance of making sure that the CWU sends a representative to every induction session of new employees.

SAFETY ISSUES A motion calling for the union to negotiate with Royal Mail to extend accident reporting to accidents occurring while travelling to and from work was carried by Conference, following a debate which highlighted some recent tragic incidents.

Romford Amal area safety rep Ryan Ward told delegates of a friend and colleague who had been run over and killed, and of two other members who had been left with physical disabilities after being the

victims of accidents.“We suggest that Royal Mail

should return to the negotiating table on this matter,” he said.

And a proposition urging the return of the “red line maximum load height indicator in all trailers, including double deckers” to tackle the “increasing number of accidents involving items falling from the back of trailers” won the support of delegates.

Speaking in support of the motion, regional parcels organiser Mark Walsh said: “There is an issue here. Some people are having to wear safety helmets to open the doors.”

Nicola Wilmer, from Kent Invicta branch, told Conference that “incidents of falling objects have increased and loads are getting heavier” and added: “It’s not just a hub issue, it's hub to depot and depot to hub.”

And Highland Amal branch delegate Craig Towell warned: “Something needs to be done because someone's going to be seriously injured.”

CHALLENGE AHEADIn total, delegates discussed, debated and voted on 154 motions, from the protection of allowances, workplace relocations and facilities to the equal rights for new starters, apprenticeships and important discussions on the rights of members with physical and mental health difficulties and ensuring appropriate reasonable adjustments are made.

On the last day of Conference, delegates gave emotional ovations to Bob Gibson, Phil Browne and Ian Ward (see page 16) and after this, Terry Pullinger gave his closing speech, telling the audience: “I think this has been an excellent Conference.

“We've now got a crystal-clear strategy in both our key campaigns in Royal Mail and Post Office. The challenge is immense – but as the struggle gets harder, our unity gets stronger,” he insisted.

Terry Pullinger addresses Conference

Round-up POSTAL CONFERENCE


10-11-The-Voice-May-June-2017.v2.edited.indd 11 25/05/2017 08:51

WATCH A VIDEO SUMMARY OF THE CWU’S POSTAL CONFERENCE HERE




New focus needed on BTFS anomalies

Bournemouth this year.Proposing a motion which

commits the union to prioritise the tackling of anomalies within BTFS itself - including those covering overtime, annual leave, sick pay and maternity leave arrangements - Sally explained: “It’s clear that a blanket approach on this matter is unlikely to change the stance of BTFS and we therefore need a



SPECIAL LEAVE WOES

Shocking examples of cases where members have struggled to get special leave granted following the loss of a close family member or friend prompted Telecoms & Financial Services Conference delegates to unanimously instruct the Executive to tackle the issue head on with BT Group.

Proposing the motion, Trevor Davison of North East branch told Conference: “A few years ago my mother died. At the time my twin brother and I were on the same team and our manager asked us if it was

necessary for us both to go to the funeral.”

Dave Kauffman of South East Central branch recounted how his branch recently had to intervene to secure special leave for a member in Kent to arrange his mother’s funeral in Yorkshire - and Martin Shaw of Meridian branch cited examples of members in Consumer being told they would have to ‘payback’ the

time taken off.

Laurie Smith of Greater London Combined highlighted

other cases where members have had to dig in their heels to be allowed special leave to attend the funerals of friends or their partners’ relatives, with managers questioning the closeness of non-blood ties.

Branding such instances as “shameful”, Executive member Dave

Tee pledged: “We’ll open discussions with BT to address this unfair and heartless practice.”

REVISED ACTION PLAN

A revised approach to tackling the myriad of different terms and conditions that exist in BTFS, stemming from multiple TUPEs into the previously outsourced facilities management provider that was brought back in-house by BT in 2012, has been agreed by CWU Annual Conference.

Following the company’s refusal to agree to the union’s request for wide-ranging talks to harmonise a raft of Ts&Cs within BTFS to those in BT, as demanded by last year’s Conference, the new

approach was outlined by

assistant secretary Sally Bridge in

Bruised in bereavement by BT

approach was outlined by

assistant secretary Sally Bridge in

Sally Bridge

different approach - one that concentrates on those areas in which we can make progress and standardise matters in certain areas.”

Conference unanimously agreed.■ Delegates also committed the union to undertake a full review into BTFS’s pension arrangements, with the aim of enabling the subsidiary’s employees to join the BTRSS.

news in briefAGENCY BUCK-PASSINGA re-invigorated campaign to persuade Manpower to address pitifully low pay rates for agency workers on PBA (Pay Between Assignment) contracts at a significant number of BT sites that was launched in the last issue of The Voice (see www.cwu.org/

voice/) received unanimous support from delegates at CWU Annual Conference just days after the latest knock-back from the company.Assistant secretary Sally Bridge stressed the renewed campaign “will not just target Manpower but also BT who can no longer hide behind a third-party supplier and wash their hands of any blame.”Full story at www.cwu.org/voice/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------LIFE OF GRIME IN FLEET The state of BT Fleet workshops came in for fierce criticism at CWU Annual Conference with delegates unanimously instructing the Executive to undertake site by site visits with the company in a bid to tackle working environments that are “old, dirty and cold.” Contrasting the shabby and neglected conditions in which many Fleet engineers work with the huge turnaround in the division’s fortunes in recent years, Angela Teeling of Greater Merseyside said: “A few years ago BT Fleet was on the bones of its backside, but our members have worked really hard and it’s now producing more money than ever. It’s about time the company gives something back.” Executive speaker Tracey Fussey agreed, stressing working conditions were out of kilter with “what you’d expect from an award-winning company with a highly recognised brand and name.”

Dave Tee

Laurie Smith

T&FS Conference delegates

Telecoms & Financial Services INDUSTRY NEWS

Hostile stance stiffens resolve at EE


‘Trojan horse’ concerns over Convergys FIRM RESPONSE NEEDED

The CWU’s alarm at BT Consumer’s use of outsourced call centre services provider Convergys to handle ‘Help’ calls from its Stockport and Dublin contact centres was reiterated at CWU Annual Conference amid “serious suspicions” that what Consumer originally claimed to be a ‘short-term solution’ to a specific direct recruitment shortfall is becoming open-ended.

Despite Consumer’s promise at the start of the year to ‘review’ the situation in March that review remains elusive,

despite pressure being applied by CWU national negotiators.

Pointing out that the Transformation Agreement had at its heart the aim of facilitating the return of outsourced and offshored work to BT’s UK call centres, assistant secretary Nigel Cotgrove stressed: “Our members changed their attendance patterns to secure long-term BT jobs in the UK. It was a difficult agreement to reach, changed the lives of many and has been a difficult process; but it was the right thing to do. We cannot now allow BT’s use of Convergys to undermine this agreement.”

T&FS Conference delegates unanimously agreed with Nigel that a firm CWU response is needed to ensure that Convergys “doesn’t become a Trojan horse”.■ Delegates also passed a series of motions committing the Executive to seek improved attendance options in BT Consumer as part of the Transformation Agreement’s review process and to address difficulties relating to bank holiday attendance and the ‘Exceptional Change of Hours’ process.


