Royal Mail Group Financial Results 2015/16 

Royal Mail today published its annual accounts for the year to 31st March 2015. The results show another solid performance over the past 12 months with increases in group revenue profits and productivity despite tough trading conditions, a declining letters market and regulatory pressures.

 

In particular the results reflect the hard work and increased efforts of postal workers who have delivered (like last year) another 2.5% increase in productivity.  

 

However we also need to recognise the underlying trends and the wider regulatory issues we face in the postal market which continue to pose serious challenges for the future of Royal Mail. While the rate of decline in letters has slowed to 3% this year, the business are particularly encouraged by the 3% growth in parcel volumes in the highly competitive parcels market driven by the continued growth in import parcels, new contract wins and a strong performance in Parcelforce Worldwide.

 

Ofcom are due to publish their report into the regulation of Royal Mail in the very near future and the union will continue to press our case for fair competition and a regulatory framework that stops unfair cherry picking by competitors and allows Royal Mail to drive forward investment in growth and innovation.  

 

Attached to this LTB is a press release issued by the CWU earlier today together with a more detailed report prepared by CWU Research which sets out the key headlines from the financial results.

 

Any queries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGSP Department.

 

Yours sincerely,

Ray Ellis​​​​​​

Acting Deputy General Secretary (P)

ROYAL MAIL FULL YEAR RESULTS 2015/16

 

Royal Mail released its full year financial results on 19 May 2016. The company said it had delivered a resilient performance in challenging markets. Group revenue was up 1% and operating profit before transformation costs was up 5% on an underlying basis. Group operating profit after transformation costs declined by 2% as a result of higher transformation costs, mainly due to higher voluntary redundancy costs. There was a net reduction of around 3,500 employees in UKPIL, largely driven by voluntary redundancies.  

 

UK parcel revenue grew by 1% and UK parcel volumes grew by 3%, driven by growth in import parcels, Royal Mail account, and Parcelforce Worldwide, where volumes increased by 12%. The company’s improved product offering in account parcels resulted in seven contract wins, including with John Lewis Partnership and M&S, which have more than offset lost Amazon volumes. Parcel volumes at GLS, the company’s European parcel business, grew by 10% whilst revenues were up 9%. This growth continues to be fuelled by increasing cross border trade, driven by e-retail.

 

Addressed letter volumes declined by 3%, which was better than the forecast 4-6% decline, due to the return of direct delivery volumes. UKPIL has achieved productivity improvements of 2.4%, within its 2.0-3.0% target range. This builds on a productivity improvement of 2.5% in 2014-15 and 1.7% in 2013-14.

 

Royal Mail Group

 

The adjusted results for Royal Mail Group for 2015/16 compared to the previous year are:

 

• Revenue up 1% to £9,251m, with growth in GLS offsetting the decline in UKPIL revenue;

• Operating profit before transformation costs up 5% to £742m;

• Operating profit after transformation costs down 2% to £551m;

• Operating profit margin after transformation costs was down to 6.0% from 6.4%;

• Profit before taxation was down to £538m from £569m.

• Net debt was £224 million in March 2016, £51 million lower than the previous year, driven by trading cash flow and proceeds from the disposal of assets.

 

UK Parcels, International and Letters (UKPIL)

 

The adjusted financial results for UKPIL for 2015/16 compared to the previous year are:

 

• UKPIL revenue was down 1% to £7,666m with a 1% increase in parcel revenue offset by a 2% decline in total letter revenue;

• UKPIL operating profit before transformation costs was up 3% to £608m;

• Total parcel volumes were up 3%, with parcel volumes in the Royal Mail core network up 2% and Parcelforce volumes up 12%;

• Addressed letter volume declines were 3% – better than the forecast range of 4-6% decline per annum – due to the return of direct delivery volumes; and

• Marketing mail revenue was flat, which follows a 3% growth in the first six months and reflects a slowing in UK economic activity.

