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The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is the biggest union for the communications industry in the UK with 300,000 members. It was formed in January 1995 when the Union of Communications Workers joined forces with the National Communications Union.

CWU members work in the Post Office, BT, cable TV, Accenture HR Services, the Alliance and Leicester, and Girobank. We also have a growing membership in the postal and telecoms sectors outside of the Post Office and BT – eg Deutsche Post, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange etc. Our members' expertise includes engineering, computing, clerical, mechanical, driving, retail, financial and manual skills.

According to the CWU’s Statement of Values, we aim to:

• provide first class collective and individual representation for all members;
• achieve security of employment for all members;
• offer individual membership services of the highest quality;
• expand trade union membership throughout the communications industry;
• promote, by industrial and political means, the success of the industries in which our members work;
• campaign against all forms of discrimination;
• further these objectives by promoting the influence of the union throughout the national and international community.

Without doubt, the greatest challenge facing the Union at the present time is the likely reduction in our membership levels with the continuing shrinkage of BT. Whilst we will do all we can to fight against these proposed job cuts, this is not, in itself, a comprehensive solution to the problem. Instead, we must offset this inevitable decline in our membership levels by increasing our recruitment activity, not just in our traditional strongholds (BT and the Post Office) but also in previously non-unionised postal, telecoms, and IT companies right across the communications sector. It is only by organising in both our traditional strongholds and in these new enterprises that we will stave off decline and begin to increase our membership levels once again.

At branch level, we aim to help workers to help themselves by giving them the skills, experience and confidence to organise their own workplace, assisted by our network of reps and branch officers. We believe that this is the most effective route to becoming a modern, successful, integrated union, able to represent its members’ interests at the highest level.

                                                               Lawence C.Huston, Northern Ireland Regional Secretary.