Nationally Agreed Guidelines & Supporting Materials for the use of Mini Yorks within 7.5 tonne and above Vehicles

In 2014 both the Indoor and Outdoor Department were presented with a proposal to include the use of Mini Yorks within the current operation and use on 7.5 tonne vehicles, primarily at Collection Hubs during Under the Roof operations and as such requested that they could be transported to the receiving Mail Centre as part of the despatch of mails.

It would be fair to say neither department fully understood the rationale for using Mini Yorks as potentially you decrease the amount of mail a vehicle can transport, however leaving that concern to one side we have made it clear throughout the discussions that the relevant safety concerns would need to be resolved before any use would be allowed.

As such both departments established a Joint Working Group to ensure that all of the relevant safety aspects had been considered as part of the proposed changes.

Following months of discussions around their use being safe and that all considerations around vehicle load plans and weight constraints had been factored in, the supporting materials were finally agreed with Royal Mail for their use within the operation.

Due to the voluminosity of the supporting material the guidelines have been placed onto the CWU website and access can be obtained through the link below.

 http://www.cwu.org/information-on-the-use-of-mini-yorks.html

In addition all of the supporting material can be obtained through the Royal Mail safety library which Area Safety Representatives will have access to, or through Royal Mail Safety Managers who have been informed that they should provide the materials upon request.

The materials show the respective load plans to be used when Mini Yorks are to be transported and the relevant straps to be used in the correct positions etc. Both departments wish to place on record their thanks to ASRs Tony Hayes, Paul Arandall, Steve Wyatt and Karl Maginn, who have been working on the process and materials for the departments.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 540/600

Email address: hnutley@cwu.org

Any enquiries to Terry Pullinger’s Office, quoting reference 714.14

Email address: dwyatt@cwu.org

Yours sincerely Yours sincerely

       

Mark Baulch Terry Pullinger

A/Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Election of National Representative Positions – 2015 

• CWU Youth Committee (Vacant Positions)

​

• Midlands Regions

• Scotland Region

• Wales & the Marches Regions

 

The NEC has agreed the election arrangements for the filling of the above National positions. Accordingly please find enclosed the regulations and nomination forms.

 

The Timetable is as follows:

 

Nominations open ​29 June 2015

Nominations close ​10 July 2015 (14:00)

Despatch ballot papers ​14 July 2015

Ballot closes ​31 July 2015 (14:00)

 

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237 or email address sdgs@cwu.org.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

Joint Statement Between Royal Mail And The CWU Covering The Customer Presentation Strategy – Deployment Of Multi Mode Feeders To Mail Centres With TOP2000
 Presentation Strategy – Large Letter Projects 

Joint Statement Between Royal Mail And The CWU Covering The Customer Presentation Strategy – Deployment Of Multi Mode Feeders To Mail Centres With TOP2000

 

Branches and representatives were advised in LTB 050/15 issued in January, that a joint trial had taken place at Home Counties North Mail Centre in relation to a possible upgrade to the existing TOP2000 throughout the Mail Centre network. The first element of this upgrade was the deployment of the Dynamic Tray Allocation (DTA) which was covered by a Joint Statement attached to the aforementioned LTB.

 

LTB 050/15 also advised that trial activity was continuing in respect of the Improved Feeder (MMF) and that this element should therefore not be deployed until confirmed by the department that its use had been agreed.

 

The department can now report that the Improved Feeder (MMF) element of the project has been successfully completed and following full joint evaluation it has been agreed as suitable for deployment and endorsed by the Postal Executive at its meeting of the 23rd June 2015. Attached for your information is the Joint Statement that has been agreed to cover the deployment of this software in TOP2000 Mail Centres.

 

I believe that the content of the attached Joint Statement is self-explanatory. However, Branches and representatives are asked to note that the upgrade activity may necessitate that the TOP2000 machine is taken out of service during the installation of the update for a period of up to 10 days, during which time there may be a requirement for the use of temporary diversions as part of the operational arrangements.  

 

It was against this backdrop that Disruption Planning Principles (Annex A of the attached Joint Statement) has been agreed to ensure that any temporary diversions in relation to this upgrade activity, where agreed, are developed and deployed jointly with the full involvement of local CWU and the principles of the IR Framework being applied. It should also be noted the diversion arrangements are specific to traffic that would normally have been processed through the TOP2000 machine in line with your local workplan.