RECOGNITION THE GOAL

An apparent upsurge in anti-union activity amongst some elements of EE management - as evidenced by an increasingly hostile stance being taken towards the CWU, its members and workplace reps at a number of sites in recent months - has only served to stiffen the union’s resolve to secure full recognition rights at the BT-owned mobile giant.

Frustration amongst branches that have witnessed increasingly blatant managerial attempts to impede CWU access to employees - and even

news in briefDISABILITY CONCERNS IN BTBT isn’t doing anywhere near enough to remove barriers that prevent employees with disabilities making a full contribution at work or to reassure them that their needs are properly understood, CWU Annual Conference has agreed.

Delegates unanimously demanded “a new set of principles that offer real protection to employees with disabilities” after speakers cited problems securing reasonable adjustments for members and frustrations with the Assisted Job Search (AJS) process.

Executive member Julia Upton agreed that, while BT has policies that “win awards” and look “great on paper”, where it “often falls down is in the application of those policies.” The CWU’s challenge, she concluded, is to “ensure the company practices what it preaches.”Full story at www.cwu.org/voice/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------CAPITA PRIORITIES SET Desperately low new starter pay rates and a stiff approach to absence management which disproportionately affects members with disabilities and long-term illnesses have been identified by CWU Annual Conference as two of the most important issues for the CWU to confront in the Capita O₂ Partnership.Delegates also committed the Executive to press Capita to allow the CWU reasonable access to new starters and to challenge the company on the increasing number of employees being told they need to be signed onto their work systems 15 minutes before their shift begins.Full story at www.cwu.org/voice/

efforts to communicate overt anti-union messages to staff - exploded into anger and a steely determination to prevail at CWU Annual Conference. Telecoms delegates unanimously committed the union to ensure the legal rights of members are respected, particularly with regards to:■ The right to union representation in meetings■ The right of employees to choose their representative■ The right of members and reps not to suffer detriment or harassment because of their membership or their activities on behalf of their union■ The rights of workplace

reps to reasonable time off to represent members.

Supporting the Tyne & Wear Clerical branch motion on behalf of the Executive, assistant secretary John East stressed it was “scandalous” that the CWU was having to remind a BT subsidiary about its obligations under employment law.

“BT are allowing anti-union elements to run EE at a national and local level and it has to stop,” he stressed.


The CWU is determined to prevail despite the efforts of some anti-union managers

John East

WATCH A VIDEO SUMMARY OF THE CWU’S T&FS CONFERENCE HERE



“Get the vote out for Labour on June 8th” is the call to arms from our general secretary, as the 2017 General Election campaign enters its final furlong and activists everywhere prepare for a massive effort to elect a government that will build a better Britain…

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LET’S SEIZE THE CHANCE

KEY LABOUR MANIFESTO PLEDGES FOR CWU MEMBERS u The renationalisation of

Royal Mail

u Major public investment in the telecommunications infrastructure

u The establishment of a Post Bank

u The halting of Crown post office closures

u A new universal service obligation covering superfast broadband

u The retention of the state pension triple-lock

u The full restoration of workers’ rights

“FOR A BETTER BRITAIN A

ll elections are important, but this time around we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the balance of forces in this country," Dave Ward told The Voice, when we asked him for his pre-election message to members.

“We know that across our industries, CWU members are coming under ever greater pressure at work. If you look at the policies on off er it's clear that what Labour is now putting forward, which has been shaped by the trade union movement, delivers on key issues for the CWU.”

Pledges to renationalise Royal Mail, put signifi cant public investment into our telecommunications infrastructure, establish a Post Bank and halt the Crown Post Offi ce closures, introduce a superfast broadband universal service obligation (USO), maintain the state pension triple-lock and restore full workers’ rights are the headline policies for the CWU and our members.

Alongside these commitments, Labour has set out plans for an ambitious house-building programme, with 100,000 council and housing association homes a year, a new National Education Service, funding to address the crisis in the NHS and free school meals for all primary school children.

It is also pledging to deliver fundamental change across the economy. This includes a huge shift to promote collective bargaining and trade union rights, in order to halt the race to the bottom on employment standards, and a new National Investment Bank to fund a renaissance in our manufacturing industry.

Dave gave a particular thumbs-up to the parts of the manifesto that relate directly to our members’ industries, saying: “The solid promise to renationalise Royal Mail will put right one of the biggest wrongs of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition and will protect the future of this crucial public service, as will the immediate halt to the Crown Offi ce closure and franchising programme.

“In the telecommunications industry, we have got a pledge for an ambitious superfast broadband USO and to start rolling out ultrafast broadband as part of our national infrastructure. Labour has also committed to closing the loophole in the agency workers’ regulations – something the CWU has long campaigned for to protect our members."

A MANIFESTO FOR OUR INDUSTRIESThe union’s two industrial deputy general secretaries have also given the manifesto their seal of approval, and highlighted in detail the real practical benefi ts to our members of these particular parts of the Labour programme for Government.

“Renationalising Royal Mail will be warmly welcomed by all of our members and the vast majority of the country,” Terry Pullinger told The Voice, adding: “Firstly, this will restore the basic principle that this is a public service and the revenues it generates are the property of the Great British public.

“And in terms of our members’ interests, having the company back in full public ownership will put an end to concerns over business fragmentation and also provide a real boost to our ideas on developing new products and services,” he suggested.

Terry told us that he was “very pleased” that Labour promises to halt the attack on our Crown Post Offi ce network and that the introduction of a Post Bank will “save jobs in the immediate term and in the longer term will provide opportunities for expansion.”

Overall, Terry describes the manifesto as “great news for our members, excellent news for workers throughout the

country, and a great plan for Britain as a whole. “I believe that leaving the world of work and society in general

better for the next generation than the one we inherited should be an objective for everyone.

“But that will only happen under a Labour Government,” he points out.

“My message to all of our postal members is: ‘It’s time to step up for Britain – Vote Labour on June 8 and get your family, friends and workmates to Vote Labour on June 8 as well’.”

Andy Kerr, meanwhile, warmly welcomed the Labour Party’s policy guaranteeing a broadband speed of 30 megabytes per second (Mbit/s) to every UK household by 2022, describing this as “essential for Britain to thrive and to ensure full participation in society and the economy.”

The CWU is a strong advocate of investment in high-quality universal broadband, and while there has been signifi cant investment in the UK’s network infrastructure, much of it from BT and Virgin Media, and 88 per cent of the country can get 30 Mbit/s, there are still an estimated 1.3 million UK households (5 per cent of all UK households) who cannot even receive 10 Mbit/s, Andy explained.

“That’s why we’re pleased that Labour have committed to achieving the necessary speeds which will include hard-to-reach areas, to ensure that they aren’t left on the wrong side of a growing digital divide.”

