Huge CWU strike vote

Socialist Party members in CWU

Communication Workers Union (CWU) members in Royal Mail have yet again returned another stunning vote for strike action, after six months of struggle involving 18 days of strikes.

During the reballot, required by Tory anti-trade union laws, Royal Mail bosses bombarded the members with propaganda, hoping to break the members’ resolve. But CWU reps held thousands of gate meeting with the members. 82,792 voted in favour of strike action, with only 3,517 voting against, on a 77.3% turnout.

This gave CWU members a huge lift and sent shock waves through Royal Mail senior management.

Workers’ fight is deciding factor

Reps gathered in Manchester to get an update from the senior negotiation team. Dave Ward, CWU general secretary, reported that former Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Sir Brendan Barber had been approached by Royal Mail chair Keith Williams for a confidential meeting. Williams is the former chair of British Airways, and he and Barber negotiated their dispute.

Many CWU members will rightly have concerns about Barber, knighted by Tory prime minister David Cameron, and the role he played as TUC general secretary, including in the sell-out of the 2011 public sector pensions dispute. He has more recently been involved in negotiations over the pensions of London Underground workers.

We have to remind ourselves that it is the tenacious fighting capacity of postal workers and the union that has forced these talks, and our willingness to maintain the action that will be the deciding factor in getting an acceptable resolution.

Dave Ward proposed that we re-enter into negotiations, and that Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson would not be involved in the talks. This is clearly a significant change and could signal that Thompson will be shortly removed as CEO.

The view of the union leadership is that Royal Mail wants a deal, and time should be given to see how the negotiations develop. The mood of members in the briefing was that time must be of a short period, and that the postal executive should consider announcing potential strike dates to add more pressure on the bosses.

It should be remembered that Royal Mail is still pushing ahead with its ‘executive action’, including imposing changes to start times. Also important is the job security agreement, which Royal Mail has recently completely ignored.

Suspended reps

There are now over 300 reps suspended or dismissed, and we urgently need to stop their union-busting tactics. The CWU leadership cannot allow any agreement without dealing with all cases for reps, officials and any members who are under attack.

The CWU must take the lead in calling for all unions, particularly those with a live strike mandate, to coordinate action against employers and their Tory government backers. We also must continue to demand the renationalisation of Royal Mail.

Any agreement must meet the aspirations of members. We must be prepared for further action if required.