 

 

 

 

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. 712.05

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE CUSTOMER PRESENTATION STRATEGY – DEPLOYMENT OF MULTI MODE FEEDERS TO MAIL CENTRES WITH TOP2000

 

 

Background

 

The Agenda for Growth Agreement commits Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union to build on the shared vision of modernisation contained in the Business Transformation Agreement and work together in developing and implementing new business strategies. This commitment is the key enabler for Royal Mail and the Union to engage and develop mutual interest solutions that will aid/improve efficiency within the operation while responding to the needs of CWU represented grades.

 

In keeping with the National Generic Trial/Deployment Frameworks both parties have agreed to jointly identify potential ways and automated handling solutions to improve the flow of mail through Mail Centres from both a Health and Safety and operational aspect.  

 

Key components of the joint vision and agenda going forward include improving the function and operational capacity of the existing automation estate to support the increase in and protection of large letter volumes and to introduce changes that enable future product innovation to meet customer expectations. One such initiative is to develop improvements to the existing TOP2000 estate that will enable Royal Mail to automate unwrapped and plastic wrapped addressed items.

 

 

Introduction/Scope

 

It was jointly agreed to develop and test improvements to the TOP2000 FSM located at Home Counties North Mail Centre (HCNMC) that were designed to improve the flow of large letter traffic. This was extended to Preston and Jubilee Mail Centres to meet technical test requirements. The trial was conducted in line with the terms of the National Generic Trial Framework Agreement.

 

The overall aim of the trial was to test defined improvements to the TOP2000 through Improved Feeder (MMF) in a live operational Mail Centre environment.

 

The trial has now been reviewed and approved by Royal Mail and the CWU as ready for implementation.  

 

 

Operational Process

 

The Multi Mode Feeder upgrade on the TOP2000 enables the efficient and consistent processing of plastic wrapped, open, paper and mixed large letters mail, sorted into trays.

 

This change affects 26 Mail Centres with TOP2000 technology. The Proof of Concept machine at North West Midlands Mail Centre and HWDC are not within scope for the deployment. Annex A sets out the deployment schedule by Mail Centre.

 

There are no changes to the nationally agreed minimum TOP2000 staffing levels associated with the deployment of Multi Mode Feeder. Workload associated with the feeder improvement will need to be reviewed locally.

 

There is no change to the existing Standard Operating Procedure or Safe System of Work associated with this machine hardware change.

 

 

Deployment

 

There will be effective meaningful consultation between local management, CWU representatives and employees/members on the changes to be deployed. The introduction of any revised duty/attendance arrangements will be negotiated at local level in line with the IR Framework.

 

Training will be provided in the form of WTLL (Work Time Listening and Learning) created in conjunction with the RM Training and Development team along with on the machine coaching and relevant technical training for engineers provided by the supplier, cascaded across the Mail Centres by the Engineering Performance Managers and subsequently supported by Workplace Coaches. A comprehensive training plan has been created to ensure all operators and engineers are trained and that a training record is completed.

 

The deployment schedule will be managed nationally with Solystic. TOP2000s may be out of service for up to 9 full days during installation. It is acknowledged that operational arrangements may need to be realigned to accommodate any down time due to the machine upgrade being undertaken, which may include the temporary use of diversions, all operational arrangements will be developed and deployed jointly in line with the principles of the IR Framework.

 

In the event that diversions are required (in line with annex B) operational disruption plans will be developed at local level in line with the key principles at Annex B to ensure the plan minimises costs, there is no adverse effect on quality of service and earnings are not affected.  

 

The deployment schedule will be split into two phases. Phase 1 will be to all FAP2 Mail Centres and Phase 2 will be to FAP1 Mail Centres excluding North West Midlands Mail Centre and HWDC.

 

The deployment schedule will ensure local discussion prior to implementation and will take into account/focus on all possible concerns, risks or difficulties associated with this project. This will ensure any unforeseen employee concerns are also resolved as quickly as possible. Local parties will also meet regularly to monitor and review deployment arrangements. Any issues that are unable to be resolved locally will be progressed via the IR Framework Agreement.

CWU representatives shall be given appropriate release to facilitate this and enable them to consult with members on the proposed change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any questions of interpretation, implementation, or application of this Joint Statement shall be referred to the respective Headquarters for resolution.

 

 

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

CWU

Francis Williams

Head of Parcels Design

Royal Mail

 

 

Date: 26 June 2015

 

Annex A

 

Multi Mode Feeder Deployment Schedule

 

 
Note: The above schedule may be subject to amendment due to supplier (Solystic) requirements. Any changes to the anticipated schedule will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.