The union will work with Openreach in achieving a 30 Mbit/s USO, but the CWU will insist that investment decisions made from business or government take consideration of maintaining decent labour standards in the telecoms industry, he insisted, adding that Labour’s proposals on employment rights and union recognition procedures would be of immediate benefi t to our members in the wider telecoms and fi nancial services sectors.

“Unlike the Conservatives, Labour’s policy programme prioritises the best interests of workers and of the people of the UK,” Andy tells The Voice and insists that, “if every one of us gets out and votes Labour, and can persuade others to do so too, then we could win a government committed to carrying out all of the key policies that we’ve campaigned for over many years.

“Please come out and Vote Labour on June 8.” Summing up, Dave Ward told The Voice that “it can’t be said that

we don’t face a clear choice in this election or that it doesn’t make a diff erence who you vote for.

“If you look at the country today, we are seeing rising levels of in-work poverty, a million people having to rely on food banks to get by and the public services we all rely on coming under huge strain after years of cuts from the Tories.

“A whole generation of young people – and many of our young members who are just starting out in life – are asking themselves whether they will ever be able to aff ord a decent home. We cannot continue on this path," Dave insisted.

“The Tories sold off Royal Mail, left the Post Offi ce in crisis and attacked our members’ ability to stand up for themselves at work with the Trade Union Act. Their claim to be ’the party of working people’ stands in stark contrast to their record.

"If we want to change things, we need to get out and campaign for it. So in the fi nal week before the election, we’re asking our

members to get behind Labour’s campaign and re-assert trade union values in the country today.

“Let’s not wake up on the 9th of June asking if things could have been diff erent if we’d only done more."

General Election FEATURE

@CWUNews

Overall, Terry describes the manifesto as “great news for our members, excellent news for workers throughout the

@CWUNews

members to get behind Labour’s campaign and re-assert trade union values in the country today.

“Let’s not wake up on the 9th of June asking if things could have been diff erent if we’d only done more."

“

May/June 2017 THE VOICE 15

REASONS TO VOTE LABOUR: SEE VIDEO HERE



VETERANS STEP DOWN

Phil Browne, from Newcastle Amal branch, has served on the union’s Executive for 22 years and in recent PEC elections has regularly finished top of the poll.

At the rostrum, Phil drew immediate applause – and a few laughs – when he opened

with “I’ll not keep you long.“

He warmly thanked his Executive colleagues, members of staff, his local branch, family and friends for, in his words, “putting up with me all these years“ and then

urged everyone to “remain strong and united,“ and then said: “I’m going to end with

this famous Geordie phrase – Auf Wieder- sehen pet.“

Next up was Ian Ward, who told delegates that, over the past 15 years that he's been on the Executive, “I’ve spent more time with the department and our reps than I have with my family.“

Ian, a member of the

union’s South East London Postal 7 Counter branch, gave his thanks to colleagues, branch members, HQ staff, friends and family and then his parting message to Conference was: “Remember

we have only two enemies – the employer and the Government.“

BOB GIBSON

Three long-serving CWU activists won standing ovations from Conference as they made their personal speeches to delegates.

Former outdoor secretary Bob Gibson, and Executive member Ian Ward both announced their retirement earlier this year, while Phil Browne decided to stand down from the Executive – and each of them brought the venue to its collective feet to give them a warm CWU send-off.

Bob, who served as CWU outdoor secretary for 14 years, provided one of the highlights of Conference with a speech full of his characteristic fighting spirit – and not without its controversial moments.

After having been memorably introduced by deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger as “one of our union’s greatest-ever warriors,“ Bob began with an explanation of the illness that had led to his early retirement.

GOOD HUMOURED SPEECHGood-humouredly, he

scotched a couple of inaccurate rumours that he said he had heard and then bluntly told delegates that he had suffered two brain haemorrhages and added: “That's it, it's done. And I’ve told the neurologist that I’m not going to see him anymore.

“People have asked me if I have a terminal illness, but I've told them we've all got something terminal, we're all going to die.“

But, Bob insisted: “I haven't come here today to say goodbye. I've got no intention of saying goodbye, because I'm still a CWU member and I'll remain a CWU member.“

He wished his successor

Mark Baulch “the very best of luck,“ adding: “He’s going to need it because it’s a hell of a tough job.

“If I'm asked my opinion, I'll give it, but if I'm not asked, I'll keep my mouth shut,“ he pledged, with typical frankness.

And there was some more frankness from Bob when he spoke about the forthcoming General Election, making some robust criticisms of our Prime Minister and urging everyone to “make sure we put our crosses in the right box on June 8th, because we’ve all got to do everything we can to change this country for the better.“

In a direct challenge to critics of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Bob asked: “If you don't like what Corbyn says, can you tell us exactly what it is that he's saying that you don't like?“

Summing up his belief in the labour movement, our former outdoor secretary pointed out: “You can’t do things by yourself – we all do things collectively and together. When we do that, we can succeed.

“There are difficult things coming up, but what gets us through is our members always deliver.“

A SPECIAL MENTION FOR HAYLEYBob then thanked members of the delivery reference group and the SPDO and walk design groups in particular, adding “a special mention for Hayley Nutley,“ for her work as his senior secretary at CWU headquarters.

“There ain't any more points for me to make, other than to say thank you to everyone for their support for the 14 years I was in that position,“ he concluded, to a rousing standing ovation from Conference.

INDUSTRY NEWS Postal news


One of our greatest warriors

Ian WardPhil Browne

Bob Gibson

Auf Wiedersehen Phil and farewell Ian

16-17-The-Voice-May-June-2017.first edit.indd 16 25/05/2017 08:51

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Since the launch of the Royal Mail internal workplace mediation initiative in May 2014, the national mediation team have dealt with 130 industrial relations (IR) cases and 100 bullying and harassment (BH) cases, resolving dozens of potential disputes.

The mediation team consists of seven fully trained and accredited members – four CWU representatives and three Royal Mail managers and at CWU Annual Conference this year, The Voice talked with two team members – Sophie Bell and Stephen Borley – about their roles and their experiences.

Sophie, a CWU member from Warrington Mail centre, told The Voice: “Mediation is an ideal solution to resolve problems locally.“

The role is about restoring relationships and trust, she said, adding that it is a voluntary process and the parties involved have the choice to take this option.

Stephen is a Royal Mail operations manager and told us that, in his view, mediation “redresses the balance in the process to give a fair hearing on the day.“

The national team is co-managed by CWU

PEC member Katrina Quirke and her Royal Mail counterpart, Michelle Harris and Katrina told The Voice that all mediation team members – who are on full-time secondment from their Royal Mail roles – are fully supported throughout with ongoing training and guidance.

Explaining more about the process itself, Katrina said: “At the end of the mediation, there's an agreement to sign.

“There are times when one or both parties even, might not agree to sign the agreement, but that still doesn't mean the mediation has failed - it's still made the two parties talk and discuss and at least understand the other person's point of view and perspective.“

Royal Mail is the only company in the UK with a dedicated full-time mediation team and, as it arose from within the 2013 Agenda for Growth national agreement, its long-term future is dependent on the successful conclusion of the current talks towards the next national agreement.