 

Underlying operating costs in UKPIL declined by 1%, in line with expectations and reflecting the strategic focus on cost avoidance and efficiency. UKPIL avoided £182m of costs in the year, split broadly evenly between people (£89m) and non-people (£93m) costs. People costs declined by 1%, driven by a 2.4% improvement in productivity and £40m savings in relation to the management reorganisation programme implemented in 2014-15. These savings offset pay increases, largely the 2.8% frontline pay award, and an increase in volume driven costs in Parcelforce Worldwide. Non-people costs, which includes infrastructure and vehicle costs, reduced by 3%. Royal Mail is looking to continue to seek opportunities to drive efficiency across the organisation in 2016/17.

 

General Logistics Systems (GLS)

 

Royal Mail’s European parcel business, GLS, continued to perform strongly. Volumes were up 10% to 431m and revenues were up 9% to €2,158, whilst operating profits were also up 9% to €160m. Revenue growth was achieved in almost all markets and from a broad customer base.

 

Other

 

The “Other” part of Royal Mail Group, which includes stakes in Romec and Quadrant, was down to £5m in revenue from £14m the previous year, due to the expiration of a contract to provide facilities management services to Post Office Limited. However, operating profit increased from £10m to £17m largely due to the improved trading performance in Romec.

 

Dividend

 

The Board is recommending a final dividend of 15.1p per share. Combined with the interim dividend per share of 7p, this represents a total dividend of 22.1p per share for 2015/16. This is up 5% on the previous full year dividend of 21p per share in 2014/15.

 

This means eligible full-time employees with a maximum allocation of 832 Free Shares will have received dividend payments of over £430 by 29 July 2016 since privatisation, subject to shareholder approval at the 2016 AGM. Royal Mail says it remains committed to growing dividends.

2

CWU DELIVERS SOLID RESULTS IN ROYAL MAIL
 
Responding to Royal Mail’s annual results, released today (Thursday)‎, the CWU said the solid set of results were testament to the increased efforts of postal workers who have helped deliver increases in Group profits, revenues and productivity.
 
Dave Ward, CWU General Secretary said: “Royal‎ Mail Group’s strong financial performance, in the face of tough market and regulatory pressures, show the company is well placed to deliver future growth and innovation in the business, working closely with the CWU. The continued fall in letter volumes and the significant level of competition Royal Mail already faces should serve as a reminder to Ofcom that protecting daily deliveries should be the number one priority of its review.”
 
Commenting on the latest results, Ray Ellis, Acting Deputy General Secretary said: “The hard work of postal workers , the significant and continued increases in productivity and close cooperation with the CWU have been critical in delivering another solid financial performance, particularly in the highly competitive parcels market. 
While we remain concerned about the long term decline in letters and Royal Mail’s failure to meet the highest quality of service standards, we believe the company has the financial platform to work with the CWU to secure long term growth‎ and success”.
 
ENDS
 

2013 Free Shares: Email Survey 

We have been notified by the business that Equiniti (the share scheme administrator) has sent out a short email survey to 1500 randomly selected employees who were allocated SIP Free Shares in October 2013.

 

According to Royal Mail, the survey aims to “understand what employees are likely to do with their SIP Free Shares in October 2016” when they will be able to sell their shares for the very first time, though this will be subject to tax and National Insurance. Should employees choose to hold on to their shares and sell after 5 years (in October 2018) no tax or NI will be payable.

 

The survey from Equiniti has been sent out this week (week commencing 16th May) and the department therefore wanted to alert Branches to this development.

 

Any questions or further enquiries on this matter should be forwarded to the DGSP Department.

 

Yours sincerely,

Ray Ellis​​​​​​

Acting Deputy General Secretary (P)

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE INVESTMENT IN ADDITIONAL MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT & VOLUMETRIC SCANNERS IN RDC’s 

Dear Colleagues

 

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 Term Success Agreement.

 

The key component of this activity is looking at where new products or innovations can be introduced that will help the business compete in the increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving environment.  

