Post: use the ballot!

Submitted by Anon on 13 June, 2009 - 9:35

Postal workers across London recently voted nine-to-one for strike action over jobs and cost savings.

At the postal sector conference of the CWU, on Wednesday 10 June, Dave Ward, union deputy general secretary responsible for the sector, declared that this is “a time of maximum vulnerability for both the government and Royal Mail management”.

Ward’s conclusion was not that CWU should move quickly into industrial action to secure jobs, pay, pensions, and public ownership; he moved a motion offering a three month-moratorium on industrial action in exchange for a similar commitment from the company over executive action.

He described that as “a useful ‘cooling-off’ period, during which both parties can talk seriously over a joint [boss/union]... vision of what modernisation really means and resolution of outstanding industrial issues”.

Ward's speech suggested an intention to use the ballot result as a bargaining chip rather than as an actual mandate for action.

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