“The national negotiations between the CWU and the business around the Four Pillars are crucially important in ensuring mediation continues into the future – and we very much hope it will,“ Katrina concluded.

Postal news INDUSTRY NEWS


Trial plan for RM women's uniformWORKWEAR

A new women’s uniform shirt will start being trialled at Royal Mail workplaces, following representations from the CWU urging the company to design and provide uniforms for women.

Karen Regan, the CWU women’s officer at Warrington Mail Centre Branch was running a promotional stall during Conference week with London Region assistant secretary Kate Dunning, displaying the shirts that are due to be trialled and handing out uniform questionnaires to our women delegates.

Karen explained to The Voice that she is a member of the joint CWU/Royal Mail uniform study group and that the intention is to have a uniform shirt specifically designed for a women’s body shape.

“There are several design variations – long, short or roll-up sleeves, and ‘V’ button-up or cutway necklines – and we need feedback on each type in the various different work environments,“ Karen told us.

Once the trials have taken place, and the feedback has been collated and evaluated, and any necessary adjustments have been made, it is expected that the new uniforms will then be scheduled for introduction.

Angela Whitter, Croydon &

Sutton branch secretary, and Sarah White, from South East Thames Amal branch, tried out two of the new shirts and gave them a cautious thumbs-up.

“It’s not very nice having to wear male-shaped shirts and these will be a lot better for us,“ said Angela, while Sarah added that uniform shirts described as ‘unisex’ were actually male-shape designed and that women workers want to wear female-fit uniform.

Kate Dunning told The Voice: that she welcomed the new design, saying: “At last it’s been officially recognised that women are a different shape to men – and it looks like we’re finally getting a uniform shirt of our own.

“We want to feminise the workplace a bit more, taking account of the increasing numbers of women coming into the Royal Mail workforce and a big issue has been the lack of female-fit workwear,“ she explained.

CWU Executive member Mick Kavanagh, who leads for uniform issues on behalf of the PEC, said that he welcomed the progress made.

“There’s a clear need here for female-specific uniform and thanks to the work of the CWU, jointly with the business, we’re getting closer to achieving this for our women members.“

Angela Whitter and Sarah White (l-r)

Mediation success points to better way

Stephen Borley, Sophie Bell and Katrina Quirke (l-r)



HUGE ELECTION ISSUE

A passionate defence of the NHS was delivered by CWU Annual Conference with delegates unanimously committing the union to take centre stage in the campaign to save a national treasure.

Amid mounting evidence of a full-frontal attack on the founding principles of the health service by the current Tory Government, speaker after speaker lambasted a “cut, slash, despise and privatise” agenda which, left unchecked, threatens to destroy the towering achievement of the post-war Labour administration.

Reaffirming existing CWU policy that the NHS must remain publicly owned, publicly funded, publicly provided, accountable and free at the point of delivery, delegates agreed the union must campaign and organise

“with real determination” against creeping privatisation and vicious cuts that are bringing an internationally respected organisation to its knees.

Dave Ash of South London, Surrey and North Hampshire branch told of an organisation that is “being deliberately run into the ground” by vested interests and ideological dogma.

“Soon, very soon, we will all be left with a very stark choice - go along to a skid row NHS, where you might be dead by the time you are seen, or take out private health insurance,” he warned.

Judy Griffiths of Coventry branch agreed: “What we’re witnessing is the demolition of the

infrastructure of our society by a ruling class that’s determined to remove the services won by working people in the desire to increase their wealth,” she said. “They, of course, can access healthcare privately, so ‘free at the point of need’ is not an issue for them.”

Lashing out at “disgusting” but increasingly

determined efforts to make some groups pay for NHS treatment received, Jack England of Great Western branch insisted: “To me the best thing about this country is that you can get the treatment you need from the NHS whether you have a penny to your name or not.”

Supporting the motion on behalf of the Executive, deputy general secretary (postal) Terry Pullinger

concluded: “The NHS stands as a monument to

everything we stand for as trade unionists and Labour people - equality, fairness and security in your life. People say your eyes

are the window to your soul; well, I believe the NHS is the window to look

through if you want to see the state of the soul of this nation.”

CONFERENCE 2017 News


Fighting for our NHS

Election looms large at CWU Annual ConferenceSETTING THE AGENDA

Some 700 branch represen-tatives from every corner of the UK gathered in Bournemouth at the end of April for five days of lively debate on all aspects of union policy at CWU Annual Conference 2017.

Just a few days before Conference began, Prime Minister Theresa May had called the snap General Election and, on the first day of deliberations, delegates unanimously adopted an emergency motion committing the union to campaign vigorously for a Labour victory.

In her opening address, CWU president Beryl

Shepherd recalled opening Conference in 2015 by referring to “the backdrop of a forthcoming general election” which was set to have “a significant impact on the lives of our members and their

families.”Beryl continued: “The last

two years have seen nothing but hardship and insecurity impact on the lives of our members,” but insisted that this election “will provide

opportunity for change here in the UK and we must unite and seize that opportunity.”

On the same theme, general secretary Dave Ward stressed the union’s determination that the election agenda must address the whole range of domestic, economic and social issues – and must not become just another re-run of last year’s EU membership referendum.

“Inequality is rife in this country and it falls upon our movement to do something about this,” he stressed, urging delegates to “get behind the Labour party and work as hard as we can to deliver a new political settlement for the UK.”

Beryl Shepherd

Judy Griffiths

18-19-The-Voice-May-June-2017-v2.second edit.indd 18 25/05/2017 08:52

Stars shine in support of LabourTHOUGHT-PROVOKING SHOW

Conference-goers this year were treated to another evening spectacular, as event organisers surpassed last year’s JC4PM event with 2017’s People’s Politics.

A lively mix of music, politics and laughs, allowed delegates and visitors to relax, unwind and enjoy the fun with a few beers after some busy conference sessions.

After a video message from general secretary Dave Ward, comedian and host for the evening Jeremy Hardy opened the show, welcoming the audience and telling them to expect “an extraordinarily mixed bill of people on tonight.”

First up was actor Dave Johns – the eponymous lead of last year’s award-winning I Daniel Blake – who soon had the crowd laughing with his wry observations

on life, and his witty repartee with an enthusiastic young child in the audience.

I Daniel Blake director Ken Loach followed Johns on stage and attacked the way that benefit claimants are being treated, asking: “What is the crime for which hunger is the punishment?”

Political speeches, from Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner (see page 3) further reminded everyone of the importance of the coming election.

Time for music, and singer Grace Petrie showed why she is becoming a regular at

CWU events, while Steve Gribben’s more unorthodox style mixed pop classics and comedic themes and Voice of The People, street poet Matt Abbott, wowed the crowd with his memorable lines.

Another returning 2016 act, Francesca Martinez, once again proved popular and there was time for two other comics, Tom Stade and Tez Ilyas, before our own class act of the evening, Tony Kearns, showed his light-hearted side with some terrific one-liners – and even received a few wolf-whistles for modelling the all-new ‘Pantone’ CWU jacket.