 

 

Annex B

 

Multi Mode Feeder Disruption Planning Principles

 

The aim of the mutual interest ‘avoiding disruption’ plan is to ensure realistic operational costs consistent with, protecting quality of service and maintain workplan to delivery units in the catchment area without impact on duty arrangements and earnings in the affected Mail Centre. It will be required to jointly review the agreed local arrangements during the upgrade period.

 

The maximum upgrade period will be 10 full calendar days. However, all diversions where they have been required will cease and traffic will revert to being processed at the parent Mail Centre as soon as the upgrade has been completed if this is earlier.

 

During the upgrade period in the event that additional adhoc resource will be required to support the operation, including the use of agency/casual workers, CWU graded staff will be given the first option to undertake these commitments in line with local resourcing principles.

 

To be clear these arrangements are specific to the traffic that would normally been processed through the TOP2000 in line with the local workplan.

 

 

Joint Statement Between Royal Mail And The CWU Covering Tracked 48 High Volume Extended Collection Later Acceptance Times (LATS) For Regional Distribution Centres (RDCS) 

Branches and representatives will be aware that Royal Mail and the CWU are working together in order to develop mutual interest solutions and factor into them opportunities to deliver on the core commitments contained in the Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Terms Success Agreement.

 

That agreement recognised the need for a greater focus on growth via introducing enhanced customer offerings on current product range, creating growth through better utilisation of our existing pipeline and exploring more radical solutions. The Joint Statement attached to this LTB is consistent with that commitment and provides an operational change which proactively responds to online shopping trends and the clear demand for customers to have later access into our RDC network for high volume Tracked 48 product posters.

 

This positive development will enable Royal Mail to compete for more of this business and in doing so it is hoped to build and retain traffic volumes that might have otherwise been lost to other competitors.

 

Against that backdrop a Joint Statement covering the introduction of Late Acceptance Times (LATs) into RDC’s, for both existing and potentially Royal Mail Tracked 48 customers, has been agreed and is attached for your information.

 

This new service will enable the RM Tracked 48 customers to benefit from a collection up to 23.59 Monday to Friday, so allowing them to process orders later into the day and via the existing Royal Mail network achieve delivery of items to their consumers within the Tracked 48 service window times.  

 

Operational arrangements will be determined by the success of this initiative. However it is anticipated that initially and for the most part, current arrangements will accommodate this change and if adjustments are required then discussions should be conducted in line with the IR Framework.

 

I am sure that Branches and representatives will agree that this product offering is a step in the right direction in enabling Royal Mail to respond to the competitive challenge and grow traffic in our network. In addition I believe our members and in particular those working in the RDC network, will be pleased to see this new product offering which enhances the utilisation of the current RDC network.

 

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: 709.02

Yours sincerely

 

 

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

 
COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION

URGENT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS

 Facebook: Dave Ward CWU @DaveWardGS

 

 JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING TRACKED 48 HIGH VOLUME EXTENDED COLLECTION LATs FOR RDCs

 

 

Background

 

Royal Mail (RM) and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are working together in developing key business policies, mutual interest solutions and a new culture, all of which are at the core of the commitments in the Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long-Term Success Agreement.

 

Both parties recognise that creating the right joint working environment is key to the success of the business and the commitment to provide employment security in all operational functions of the business.

 

Both parties recognise the pressures of the increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving environment and are committed to the strategic objective of creating and developing an agenda for traffic, product and revenue retention & growth, as a positive alternative to simply managing decline across the RM operational network and defining a tangible competitive response.

 

 

Introduction

 

Parcels competition continues to increase with competitors expanding their networks and delivering enhanced customer services. Royal Mail is responding to the market challenges through a number of initiatives designed to defend and grow revenue & traffic, and to extend Royal Mail service capabilities.

 

Online retail is increasingly becoming 24/7 with shoppers ordering later into the evening. Retailers are now picking and packing their orders later into the evening in order to improve delivered service times. Therefore we are introducing an improved collection option for Royal Mail Tracked 48 high volume retailers, which will allow our customers to process orders later into the day and get the item to the consumer faster.

 

We are introducing these changes so that we can compete more effectively with competitors who are already offering this facility. These changes will enable Royal Mail to compete for business we would otherwise not have had access to, additionally we can also retain volumes that might otherwise go to our competitors. This is good for our company and our people.

