The Department of Communications has begun to consider the transposition of the Third Postal Directive into Irish law and as part of that process it opened a consultation process and invited interested parties to make a submission. 

The consultation paper invited respondents to answer a number of questions covering key areas including the Universal Service Obligation, pricing, quality and downstream access.

CWU General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick is due to address over 8,800 delegates at the 66th Biennial National Convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), the largest convention among AFL-CIO unions in the US, which takes place in Boston from 21st to 25th July 2008.

The week-long event at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) will bring together carriers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. The 303,000-member union, founded in 1889, represents active and retired city letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service.

Charlie is the first Donegal man to be elected President of the Union. He started his career in the Post Office in the early seventies when he followed in his father’s footsteps by joining An Post. Initially Charlie worked in Sherriff Street, Dublin for two years before transferring back to Letterkenny where he still works today. Charlie joined the Union in 1976 attending his first conference in Limerick and in 1996 he became a member of the National Executive Council.

Following his appointment to the role of President, a modest Charlie was keen to express that he is very conscious and thankful of the support he has received from the members through the years.

"Lord Mayor, Distinguished Guests, Vice President, Delegates and Friends, it is an honour and a privilege to welcome you all as the President of the CWU to the 4th Biennial Conference of our great Union here in Kilkenny.  I note that your wonderful city will celebrate its 400 Anniversary next year and I hope you won’t mind if we start the celebrations a wee bit early.

We hold this Conference of the Communications Workers Union as part of a worldwide Trade Union movement encompassing millions of members with whom we share the goals of freedom from intimidation, freedom of association and an end to exploitation of all workers.  We do so in a global economy where capital moves at ease and usually at the expense of workers. 

CWU launches “Guidelines for Combating Racism and Promoting Cultural Awareness”.

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