Tigs
I'm willing to help but I'm not sure where to start. A few things to consider, I suggest are:
1. By design it has to be an improvement for British Forces as a whole, not a radical thorn in the side of the Govt. By that I mean it can't just be an arbitrary 'phone a moan' everytime Bloggs gets fizzed for being late for work. There would have to be, for want of a better word, a code of conduct. Bloggs, on the one hand, would get his moans heard at senior level (subject to substantiation), but also the Ministry would get to hear Bloggs' moans before the press (or, dare I say it Pprune), which is in the interests of the Service.
2. Confidentiality is a must - both for Bloggs with the snag and AVM Bloggs who wants to know the 'state of the service'.
Contradicting myself slightly, you then have to consider if strike action is off-limits, what are the teeth of the organisation ?
Perhaps, just perhaps, AVM Bloggs is kept unaware of the mood on the shop floor and WOULD do something tangible if only he/she knew. Hhmm, am I dreaming ?
3. I suggest it is paramount that the ethos of any military 'federation' be to complement the Service and not hinder it when it comes to operations. With the right balance it can do just that and solve all kinds of comms problems that currently exist. It's no good saying the Forces are working to rule because there's no toilet roll in Basra, but the hierarchy could at least listen to concerns first - perhaps even act - while any Fed Mag could also pass comment on existing policies and so on. Doesn't have to be militant at all, will promote
two-way corporate comms AND could save the Forces millions in internal and external propaganda pamphlets !
The fact that we're discussing it here shows we need SOMETHING, but get it wrong and we'll be meeting Jimmy Hoffa