 

 

What Are Changing  

 

Against that backdrop we are improving our weekend collections and distribution for high volume Tracked 48 customers accessing a Regional Distribution Centre.

 

To continue offering customers greater choice and flexibility we are launching further improved collections times for Royal Mail Tracked 48 customers. These customers can benefit from a collection until 23.59 Monday to Friday.

 

Exceptions for a 23:59 customer departure time are as follows: Areas served by Aberdeen and Inverness MC’s must have a latest arrival into the MC by 21:00 and Truro MC Acceptance time at 00:00.

 

 

When Are We Changing

 

Currently the sales teams are being briefed and customers will be able to access this enhancement to collection from June 2015.

 

 

Operational Impact

 

This enhancement to customer collections may have an impact on RDC’s from High Volume Customers and collection services which will depend on the customer take up.

 

The introduction of any revised duty/attendance arrangements will be negotiated at local level in line with the IR Framework to meet Customer collection times.

 

 

Involvement

 

Timely engagement will take place between local managers and CWU IR representatives in regard to the process for taking on new customers and appropriate Union release time will be provided for the CWU representatives to ensure meaningful involvement.

 

Any questions of interpretation, implementation, or application of this Joint Statement shall be referred to the respective Headquarters for resolution.

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

CWU

Francis Williams

Head of Parcels Design

Royal Mail

 

 

Date: ​25th June 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving Licence Checks – Removal of Paper Licence – Interim Arrangements (Except Northern Ireland) 

Branches will be aware that from the 8th June 2015, the paper counterpart to the Photocard driving licence is longer valid. From this date, the counterpart will no longer have any legal status though Branches should note that the paper driving licence issued before the Photocard was introduced in 1998 will remain valid and should not be destroyed.  

 

Agreed existing arrangements for initial or six monthly licence checks for all staff required to drive as part of their duties entailed the presentation and review of the paper counterpart. This existing practice is now no longer valid and the Postal Department has been attempting to conclude arrangements with the business on a revised electronic process for the checking of licences, which maintains and complies with legal obligations while ensuring that the process maintains existing standards.  

 

Without using the electronic licence checking service it would be impossible to check the details of a driving licence. New endorsements/penalty points will only be recorded electronically, and will not be printed or written on either the Photocard licence or paper driving licence. Due to negotiations with third party suppliers the business has as yet been unable to conclude a proposal on a new process.

 

Against this backdrop, the business has shared with the union an interim arrangement to be deployed for the checking of licences. This process has taken effect from the 8th June 2015 and will be used to check licences of all agency staff and internal staff taking up driving duties.  

 

All new licence checks – including agency drivers – must be done online with the driver’s consent. The driver will be required to provide a mandate code, and the last eight characters of their driving licence number. The code should be used within 72 hours.

 

If the driver has access to a PC at the unit, the attachment outlines the process to be followed.

 

The details of the interim arrangements are attached to this LTB and Branches are asked to ensure that they are bought to the attention of all postal members who perform driving duties.

 

It is anticipated that a long term solutions will be in place prior to the next scheduled 6 monthly licence check in October.

 

The interim arrangements will also apply to driving licence checks for Parcelforce Worldwide drivers.

 

 

 

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to:

 

For Deliveries: Bob Gibson, Assistant Secretary, e-mail hnutley@cwu.org or mstewart@cwu.org, quoting reference: 300.02

 

or

 

For Network, Area Distribution & Parcelforce: Terry Pullinger, Assistant Secretary, e-mail: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number: 202.09

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terry Pullinger​Mark Baulch​

Assistant Secretary ​Acting Assistant Secretary

THE FUTURE OF THE POSTAL INDUSTRY – WESTMINSTER EVENT 9TH JULY 2015 

Further to LTB 402/15 we write to give additional information about the plans for the Westminster event on 9th July. The briefing will be held in two sections with the opening part of the day being a Rally with key speakers in attendance followed by a CWU session on the campaign and various activities will then be undertaken. Given we will be freshening up our approach; there will not be any actual lobby of your MPs taking place as part of this particular event.

 

We have secured some excellent, high profile speakers for the rally and will be releasing a full list over the coming days. Amongst those confirmed so far are:

 

• Owen Jones – Guardian columnist and political commentator

• Kevin Maguire – Daily Mirror columnist and political commentator

• Matt Wrack – General Secretary of the FBU

 

Given the profile of this event and the need to launch our campaign in the most effective and engaging way possible we are calling for CWU Branches from every section of the Union to bring as many delegates as possible. Delegations should also include your senior IR representatives. With a view to making the hall as visually impressive as possible all Branches are requested to bring their Branch banners to the event.