 

Focused Royal Mail sales campaigns, i.e. selling improvements in our Latest Acceptance Times (LATs) for T24 & T48 and targeting medium sized parcels has seen a significant increase in Tracked Parcel volume growth during the 2015/16 financial year. This is especially evident within the Regional Distribution Centres (RDC’s) where the year on year volumes have increased by 41%. This growth is forecasted to continue into 2016/17.

 

The business have informed the department that given the volume growth to date, the anticipated future growth in Tracked parcels and the service specification, it is proposed to invest in additional MHS in RDC’s in order to efficiently process the growing volumes and increasing sizes of parcels that are being experienced.

 

The proposal for the RDC Investment Programme is as follows:

 

The plan is to invest in MHS solutions across 5 of the existing RDC’s, i.e:

• National Distribution Centre (2x)

• Yorkshire Distribution Centre (1x)

• Princess Royal Distribution Centre (1x)

• South West Distribution Centre (1x)

• North West Distribution Centre (1x)

 

In addition the plan is to invest in an upgrade of the existing MHS solution in NWDC and provide SWDC with an additional volumetric scanner.

 

This additional MHS would be able to handle parcels up to 1.2m and 20kg, and scanners would be able to read the new 2D barcodes.

 

Attached for the information of Branches and representatives is the Joint Statement that has been agreed to facilitate this activity.

 

Colleagues will note that it has been agreed that provision is made for full CWU involvement and that the activity will be overseen by the Parcel Automation Joint Working Group. Any revised duty arrangements required to accommodate this growth activity will be negotiated in line with the IR Framework.

 

In the view of the department the investment represents a significant commitment to our RDC Network and growth in the upstream areas of the business, which we believe will be welcomed by our members in RDC’s.

 

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number: 231.07

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE INVESTMENT IN ADDITIONAL MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT & VOLUMETRIC SCANNERS IN RDC’s

 

 

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 paramount to the success of the business and the commitment to 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 and defining a tangible competitive response as a positive alternative to simply managing decline across the RM operational network.

 

 

Introduction

 

During the 2015/16 financial year there has been a significant increase in Tracked Parcel volume growth. This growth has been especially evident within the Regional Distribution Centres (RDC’s) where the year on year volumes have increased by 41%.

 

This volume growth has been generated as a result of focussed Royal Mail sales campaigns, i.e. selling improvements in our Latest Acceptance Times (LATs) for T24 & T48 and targeting medium sized parcels.

 

This growth is forecasted to continue into 2016/17.

 

In addition to increased volumes the average size of parcels is also growing, which is resulting in more parcels being handled manually and hand scanned in the RDC’s. The Tracked Product specification also requires high volume tracked parcels via the RDC’s to be volumetrically scanned.

 

It has been 7 years since the existing Material Handling Solutions (MHS) were installed in the RDC’s. Given the volume growth to date, the anticipated future growth in Tracked parcels and the service specification it is proposed to invest in additional MHS in RDC’s.  

 

 

RDC Investment Programme

 

The plan is to invest in MHS solutions across 5 of the existing RDCs, i.e:

 

• National Distribution Centre (2x),

• Yorkshire Distribution Centre (1x),

• Princess Royal Distribution Centre (1x),

• South West Distribution Centre (1x),

• North West Distribution Centre (1x).

​

In addition the plan is to invest in an upgrade of the existing MHS solution in NWDC and provide SWDC with an additional volumetric scanner.

 

This additional MHS would be able to handle parcels up to 1.2m and 20kg, and scanners would be able to read the new 2D barcodes.

 

This represents a significant investment in the RDC Network.

 

 

Deployment

 

Deployment will commence in May and is scheduled to be fully deployed by September 2016.

 

The activity will be overseen by the Parcel Automation Joint Working Group.

 

 

Operational Impact

 

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

 

Local discussions will take place 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.

 

Timely negotiations will take place between local managers and CWU IR Representatives, and Engineering and H&S Reps will be fully involved in all aspects of the planning for and actual deployment of the required new arrangements.