The Voice spoke to performers at the 2017 People's Politics event, at Conference in Bournemouth, to hear their views on the upcoming General ElectionKen Loach Film director

“This is a pivotal election – the fight won’t stop whatever happens, but

things are really serious now. If Corbyn and McDonnell go, then their politics will go with them. We may not get this chance again so we have to seize it.”

Davey Johns Actor“I Daniel Blake resonated right across Europe because what’s

happening in the UK is happening there too. The Right always seem to have the easy answers – people are drawn to what they say and that frightens me.”

Jeremy Hardy Comedian“If the Tories get a renewed mandate things will get even

worse. We used to be a country with a sense of the common good but that’s out

the window now. We need to take our society back.”

Steve Gribbin Comedian/musician

“People need to think what sort of society they want. If they want to put

a stop to Theresa May’s rampant vandalism against social care, the NHS and the benefits system they need to vote with their hearts.”

Matt Abbott Street poet“My dad’s apostal worker and a CWU member so tonight’s been a highlight of my career.

Although this election caught us off-guard I think the Tories have everything to lose. People have had enough.”

Francesca Martinez Comedian“We finally have a Labour leader who’s totally committed to challenging a system that breeds inequality and suffering. There’s no room for cynicism and apathy. If we had a healthy media Corbyn would be walking this.”

Tez Ilyas Comedian“I have a ‘glass half-full’ approach to life and really believe we can make an impact in this election. People need to think about what’s best for the wider family of

Great Britain and give the Tories a run for their money.”

Tom Slade Comedian“Coming from Canada I've seen the damage the Conservatives did there – and you guys have an opportunity to stop it right now in the UK. It blows my mind that any working class voter could even think the Tories would help them.”

Grace Petrie Political musician“The NHS will not survive another Tory government. If the NHS means anything to you at all – if it is important to your family or children – then you need to vote to keep the Tories out in your constituency.”

People's Politics CONFERENCE 2017


Labour's Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell,addressed a packed hall in Bournemouth

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner

18-19-The-Voice-May-June-2017-v2.second edit.indd 19 25/05/2017 08:52



NEWS General Conference

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

Bogus self employment contracts are not just brutally exploitative of millions of workers trapped in the so-called ‘gig economy’, but also represent a massive threat to the terms and conditions of millions of directly employed workers whose firms are being placed at a competitive disadvantage, CWU Annual Conference has agreed.

Delegates unanimously committed the CWU to work with other trade unions that are seeking to tackle the relentless rise of an employment model in which workers who are misleadingly categorised as ‘independent contractors’ are only paid for the ‘gigs’ they do.

Such contracts are especially prevalent in the courier, taxi and food delivery industries - and, just as is the case with exploitative

zero-hour contracts, proponents of the ‘gig economy’ claim that people can benefit from the flexibility of being able to choose when they work. In reality, however, the real ‘advantages’ of this employment model are weighted heavily in favour of the

companies that use it.Not only

don’t they incur staff costs when demand isn’t there - but their workers’

bogus self-employed

status means

they have no protection against unfair

dismissal, no right to redundancy payments and no right to paid holiday or sick pay.

Critically, ‘gig economy’ workers aren’t even legally entitled to be paid the national

living wage for the hours they work.Successfully moving the CWU

Conference motion that places the CWU at the heart of a united trade-union fightback, Mark Harper of Nottingham & District Amal pointed out that number of workers who classify themselves as ‘self employed’ has rocketed from three million in 2001 to five million today.

Colin Bell of South London branch cited the rampant rise of bogus self-employment within the parcels industry - recounting an extraordinary case of exploitation where an Albanian driver who’d been injured while on duty was not only deprived of sick pay but also ended up being forced to pay for an alternative driver!

Deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger concluded: “In the parcels industry we believe Parcelforce is now probably the only parcel company that is directly employing people - that’s the scale of the problem we’ve got.“


‘Gig economy’ must be challenged

threat to the terms and conditions of millions of directly employed workers whose firms are being placed at a competitive disadvantage, CWU Annual Conference has agreed.

Delegates unanimously

companies that use it.Not only

don’t they incur staff costs when demand isn’t there - but their workers’

bogus self-employed

have no protection against unfair

OLD INJUSTICES NOT FORGOTTEN

Two highly emotive issues from the 1980s were discussed by delegates, who unanimously backed the Orgreave Truth and Justice and the Total Eclipse of the Sun campaigns.

Giving the Executive's backing to the first of the two motions, deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger recalled how the Thatcher government of that time had “declared war“ on the nation's miners.

When strikers gathered to picket a coal supply plant at Orgreave in Yorkshire, they were met by 6,000 police, who kettled them in a field, charged them and

then battered as many of them as they could.

“It was legalised state violence, but not one police officer was ever prosecuted or even disciplined,“ stressed Terry.

“The miners

fought for every single one of us; now we need to support them.“

Acting general secretary Tony Kearns, meanwhile, made an emotional appeal to delegates to support the Total Eclipse of the Sun campaign, which aims to spread the boycott of that newspaper for its cruel reporting of the 1989 Hillsborough deaths.

Tony recalled how he had been a spectator at that FA Cup semi-final between his favourite Liverpool team and

Nottingham Forest, and of the friends he had amongst the 96 victims.

He reminded the audience how the Sun had falsely claimed that Liverpool spectators had urinated on the victims, stolen from them and fought with police, stressing: “Their families didn't deserve to be told those lies.

“For these reasons, there should be a total eclipse of the Sun,“ he insisted.


Orgreave and Hillsborough remembered

Tony Kearns

Pickets and police gather at Orgreavecoking works, South Yorkshire, ahead of the

infamous June 1984 Miners' Strike clash



Setting the post-

agenda

CWU & Brexit FEATURE

Hate crime upsurgeGeneral Conference delegates also unanimously committed the union to mount a campaign to highlight a post-Brexit vote surge in hate crime and to pressurise the Government to put into place safety nets to protect vulnerable groups in our communities.

Proposing the motion on behalf of last autumn’s CWU Black Workers’ Conference, Amarjite Singh of South East Wales Amal said: “Hate crime was always here – but Brexit and the referendum opened Pandora’s box.“

Executive speaker Mahmood Ali agreed, lamenting the way in which some in the Leave campaign had “blamed immigration for virtually all of the ills of our society“ – a toxic message that was, at worst, laced with blatant Islamophobia and the stoking up of fears over the refugee crisis.

“It was opportunism in its worst form,“ Mahmood told delegates, adding: “In the weeks after the EU referendum hate crime incidents rose by 58 per cent, and in July 2016 the incidence of hate crime went up by 41 per cent compared with July 2015.

“These incidents have included assaults, arson attacks, heads of pigs thrown into mosques, verbal abuse, and the list goes on.“

H&S ‘bonfire’ fearsThe EU withdrawal negotiations also have the potential to impact on health and safety at work regulations, national offi cer Dave Joyce warned Conference.

