15

WORKPLACE PAMPHLET – CREATING OUR FUTURE

DEALING WITH COMPETITION AND GROWTH 

 

The local representative briefings held in February and March of this year focused on the key issues that will shape the future of our members’ jobs and the postal industry, namely how we deal with competition and growth.

 

We received positive feedback from these sessions and a key part of our strategy going forward must now be to engage our members in the workplace on these crucial subjects.  

 

As such, we attach an advanced copy of a workplace pamphlet entitled “Creating Our Future – Dealing with Competition and Growth”, which will be distributed directly to workplaces later this week.  The pamphlet builds on our local representatives’ briefings and sets out the latest developments on competition and growth and explains how the Union intends to deal with these issues. 

 

It is essential that this LTB is immediately circulated to all CWU local representatives so they can engage our members on growth and competition issues and support the distribution of the pamphlet in the workplace.

 

In the coming weeks and months the Union will continue to prioritise competition and growth, including the potential for a session at Annual Conference and a Policy Forum in the near future.

 

Prior to Annual Conference there will be further LTB’s updating Branches on these subjects. Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the DGS (P) Department.

 

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

Deputy General Secretary (P)

CWU WORKPLACE PAMPHLET – CREATING OUR FUTURE

DEALING WITH COMPETITION AND GROWTH 

 

 

 

In the last couple of months we have met all CWU Local Representatives in a series of briefings held across the United Kingdom to talk about the issues that will shape the future of your job and the Postal Industry.  Whilst the Union will always have to deal with day to day issues in the workplace, we also have a responsibility to look at the bigger picture and we believe there are two things that will ultimately shape the future:-

 

 

The purpose of this workplace pamphlet is to explain what’s currently happening, set out how the Union will tackle competition and growth and above all start a fresh process of engaging the workforce in this crucial debate.

Developments on Competition 

 

There have been some very significant developments in recent months.  Before Christmas the Union gave evidence in a Parliamentary Select Committee hearing and in March 2015 the BIS Select Committee published their report into competition in UK Postal Services and the future of the Universal Service.

 

Although we would have wanted the report to go much further, it did make a number of positive points that were in line with the arguments put forward by CWU.  

 

 

 

 

It is essential that all CWU members recognise that the reason put forward by the Regulator not to intervene in direct delivery competition at this stage is because it believes Royal Mail is not doing enough to improve efficiency. 

 

In measuring efficiency the Regulator includes comparisons between Royal Mail’s labour costs and those of its competitors.  The Regulator has also publicly stated that if Royal Mail increases wages above inflation it is making itself less efficient and that our agreement on legal protections preventsRoyal Mail from introducing the same lower cost employment models used by the competitors. 

 

In effect what the Regulator is really saying is that Royal Mail should cut the pay, terms and conditions of CWU members to those of the competitors. This is something we can never ever accept and why we say the Regulator has completely overstepped its remit.

 

Competition – CWU next steps

We will use the publication of the Parliamentary Select Committee Report to launch a new campaign calling for a Judicial Review into the Regulator’s role, alongside new legislation to strengthen the USO, limit direct delivery competition and introduce fair employment standards across the Postal Sector.

The Regulator has no right, in the name of efficiency, to push Royal Mail to enter the race to the bottom on employment standards and we must now turn the spotlight firmly on this faceless organisation asking the question who regulates the Regulator.

 

As part of our campaign we must also push Royal Mail and Politicians to publicly support our call for a judicial review into the Regulator’s role.

In the coming weeks you will hear more about what you can do to support our campaign. Engaging the workforce in this debate is an important part of securing your future and ensuring Royal Mail can continue to set the benchmark on pay, terms and conditions across the Postal sector.

 

Driving forward growth is the key to our future

 

To face the challenges of the future there must be a much greater focus across the company on growth.  Royal Mail needs to take a completely different and more radical approach and the Union must look to the future with open minds and fresh thinking.

 

A major step towards this was a recent two day forum with Royal Mail’s senior management team where we jointly explored a lot of new ideas for new products and services and increased revenue.  We are currently prioritising these and although some of what we have discussed must remain in commercial confidence for the time being, some new concepts have been agreed for development and trialling in local workplaces and you will hear about these soon.

 

In our meetings with our local representatives from around the country we are stressing that the Union must become the conscience of the company on growth and we want our representatives and the workforce to take a pivotal role in driving forward the growth agenda with our own ideas.

 

For Royal Mail to get in front of the market, rather than simply responding to it, it needs to take more risk on backing new ideas with proper investment and we are constantly challenging the company to demonstrate to the workforce that it is placing as much emphasis on growth as it does efficiency.