 

The details of the event are again set out below.

 

DATE: THURSDAY 9TH JULY 2015    

VENUE: THE LIBRARY, CENTRAL HALL

ADDRESS: STOREY’S GATE, WESTMINSTER SW1H 9NH

VENUE LINK: http://www.c-h-w.com/

TIME: 11.00 – 15.00 – REFRESHMENTS FROM 10.30AM

 

We want to see as many of you there as possible and to participate fully you should make arrangements to be there for the duration of the event. A full agenda will issued nearer the time but if there are any enquiries about the content of this LTB these should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office.

 

Yours sincerely

​​​​

Dave Ward ​​​​​Tony Kearns ​​

General Secretary ​​​​Senior Deputy General Secretary

Women’s Officers One Day Event 

The Department is pleased to advise that our first Women’s Officers event will be held on:

 

Date: Wednesday 9th September 2015

Venue: CWU HQ, Conference Rooms 2&3

Time: 11 am – 4 pm

 

This event is only open to Women’s Officers.  

 

It will be an opportunity to meet members of the Women’s Advisory Committee and to gain some valuable guidance to maximise work around the Women’s Officers role. Equally as important, some exercises will be set up to allow a two-way process, so that we can establish how Women’s Officers carry out the role and also they can exchange view/ideas.

 

Please RSVP with the names of Women’s Officers attending to dgittens@cwu.org​

 

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be referred to the Equal Opportunities Department.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Linda Roy​

National Equality Officer​

 

Newly Elected BAME Officers – Rescheduled One Day Event 

Further to LTB 177/2015, the Equal Opportunities Department have now rescheduled the above event and the new details are as follows:

 

Date: Tuesday 8th September 2015

Venue: CWU HQ, Conference Rooms 2&3

Time: 11 am – 4 pm

 

This event is only open to newly elected BAME Officers.  

 

It will be an opportunity to meet members of the Race Advisory Committee and to gain some valuable guidance to maximise work around this role. Equally as important, some exercises will be set up to allow a two-way process, so that we can establish how our BAME Officers see the role working.

 

Please RSVP with the names of BAME Officers attending to dgittens@cwu.org​

 

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be referred to the Equal Opportunities Department.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Linda Roy​

National Equality Officer​

 

Processing Report

 

 

Strategic Involvement (SI) Meeting

A report of this weeks SI meeting is on display on the union board and the Together for Growth board outside the Operation Support room. To give a more in depth report on some of the subjects discussed that would be of interest to our members there was a lengthy discussion around special leave in particular the recent issues that have been highlighted by reps. The responsibility of the authorisation process of special leave was changed from the book room manager to the shift managers. Now the process is going back to how it was with the book room manager dealing with special leave requests. The special leave requests granted by shift managers in April which were brought to our attention will now stand as they were. Ongoing and any future special leave applications including doctors and hospital appointments should be taken on there own merits and managed more efficiently in line with the special leave policy document, which means more detail of circumstances will be required with the application forms. All special leave ‘A’ requests will need to be authorised by the MCM.

On safety again it was noted that some employees do not follow the safe systems of work (SSOW) when handling Yorks. Managers should challenge any employee not following the SSOW for the handling of Yorks.

Para: Ongoing.

 

Processing Duty Structure

The closing date for the return of the preference exercise forms the CWU asked for the members of staff whose current duties have been proposed to be changed by the business in the duty review was Wednesday. We are now gathering the data to form part of our counter duty proposals to present back to the business.

Processing is now responsible for the funding of the distribution hall work which includes the loading and unloading of trailers and housekeeping. It is important that the duty structure includes the appropriate hours at the right times needed for the hall to support the processing operation.

It is hoped that the counter proposals will be ready by the end of next week for the business to look at in preparation for the processing reps meeting scheduled for the 6^th July.

The plan is for negotiations to go well around the proposals and the set to be agreed by the middle of July, meaning resourcing against the set can commence in preparation for implementation for the middle of August just in time for the autumn pressure period.

It will always be the policy of the CWU to negotiate and agree a duty set that has the minimum amount of disruption to our members whilst ensuring a robust duty structure that will secure the future of the mail centre.