Speaking in favour of a motion from four regional health and safety forums, Dave said: “Since the election was called, leading Tories, bosses and the right-wing media have wasted no time in calling for a bonfi re of safety regulations.

“Everything they do puts wealth before safety,“ he added.“It's up to us now, going forward, to continue to fi ght for health

and safety at work.“

Delegates adopted two resolutions putting the defence, protection and advance of workers' rights “at the heart of“ the settlement we need to

reach as we leave the European Union.Moving the fi rst motion on behalf of

Greater London Combined branch, Will Murray told Conference: “We have an obligation to ensure workers do not pay the price of Brexit.“

A Tory Brexit would mean rampant pay inequality and the UK becoming an off shore tax haven, he warned.

Regional secretaries Kevin Beazer (south west) and Ian Murphy (London) also spoke for the motion, with Ian insisting: “We must organise to resist any attempt to take away our rights“ and Kevin making the point that “workers must not be scapegoated.“

London No.7 branch delegate Phil Waker

strongly backed the proposition and said: “We now have to prepare for a workers' agenda for coming out.“

Ryan Rochester, from Coventry branch, noted that the meanings of words seem to have changed, saying: “Slave-driving is called 'performance management' and fascism is called 'populism'.“

And Midland No.7 branch delegate Andrew Hickerman insisted: “We've got to make sure we vote for workers' rights in the coming election.“

And moving the second motion, Mersey branch delegate Brian Kenny made it clear that “the vote to leave was not a vote to roll back hard-won rights we fought for years to achieve“ and Barry O'Hanlon, of London No.7 branch, explained the need to “go beyond us leaving the EU.

“Let's forget Brexit. We had a referendum,

we're coming out and the focus must be on protecting workers' rights,“ he added.

Supporting the call on behalf of the NEC, Bill Taylor slammed the Conservatives for having “spent the last six years attacking workers' rights – from tribunal fees to the TU Act.

“We must do all we can to campaign for a settlement that keeps protections of workers' rights at its core,“ he stressed.

Acting general secretary Tony Kearns praised the movers of the motions on this subject, saying: “The movers of these motions have got this spot on – condemning the scapegoating of immigrants and warning of the attack on workers' rights.

“As the late Tony Benn said: 'There's no fi nal victory as there is no fi nal defeat – just the same battle to be fought over and over again, so toughen up'.“

x Mahmood Ali Dave Joyce q



RETIRED MEMBERS Conference

www.cwu.org

CWU veterans make their mark at Conference

Loyal BT service forgotten on retirement?

TRIPLE LOCK DEFENDED

As always, our retired members made a valuable contribution to Conference debates, putting two motions to delegates and generating

PERKS FOR PENSIONERS

The withdrawal of free broadband and various other perks from BT employees when they retire from the company represents a snub to loyal and longstanding employees, and should be reconsidered by the company, delegates to the CWU’s Telecoms & Financial Services Conference agreed.

Despite opposition from the Executive, a majority of branch delegates committed the union to seek special

some lively debate.The first dealt with the

important and topical issue of the so-called ‘state pension triple lock’, a measure introduced by government back in 2010 that increases

tariff rates for retired BT employees in recognition of their contribution to the company’s success.

Proposing the motion, Jaime Monsma of Midland No.1 pointed out that some rail companies and BA offer generous discounts to their pensioners - with Virgin Trains offering free first class travel for longer-serving retirees.

“We’re simply asking the Executive to negotiate with BT Group to ensure that pensioners’ service is recognised,” she said, adding: “The majority of retired

pensions annually by whichever is the highest of RPI, average earnings, or 2.5 per cent.

With the Labour Party pledged to maintain this safeguard, but the Conservatives set on watering it down, this was an extremely timely subject for discussion and the proposition called on the whole union to support the triple lock and campaign to protect it.

Retired members’ NEC representative Brian Lee told The Voice: “We welcome the decision to adopt this resolution. This will give considerable support to the National Pensioners’ Convention’s campaign.”

The sensitive issue of the right of retired members to

employees are still dedicated to BT and are still promoting the company. They don’t want to stop using BT services, but they are often forced to, due to cost, and feel guilty for doing so.”

Laurie Smith of Greater London Combined agreed: “It’s wrong we cut people off when they leave,” he stressed.

Opposing the motion, assistant secretary Dave Jukes stressed he had no issue with approaching BT to see if employee benefits could be extended to retired people - but pointed out a factual

vote for their branch officials was the subject of the other motion that this section of the union brought to the conference and, although this particular proposition was not reached, another motion addressing the same issue was debated.

This motion, which was moved by acting general secretary Tony Kearns and supported by the retired members, committed the NEC to set up a working group that will include members of the CWU Retired Members’ Advisory Committee, and is tasked with producing a report to the NEC no later than July of this year, which will look at a range of issues affecting our retired members, including voting rights.

inaccuracy in the motion in that some discounts do already apply, albeit not for broadband.

“There are also issues around the qualifying length of service,” he added. “Should someone who’s worked for BT for just a few years be entitled to the same benefits as someone who has retired after 40 years’ service?

“I’d prefer to consult with retired members before we assume what they’d prefer to see,” Dave concluded - but the motion was carried.

IN THIS ISSUE:

THE MAGAZINE OF THE RETIRED MEMBER’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE SPRING 2017 WWW.CWU.ORG

FUTURE CHANGE

THE LINK

P06 PENSIONS UNDER THREATA report on the WPC attacking the triple lock and other pensioner benefits

P11 CARE NEEDS ASSESSMENTWe run through the process of getting the help with care you are entitled to receive

P13 MEALS ON WHEELSUnder-investment has meant patchy provision of an important service

How the union addresses challenges for workers

Did you know that the CWU has a thriving retired members' section that campaigns on the issues that matter to pensioners?

Barring workplace representation, retired members enjoy all the benefits of ordinary membership including free expert legal advice if required. Subs, which stand at £1.35 per

week or £5.84 per month for those contributing to the political fund (£1.15 weekly or £4.97 monthly for those contracted-out), also mean you'll continue to receive The Voice in addition to a designated magazine for retired members – The Link.

For more information please call 0800 731 7434 or email [email protected]

Barring workplace representation, retired members enjoy all the benefits of ordinary membership including free expert legal advice if required. Subs, which stand at £1.35 per

week or £5.84 per month for those contributing to the political fund (£1.15 weekly or £4.97 monthly for those contracted-out), also mean you'll continue to receive Voice

Psychological report demanded into effect of PM in BT

Conference YOUNG WORKERS

Young members led the charge for a report to be compiled into

the damaging psychological impact of BT’s performance management (PM) regime and inadequate training on young members.

Despite opposition from the Executive and some branches - which argued that such a report would add little to existing research and that the

motion would have been more appropriate on the Telecoms Conference agenda anyway - a majority of General Conference delegates backed a Youth Conference motion calling for a new study following a series of impassioned contributions by young speakers.

Proposing the motion, Youth Committee member Jamie George stressed that although progress had been made

on the PM issue by national negotiating teams (see page 6) “this issue remains on the forefront for our members, with management still often failing to comply with agreements that have been made.”

