no vote in post office ballot
WORKERS, OCTOBER 2003 ISSUE
Post Office workers voted by the narrow margin of less than 1% against taking national action over pay on a high turnout. Meanwhile, London postal workers did vote convincingly to take action over the London Weighting allowance.
Communication Workers Union (CWU) leaders have voiced disappointment at the national result, which was widely tipped to be a 'yes' vote, even by employers, who threatened huge job losses if private firms moved in during a strike. Union leaders will be considering whether it was this threat that dissuaded some members, or whether there were other reasons. On a positive note, given that few unions are taking or considering taking national action, the yes vote was in fact very high. But the difficulties experienced by the firefighters, despite a high level of public support, and the possibility of a prolonged dispute may have had members thinking twice.
The CWU faces huge challenges in the near future, with 30,000 jobs under threat. In these hostile times creative strategies will undoubtedly be needed over the coming months, but with the key objectives of defending the union and protecting the public postal service.
· The CWU is campaigning to protect Scottish post offices, over 40% of which are under threat of closure. The introduction of direct payments and the phased abolition of pension books could force hundreds more to shut.
The CWU's campaign, "Banking on You", aims to reassure the public that they can still use Post Offices to collect pensions and benefits. The union is also going to put pressure on three groups of high street banks, Halifax and the Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland/Nat West, and HSBC, which are refusing to let their customers use post offices for banking transactions.
By 2005 all benefits and pension recipients will have to withdraw their money from a current account, basic bank account or Post Office Card Account (POCA). But many people are finding the application process for POCAs very complicated. Andy Furey, a CWU national officer, says, "There are more hurdles to jump in the application process than in the Olympic Games. Thousands of elderly people in Scotland don't have bank accounts and want to carry on using their local post office. It is a travesty the government has put so many obstacles in the way of that and the consequences for jobs and services could be disastrous."