 

CWU Representatives shall be given appropriate additional 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.
Davie Robertson​Francis Williams

Assistant Secretary​Head of Parcel Design

CWU​Royal Mail

 

 

Date: ​10th May 2016

 

For the Immediate Attention of All: 

Postal Branches

Divisional Representatives

Area Processing Representatives

 

 

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE SORTING OF SPECIAL DELIVERY GUARANTEED (SDG) ITEMS IN YORK CONTAINERS

 

Dear Colleagues

 

In late 2015 the business approached the department in relation to the Trial of Sorting Special Delivery Items in Yorks at selected Mail Centres.

 

The trial, which was conducted and monitored by the Trial Coordination Joint Working Group, assessed Mail Centre to Mail Centre flows using zipped green sleeves from 19th October 2015 to 29th January 2016 between 13 routes at the following five trial sites:  

 

➢ Bristol​​​

➢ Croydon​           

➢ Greenford ​

➢ Manchester ​

➢ Newcastle         

​

The aim of the trial was to test the ability and benefits of moving away from bags and despatching Special Delivery mails using sleeved York’s as the primary sort and despatch container, between Mail Centres.

 

I can now report that following review the trial activity has been successfully completed and further to full joint evaluation the process change has been agreed as suitable for deployment at a further 22 Mail Centres.

 

Attached for the information of Branches and representatives is a copy of the Joint Statement that has been agreed to facilitate the change of process.  

 

Colleagues will note that there are no changes to the sorting and despatching of SDG items from Mail Centres to Delivery Offices. The Joint Statement also provides details of the high level operational processes that are to be applied and confirms ongoing full CWU involvement in the deployment activity.

 

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number: 709.03

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

 

 

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE SORTING OF SPECIAL DELIVERY GUARANTEED (SDG) ITEMS IN YORK CONTAINERS

 

 

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 paramount to the success of the business and the commitment to 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 and defining a tangible competitive response as a positive alternative to simply managing decline across the RM operational network.

 

 

Introduction

 

In keeping with the National Generic Trial/Deployment Frameworks both parties agreed to trial the sorting and despatching of Special Delivery Guaranteed (SDG) items in sleeved York’s as the primary container.

 

This new method has been successfully trialled in Croydon, Manchester, Greenford, Newcastle, and Bristol Mail Centres.

 

Following a National Review of this trial by the Trial Co-ordination Joint Working Group the following has been agreed for deployment, establishing a new standard for sorting and despatching SDG items between Mail Centres.

 

There are no changes to the sorting and despatching of SDG items from Mail Centres to Delivery Offices.

 

 

Operational Process

 

The new standard for despatching SDG items between 385 Mail Centre routes will be implemented at the 22 Mail Centres listed in Annex A. The new process will enable c48% of total SDG traffic to be processed in sleeved Yorks.

 

The following high level operational processes will be applied:

 

• Where a Mail Centre produces greater than half a York of SDG items per day for a single flow, they can scan and sort directly to a sleeved York

• SDG items transported by air will continue to be bagged

• SDG items will be despatched in green zipped sleeves sealed with a unique numbered security seal

• Each green sleeved York can accommodate up to 280 average-sized SDG items (the equivalent of 8 bags)

• Only the green zipped sleeves may be used for SDG. If an office runs out they will need to revert to bags as a contingency

• Where a Mail Centre has multiple MCSL selections, sleeved York flows will usually be reduced to one selection. To protect quality of service 3 Mail Centres will have more than the standard single selection. This will be reviewed in January 2017 with the anticipation that these Mail Centres will adopt the one selection standard  

• Sleeved despatch will apply Monday to Friday only, as volumes at weekends are lower. Mail Centres will revert to bags for Saturday despatches

• Heavy oversized items will continue to be despatched loose as per the current standard process

• The National Circulation Team will review flows annually taking into account changes in volume and amend the master list accordingly and communicate changes

 

 

Deployment

 

Deployment of the new process will commence in June and is scheduled to be completed by September 2016.

 

 

Operational Impact

 

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

 

Local discussions will take place 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.

 

Timely negotiations will take place between local managers and CWU IR Representatives, and H&S Reps will be fully involved in all aspects of the planning for and actual deployment of the required new arrangements.