The Central Counties and Thames Valley member continued: “The company has spent millions on a PM system that has failed and done nothing for productivity. This is money that could have been better spent actually training people so they can achieve their full potential.”

Dan Harris of Great Western branch hit out at a toxic mix of micro-management and poor training . “The expression ‘the blind leading the blind’ is extremely relevant as every day I see new recruits forced to coach new recruits,” he said. “I’ve witnessed first-hand young members break down in front of me because of the way they have been treated.” (See

page 8)Erin Brett of Mersey branch

continued: “It’s become abundantly clear that management style practices within the company are having a profound effect on young workers both mentally and physically. I myself have had plenty of sleepless nights due to this issue.

“An independent report would be a valuable and powerful tool in our battle to support young members within BT who are suffering.”


© H

OW

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Young members won General Conference support for their stance on training and performance management in BT before industrial deliberations even began

Youth officers call for Royal Mail release timeOur union’s young members notched up a notable victory in Postal Conference, when they persuaded delegates to overturn an Executive recommendation on release time for branch youth officers.

The motion had asked the postal leadership to seek to negotiate a formal release arrangement with Royal Mail, to allocate a specific amount of working time each week to youth officers to deal with branch responsibilities.

An agreement reached between the leadership of the Telecom and Financial Services (T&FS) constituency of the union and the BT company was cited as a precedent for the deal being sought with Royal Mail.

Speaking for the motion, Ellie Long, a youth officer from Mersey & SW Lancs branch argued that it was unfair that there was an agreement covering youth officers in BT, but not in Royal Mail.

DIFFERING VIEWS“I’m in a merged branch – we’ve got BT members as well as Royal Mail members. And if I were to stand down as branch youth officer, and a BT member took over, they’d get more time to do what I do now.”

Opposing the motion on behalf of the Executive, Steve Jones said that he had spoken in detail with the T&FS deputy general secretary Andy Kerr to understand exactly what agreement

had been reached with BT and he told Conference that it was not as straightforward as those backing the motion were suggesting.

“This is not new release time. It’s not extra release time,” he explained. “It’s a redistribution of existing release time, as a result of an agreed reorganisation of the representative IR structure at the company.”

The terms of the motion were “unrealistic and cannot be achieved,” Steve pointed out, adding that, “if you think the employer is going to agree to this at a time when they’ve told us they want to rip out our area reps from the IR structure, then you’re sadly mistaken.”


I've witnessed first-hand young members break down in front of me because of the way they have been treated DAN HARRIS, GREAT WESTERN BRANCH


EQUALITIES Conference


Rushed pension changes need rethinkWOMENS' PENSIONS INJUSTICE

Fairer transitional state pension arrange-ments are needed for women born on or after April 6, 1951, CWU Conference agreed, amid mounting concern that thousands of women who are now approaching retirement have been given insufficient time to prepare for the upwardly equalised state pension age.

While accepting the principle of men and women receiving their state pension at the same age, delegates committed the union to lobby the Government on behalf of a generation of women who’ve been affected by not just the initial change, but also by subsequent hikes in the state pension age affecting both genders.

Amid fears that poor communication of the changes by the DWP means that thousands of women are still unaware that they won’t qualify for a state pension until years later, speakers warned of a ticking time bomb under which many will face serious financial hardship.

.Full story at www.cwu.org/voice/

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OPPOSITION TO DISABILITY CUTS

Government cuts that have seen more than 17,000 disabled people robbed of allowances for a variety of mobility aids since 2013 are to be forcefully challenged by the CWU.

Annual Conference delegates in Bournemouth unanimously committed the union to campaign for a review of the current points-based system on which funding for mobility aids ranging from walking sticks to electric wheelchairs, scooters and specially adapted cars depends.

Proposing the motion on behalf of the CWU’s Disability Conference, Jonathan Bellshaw of Lincolnshire & South Yorks branch insisted the union had to “champion those who sometimes aren’t able to champion themselves.”

Disability Advisory Committee member Tony Pedel of York & District Amal agreed: “This is about dignity and respect and giving disabled people a

better quality of life,” he insisted. Stressing there was

“something worrying and sick” with a Government that was

prepared to remove mobility aids from the disabled, national equalities officer Linda Roy concluded: “They are robbing people of their independence.”

Mobilising for mobility

Jonathan Bellshaw

Linda Roy



Conference EQUALITIES

Outrage at Chechen gay purge

Abortion Act needs updatingDUAL CONSENT 'DISCRIMINATORY'

The requirement for women to secure the consent of not one but two doctors before having an abortion is out-dated, discriminatory and condescending, CWU Annual Conference has agreed.

Committing the union to lobby all political parties for a change in the 50-year-old law that categorises abortion as the sole medical procedure requiring

double consent, speakers pointed out that the BMA has been demanding just such an amendment since 2007.

“No other medical procedure requires the agreement of two doctors, making abortion law increasingly out of step with the emphasis on patients being in charge of what happens to them,” explained North East branch delegate Jean Sharrocks.

Proposing the motion, which had been forwarded to General Conference by last autumn’s CWU Women’s Conference, Jean pointed out the double consent stipulation had apparently been motivated by a desire to make abortion as “difficult as possible” to obtain.

Morag Rose of Scotland No.5 hit out at the inherent implication that women are simply “a vessel for a foetus”, adding that “choosing an abortion is often the least worst of several bad courses of action” for the women involved,

Vera Kelsey of Wolver-hampton & District Amal concluded: “The law should have no place in determining what should be a private decision by the individual. Men don’t have to have two doctors’ consent for a vasectomy so why should a woman have to jump through hoops to get an abortion?

“The only person who should have the final say is the person who is pregnant.”

Delegates unanimously agreed.

CONDEMNATION OF PERSECUTION

The CWU has sent the strongest possible message of support to victims of brutal homophobic persecution in Chechnya amid rising international concern that a human rights catastrophe is unfolding in the ultra-conservative Russian republic.

Delegates at CWU Annual Conference unanimously supported an emergency motion condemning a state-orchestrated round-up of gay men amid grim accounts of torture in concentration camps and even executions.

Despite official Chechen Government denials of the existence of such camps the republic’s president, Ramzan Kadyrov, is on public record as having sworn to eliminate the country’s gay community.

As terrifying evidence of the unfolding horror continues to emerge - with survivors sharing accounts of savage beatings and being tortured in homemade electric chairs to force them to give up names - the CWU is writing to the Home Secretary asking that gay men from Chechnya fleeing this persecution be given asylum.

Proposing the emergency motion at CWU Conference, Laurie Smith of Greater London Combined hit out at Vladimir Putin’s refusal to question the Chechen Government’s denial of a purge that was initially brought to the world’s attention by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

That newspaper is now being subjected

to Chechen Government demands for it to apologise to the republic for suggesting there are gay people in Chechnya.