 

There are some key areas where new thinking will be necessary to build a serious platform for growth:-

 

 

 

 

Micro-management and over-engineering of workload sometimes alienates the workforce and is in itself a barrier to growth.

Developing innovative thinking in all the above areas and encouraging Local Representatives and CWU members to properly engage in the growth debate is essential if we are to deliver sustainable good quality jobs and build a successful future.

Summary

 

In the coming weeks and months the Union’s priorities will be to focus on how we tackle competition and growth and address your workplace issues.  We all know there are external and internal pressures that make this a difficult working environment for everybody. However, despite these pressures we secured one of the best pay deals in the UK over the last three years alongside ground breaking legal employment safeguards that restrict what a privatised Royal Mail can do and give CWU members greater protection than any other group of workers. To continue to protect the interests of our members we now need you to engage with us on the ideas that will create our future. Further communications on these crucial subjects will follow.

 

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

Deputy General Secretary (P)

 

 

All Postal Branches

 

 

 

 

Dear Colleagues

 

Joint Statement – Catering Services

 

Branches and representatives will be aware ofLTB 677/14 which publicised the terms of reference between the CWU and Royal Mail for the Review of Catering Services.  

 

Further to the aforementioned LTB please find attached for your information a Joint Statement which provides an update in regard to both the past and future activity in relation to this initiative. 

 

The department would like to extend our thanks to all those involved for their help and support in the positive activity that has taken place to date.

 

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Terry Pullinger, Assistant Secretary, e-mail: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number 311.02. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joint Statement 

Catering Services

 

You will be aware Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union are working together on a joint review of catering facilities in Royal Mail Group to improve and sustain the long term provision of catering facilities for the employees of Royal Mail Group. We aim to achieve this via an improved offering which provides better value to both the company and customers of catering services consistent with the agreed terms of reference for this review.

 

Eight Focus Group sessions lasting approximately one and half hours each have now taken place, involving eight difference sites, a mixture of staff and a range of shifts.  The Focus Groups were hosted by an independent company called CM Insight and they have now provided Royal Mail and the CWU with a full presentation on their findings.  The information received covered some of the following issues:

 

 

It was evident from the highly engaged and enthusiastic responses from those who participated in the Focus Groups that the catering provision is highly valued by employees. 

 

Following the positive feedback from the Focus Groups Royal Mail have now engaged IPSOS MORI to undertake a survey and it is hoped that a sample of 4,000 staff at randomly chosen sites will participate.  A variety of methods will be employed to encourage participation in the survey including email and tablets being set up in some work places.

 

In addition to the above and following the work undertaken in conjunction with Quadrant as part of the review activity the canteens at Tyneside, Greenford and Southampton Mail Centres will be refurbished and utilised as trial sites.  To make them more user friendly and appealing to customers they will include additional tills to reduce queuing time, comfortable seating areas for large groups, a games area and a TV room.  These ideas were shared locally in December 2014 to allow for feedback at which time possible new menu items were also trialled and discussed.  

 

Against this backdrop the trial sites, while keeping items that are currently popular with you the customer, will also introduce new menus and pricing options to provide alternatives which could include for example more choice on healthy options, different types of bread and fillings, additional vegetarian options, street food, locally sourced homemade foods and themed days.  Each of the trial sites will set up a local canteen committee to monitor the reception of the new menus and consider new items or quick changes where necessary.  These committees will also enable staff based at the sites more input and influence in what they have in their canteens.

 

In the meantime talks continue on all other aspects of the review and further information will be shared with you as it becomes available.

Terry Pullinger​Mumtaz Arif

Assistant Secretary​Director of Workplace

Communication Workers Union​Royal Mail – Group Property

 

Date: 2nd April 2015 

ROYAL MAIL GROUP – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2.8% PAY INCREASE

 

We have received confirmation from the company that the 2.8% pay increase (flowing through to overtime, SA, allowances and London Weighting) will be implemented on the 24th April 2015 for weekly paid staff and on the 30th April for monthly paid.  

 

As explained previously, the delay was due to initial uncertainty over the inflation review clause and the fact that the company had not programmed their payroll systems early enough.

 

I can also confirm that the pay increase is backdated to the 6th April (as per the original agreement) and that all backdated monies will be paid on the same dates set out in the first paragraph.

 

Please ensure the content of this LTB is circulated to all workplaces.  

 

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the DGS (P) Department.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Dave Ward

Deputy General Secretary (P)