‘Four Pillars spirit stronger than ever’ at Postal Conference

Postal
Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s rock classic “You ain’t seen nothing yet” blared out across the hall as our DGSP Terry Pullinger brought CWU Postal Conference 2019 to a close in Bournemouth this afternoon.

Terry had just used the iconic hook of the song – a 1974 hit for the Canadian quartet and revived by 1990s mock DJs Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse – to warn Royal Mail bosses not to pick a fight with the union.

And his speech itself featured a bit of ‘Smash’ and ‘Nicey’ – blunt and robust towards company management, but warm and fulsome in praise of CWU reps, delegates and leaders.

“People of great character are attracted to our union. People of intelligence, depth, belief and compassion – and that’s what our trade union is all about,” he told delegates.

“And this conference, and the recent unit reps tour, have proven to me that the fight, the passion and the spirit of the Four Pillars is stronger than ever.”

A striking feature this week has been the higher than usual numbers of new delegates – the ‘first timers’ photocall this afternoon virtually filled the stage – and Terry said that he had been “so impressed” by the quality of the contributions from them, as well as the overall high level of debate from everyone.
“In this trade union, we speak our minds, we disagree, but when we’ve decided collectively, we stand together as one,” he continued, adding that the union had now made its collective decision and that “we now stand ready.”

Royal Mail management “now have a choice” – whether to engage positively
with the union and work together towards the full implementation of the national agreement, or whether to choose the path of confrontation.

But he warned company bosses that, “if you thought we were strong in the Four Pillars campaign, look in eyes of our reps now and you ain’t seen nothing yet.”