As such, the CWU Conference motion has also committed the union to join the list of organisations that are campaigning to defend the freedom of the press to expose homophobic persecution in Russia

and elsewhere - and also to support Amnesty

International’s work against such human rights abuses.

“We’ve got to do something about what’s happening in Chechnya - the world’s got to wake up,” stressed John Monk of North West London branch.

National equalities officer Linda Roy concluded: “I could never have imagined when I took up this job that I’d be seeing reports of concentration camps being used to imprison gay men in Chechnya in this, the 21st Century. It’s truly shocking - and we cannot stand by and do nothing.”


Terrifying evidence of the horror continues to emerge - with survivors sharing accounts of savage beatings and torture in homemade electric chairs...

President Kadyrov stands accused of orchestrating

the current brutality



FEATURE General Election 2017

Matt Kerr and Hugh Gaffney are our Scottish contenders, aiming to top the poll in Glasgow South West and

Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill respectively.

Matt tells The Voice that he is fighting a “relentlessly positive” campaign as he goes out “chapping doors” in this former shipbuilding heartland.

And he’s particularly enthused by Labour’s detailed plans for rebuilding our manufacturing sector, through the creation of a new, publicly owned British Investment Bank.

“This area used to be dominated by the shipbuilding industry,” he says, adding: “We still have the Govan Shipyard, which employs a couple of thousand workers, but overall it’s far less than the tens of thousands of people who worked in this industry in the past.

“But we still have the skills here, and the docks, and the local university is a leader in various technologies – so substantial industrial investment here could positively transform the area with high-skill manufacturing of wind turbines for example,” he enthuses.

But a new national manufacturing renaissance can only come about if it has the weight of the whole UK economy behind it, he insists, pointing out that “pump-priming these industries on the scale needed is not possible as a smaller economy,” which he sees as a strong

argument against the SNP nationalist agenda of separation.

From a few miles east of Glasgow, Hugh told The Voice that he is noticing disillusionment with the ruling nationalists among voters in his constituency.

“They’re neglecting the domestic agenda, the basic, bread-and-butter issues,” he tells The Voice, and explains

that public-sector cuts have resulted in significant job losses in the area.

“Now I get the feeling local people may be turning against them.

“Independence is not going to come and we all need to move on,” he says, adding that, although he opposed Brexit in last year’s EU vote, that decision is likewise “done and dusted” and now “we’ve got to focus on jobs, public services, the NHS, our economy and these down-to-earth issues.

“I’m getting a great response to this from local people – and I reckon my chances are improving.”

MEANWHILE, IN ENGLAND...South of the border, Chris Webb facesa tough fight to prise Blackpool North & Cleveleys from Conservative control, a battle in which he needs to overturn a 3,340 majority.

This seat was held by Labour between 1997 and 2010, but the boundary changes post-2010 increased the number of Conservative voters, Chris explains.

“We’ve got a strong campaign here and we’re focussing a lot on what the local council has done to protect people

from Conservative and Liberal Democrat austerity measures.

“The council here has kept open all the libraries, leisure facilities and children’s centres. And also, every primary school child has a morning breakfast,” he states proudly, explaining that he focuses on this theme of high-quality Labour governance in his doorstep conversations.

And a few miles down the coast, Julie Gibson is aiming to turn South Ribble, from blue to red, as she chases down incumbent Seema Kennedy’s 5,945 Conservative majority.

There’s “no evidence so far” of the Conservatives’ claim that they’re winning support in the north either here or in Blackpool, our North West contenders tell us, saying: “We haven’t seen much of them out campaigning to be honest.”

Although taking this seat will be “a challenge,” Julie says it's one she's looking forward to and that “the response on the doorstep has been warm and friendly.

“And I’m saying to people that we need Labour in to make sure we get a good post-Brexit arrangement going forward that will protect jobs, and save our NHS, education and public services.” V

Among the thousands of CWU activists out knocking on doors and delivering leaflets in the General Election campaign are four of our members who are standing for election themselves...

Our members aiming for Parliament

Hugh Gaffney

Matt Kerr

Chris Webb and supporters

Julie Gibson


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@CWUNews

A MANIFESTO FOR THE MANY

Being present at the Labour Party manifesto launch, I was proud to see a manifesto that speaks to the needs of our members and to the rest of the people in our country.

THE MANIFESTO PROMISES…■ To restore public ownership of Royal Mail – taking it away fromthe shareholders who are taking dividends at our members’ expense■ To halt the Crown Offi ce closure programme that our membershave fought long and hard for■ To invest in superfast and ultrafast broadband – investment thatwill maintain thousands of our members’ jobs■ To keep the state pension triple lock – that will guarantee fi nancialsecurity for 15,000 of our retired members.

A CHOICE BETWEEN TWO OPPOSITE VISIONSMake no mistake, our union used its link with the Labour Party to deliver for you, where it matters, in your place of work.

But more, much more than that, the manifesto is about standing up for the rest of society, for those condemned to using food banks, for those who want the education of their children not to be dependent on where they live or their family background.

It’s a manifesto for those who need proper social care and a properly funded National Health Service.

In short, this is a manifesto that looks after the many and not the few.

The alternative is fi ve more years of a Tory government, reducing police and fi refi ghter numbers, letting the rich and big business dodge paying their fair share in tax. Five more years of a government that has pushed the National Health Service to the brink of destruction.

We can have fi ve more years of the planned poverty that they call austerity or we can make a change.

We can be the ones who take back control of public services, owned by the public and run for

the public as opposed to squeezing the workers in those companies to work longer and harder for less whilst those at the top get more and more, and dodge paying their taxes on that gain.

Labour’s manifesto shows that there is now a clear alternative on off er to our members and the rest of the people of the UK.

Here is an opportunity to take the power in this country away from an ever-richer elite – an elite who are immune to the everyday problems our members face – and return power to where it belongs, with the people.

There is a simple choice between a party on the side of the people or a party stuck where it always has been – in the back pockets of the rich and global corporations. It’s a choice between a party that will serve the people and rebuild the country, or a party who would carry on dismantling the country to serve themselves.

THIS IS YOUR CHOICE…Choose increasing workers’ rights,Choose no tax increase for workers,Choose to save the NHS,Choose decent state pensions,Choose to end homelessness,Choose people before bankers and big business,Choose free school meals for primary children and an education service for all.

Once in a generation the opportunity comes along to make a diff erence, to make the country change for the better – this General

Election is that opportunity.Choose the many and not the few.Choose Labour on June 8.

Senior deputy general secretary Tony Kearns outlines the reasons why the forthcoming General Election represents a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity' to place the needs of the many over the greed of the few

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CHOOSELABOURON JUNE 8,2017

Here is an opportunity to take power away from an ever-richer elite TONY KEARNS @TKearnsy

May/June 2017 THE VOICE 27@CWUNews @DaveWardGS and on Facebook: The Communications Union

FOR GENERAL ELECTION UPDATES FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:

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Last word FEATURE


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Documents

Vote Labour - Communication Workers Union · R oyal Mail’s latest annual accounts show that, despite tough trading conditions and unfair competition, the hard work and extra effort