Para: Ongoing

 

Reconciling GP, fit to work OHS advice

It was brought to our attention that the business has produced a new policy document: Reconciling GP, fit to work OHS advice.

Management have interpreted the advice given in the policy to mean that an OHS consultant can phone a member of staff on sick leave covered by a GP’s sick note, if they think they should be fit for work and override a GP’s diagnosis. A cutting from the policy highlighted in red below clearly contradicts the cutting taken from the Joint RM/CWU National Attendance Procedure Agreement highlighted in maroon below.

Where the manager receives a report from the Fit for Work service and the advice differs from that provided by OHS, the OHS report and advice should take precedence; because this is the preferred route for obtaining occupational health advice for Royal Mail Group and OHS provide tailored advice for Royal Mail Group due to their knowledge of the business.

 

What happens when Occupational Health Service and the GP differ on fitness to attend work?

On occasion, the GP opinion regarding fitness to work may differ from that of the Occupational Health Service. In the vast majority of instances this can be resolved by the employee talking further with their GP, who may not be aware of the opportunity to modify the employee’s role. If this does not resolve the situation the Occupational Health practitioner should contact the GP to ensure that such opportunities can be explored. If this does not resolve the issue for further advice, please contact the HR Advice Centre.

The branch made CWU HQ aware of this and asked the question if the new policy document supersedes the attendance procedure. The response was NO! and CWU HQ has written to the business asking them to withdraw their policy and to adhere to the National Attendance Procedure Guidelines.

Local management have been made aware of this.

Para: To be noted.

 

Annual Leave Caps

Rumours have been going around saying the Production Control Manager has put a cap on all leave requests through the summer. This is not the case. Each shift’s annual leave cap is divided into the work areas, however there is obviously only a certain amount of total staff allowed off in any one week per shift.

The CWU negotiated in 2.3 of the 2015/16 annual leave agreement all staff to be guaranteed their first two weeks choice and leave caps will be imposed after that. In some weeks, in order to guarantee the first two weeks choice it meant going over the leave caps in certain work areas and reaching the shift ceiling cap of staff allowed off. It may be the case that certain work area caps have not been breached but overall the shift cap has. These weeks are predominately the most popular weeks i.e. school holidays. This is why it is important for staff to return their annual leave requests at the initial process and prioritise their first two weeks choice.

Para: To be noted.

 

EJ Orviss

Area Processing Representative

Area.processing@cwue5.org

Date 18^th June 2015

Election of: 

• Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

 

• Postal Executive Representatives (Postal Grades)

 

 

Further to LTB 380/15 dated 11th June 2015.

 

1.​DESPATCH OF BALLOT PAPERS

 

This LTB is to advise Branches that we have received confirmation from ERS that the ballot papers for the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) and Postal Executive (Postal Grades) ballots were handed over to Royal Mail today (23rd June 2015).

 

I would also take this opportunity to advise that the method of posting is Royal Mail Economy.

 

This information is being provided to assist those Branches that are intending to send out a corresponding mailing to their members.

 

2.​CWU ELECTION MEMBERS OBSERVERS

 

Branches will be aware that the regulations for the above elections contain the following statement:

 

“Returned ballot papers will remain unopened in their envelopes until the close of ballot. Two lay CWU members (who do not hold any elected or appointed position) will be selected as observers. The Observers together with the Senior Deputy General Secretary will attend the start of the count of the ballot papers. Their sole responsibility will be to ensure that the envelopes are unopened prior to the commencement of the count, after which the Scrutineer shall arrange to count the number of valid votes cast for each candidate. The Scrutineer will declare the results of the election as soon as possible after the completion of the count.” 

 

The purpose of this LTB is to seek your branch assistance in publicising the information detailed below to all members of your branch.  

 

CWU ELECTION MEMBERS OBSERVER – 2015

 

The CWU is looking for two lay members of the union (who do not hold an elected or appointed position) to be Members Observers at the election count for the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) and Postal Executive (Postal Grades) elections. The count will take place at offices of ERS, London on 14th July 2015.

 

Interested? The two observers will receive 2 paid days off work, subsistence and travel expenses and a fee of £100 after tax. If you would like to put your name forward then please contact Tony Kearns, Senior Deputy General Secretary, CWU, 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1RX by no later than 3rd July 2015 or by email to sdgs@cwu.org.

 

Any enquiries regarding the above should be directed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department for the attention of Peter Metcalfe.

Yours sincerely

Tony Kearns 

Senior Deputy General Secretary