News

CWU Ireland Launches its Campaign Website – protectyourpost.ie

The CWU Ireland General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick (pictured above) has launched a national campaign "Protect Your Post" to highlight the serious issues that are facing the Irish postal market with the impending liberalisation of the market. The campaign is designed to work across a number of fronts by providing members with an information booklet, a media pack to use when talking to political representatives and a dedicated campaign website.



Protectyourpost.ie contains a raft of information on the challenges that liberalisation brings to the postal market but most importantly it features an useful tool that allows members of the public as well as members of the union to send a message that is pre-written to their local elected representatives.



By simply clicking on the appropriate constituency and following a couple of easy steps an individual can send a message to all of their representatives in one go. This has been designed to involve as many people as possible in the campaign – particularly those who will not be familiar with the issues we are facing but who still want to take action to protect their post.



The website is designed to work in conjunction with the Protect Your Post booklet which provides members with a pre paid postcard that will be sent to the Minister for Communications. In addition the CWU Facebook presence also features a campaign page that directs visitors to the website.



Website launched with a Postal Liberalisation Seminar

The CWU Ireland organised a Seminar for all Postal Branch Secretaries. The Seminar was arranged on the basis that the Union is launching a national campaign to highlight the concerns we have in relation to the liberalisation of the postal market. As part of this



The Seminar was designed to help our Branch Secretaries and postal representatives prepare for the unions national campaign where all CWU members will be asked to lobby their local Councillors and TDs on the issues arising from the liberalisation process. Following an introduction from General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick, Ian McArdle (Head of Regulatory Affairs) briefed those present on the discussions and presentation given by the Union at the Joint Oireachtas Committee.



The Union has designed its Protect Your Post booklet to help all members to better understand the implications of postal liberalisation and it includes an easy-to-read Executive Summary of the Union’s position on these matters, as well as a section dedicated to explaining the jargon involved in discussing liberalisation. The booklet also includes a section describing how liberalisation will affect everybody, from an ordinary member of the public, right through to postal workers at all levels. In addition, there are descriptions of how liberalisation has affected other countries as well as answers to frequently asked questions. Included in the booklet are two postcards that can be torn out and sent to the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan via the CWU Head Office.



CWU Delegation meets Joint Oireachtas Committee to discuss Postal Liberalisation

A delegation of the CWU, comprised of General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick, Postal/Courier National Officers Seán McDonagh and Joe Guinan, Vice-President Cormac O’Dalaigh, and Head of Regulatory Affairs Ian McArdle, met with the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Communications to discuss the Union’s concerns regarding the liberalisation of the postal market and the soon-to-be-published Postal Services Bill.



The Delegation began by taking the Committee members through a comprehensive presentation on a number of key areas, including:



· The social and economic value of the postal market

· Postage costs

· Liberalisation – key concerns

o Viability of USO in a liberalised market

o Job losses and social dumping

o Downstream access

o Cherry-picking

The delegation reminded the Committee that An Post receives no State support or taxpayer handouts and that it funds its entire operation based on the price of the stamp.