Young Workers Kick Off The Save The Post Office Campaign In Style

Young Workers October 19 2018

The CWU’s annual Young Workers Education Event took place over the weekend and attracted over 70 people who participated in workshops, debates and discussions covering a wide variety of subjects.

Tony Kearns, SDGS, welcomed delegates to the event with his usual overview on how the union is doing and highlighting the pressures the union faces.  Always an open and frank discussion that delegates always get a lot from.

CWU General Secretary, Dave Ward and CWU President, Beryl Shepherd lead a discussion on a New Deal for Workers and how we ensure the union is fit for purpose when it comes to the ever-changing world of work.

Four workshops saw delegates taking part in lively discussions relating to young people and addiction, Stand Up to Racism fortuitously taking place on the same day as a counter-demonstration against the DFLA.

The Communications workshops were combined and an impromptu leafleting session outside the local WH Smith and Post Office to “launch” the Save the Post Office following the POLs announcement that 74 Post Offices would be franchised into WH Smith.

The industrial roundtable sessions with Terry Pullinger, DGS(P) and Andy Kerr (DGSTFS) are always popular and gave delegates the change to discuss industrial issues personal to them directly with the chief negotiators.

The weekend culminated with a Mock Conference on the Sunday which always attracts lots of debates that focus on mainly on what they had learned at their workshops the day before.

Scott Hartles, Chair of the National Young Workers Committee said about the weekend: “This weekend was great! On a personal note it wasn’t my first time chairing an event, but I feel like I learned a lot.  In terms of the weekend as a whole; I want to thank everyone that attended. It was great to see so many young and enthusiastic people wanting to get involved in the trade union movement and make a difference.  As always it was great to have sessions with all the senior officers of the union.  It was an amazing weekend and I would urge those who attended to stay involved in the union”.

Dave Ward, General Secretary: “The energy, innovation and commitment shown by our Young Workers from across the UK this weekend shows the union is in good hands both now and in the future. From debating policies to getting out in the streets to support our campaign to Save the Post Office, the weekend was a great example of where we want to take the Young Workers Section of the CWU. The challenge for the whole union now is to support our younger reps and members more than ever and the challenger for our younger members is to drive the change you want to see.”

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