 

CWU Representatives shall be given appropriate additional 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.

 

 

 

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

CWU

Francis Williams

Head of Parcel Design

Royal Mail

 

Date: ​10th May 2016

ANNEX A

 

List of Outward Mail Centres to Inward Mail Centres to Adopt the New Standard

 

Birmingham

Bristol

Chester

NW Midlands

Southampton & Portsmouth

Thames Valley

Warrington

Croydon

Gatwick

Greenford

Home Counties North

Jubilee

London Central

Medway

Nottingham

South Midlands

Peterborough

Romford

Sheffield

Newcastle

Manchester

Leeds

 

 

PEOPLE’S POST EVENT – BIRMINGHAM, 4th JUNE 2016
Following our hugely successful People’s Post event in Manchester, the next step on the campaign tour is Birmingham. Once again, we have secured a high profile group of local, regional and national guests, including the Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.
The CWU Midlands Region has launched a major publicity initiative to ensure a high turnout from the public in Birmingham. Coaches are also being put onto bring members from the Midlands into Birmingham. It is vital the whole union supports this event. On this basis, we would request that all CWU Branches send a delegation.
Attached to this LTB are posters and graphics that can be used to publicise the day in the workplaces and on social media.
The announcement of further job cuts for our members in Supply Chain this week highlight the importance of the People’s Post campaign being successful. Birmingham offers us another chance to reach out to the public.
The day will be an exciting mix of music, politics and family events. Key timings are as follows;
 
12:30
Rally outside Bromsgrove Post Office – 117 High Street, Bromsgrove, B61 8AA. This Post Office is due for closure and this is also the constituency of Sajid Javid – Secretary of State for Business. 
A coach will be leaving Summer Lane – 47 New Summer St, Birmingham B19 3TH at approximately 11:00 for anybody who wishes to join us for this part of the day please email midlandregion@cwu.org to book a seat. 
 
15:30 – 16:00
There will be “Pop up” surprises, freebies and lots of family fun outside the Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham B5 4BU.   
 
17:00 – 19:00
Open air Rally and entertainment in Victoria Square, B1

Guest speakers include:
 
Jeremy Corbyn – Leader of the Labour Party
Francesca Martinez – Comedian & Activist 
Sam Fairbain – People’s Assembly – National Secretary
Salma Yaqoob – Mental Health Campaigner
 
Music by:
Grace Petrie
Hosted by:
Jen Brister
 
I look forward to seeing everyone on the day.
Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary, gsoffice@cwu.org
 
Yours sincerely
                               
Dave Ward Ray Ellis
General Secretary Acting Deputy General Secretary (P)
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 308/16 – PEOPLE’S POST EVENT – BIRMINGHAM, 4th JUNE 2016

Attachment 1: Peoples post flyer

Calling all Women, BAME and CWU Youth Reps!
• Are you quite new to your role in the CWU?

• Would you like to progress within the CWU?

• Do you need to understand better how the union works?

• Would you like to be mentored by an experienced CWU Representative?
Mentoring is a widely recognised training and development tool that helps to assist individuals through structured and focused support and through sharing of experience and skills. Used formally and informally by many different organisations and individuals it helps to develop the potential of individuals with less experience by pairing them with individuals with much more experience. It is a proven way of increasing confidence, knowledge and networking to help open up opportunities for advancement.
In the Labour movement mentoring has been used successfully by several unions, political parties and other organisations. The CWU, as part of our programme of work around proportionality has now developed the CWU Exchange Mentoring Scheme to help develop, progress and retain newer activists.
Mentoring has proven a particularly useful tool for helping to develop and bring through under-represented groups such as BAME and Women members. At present we are restricting this project to BAME, Women and Young members. However, in the medium to long term mentoring will also be rolled out across the whole union.
We now have our own trained CWU mentors who will be available to work with new and emerging Women, BAME and under 30 activists, as they are particularly under-represented at many levels in the CWU.
If you think that being mentored could be right for you can apply to the scheme provided that you meet the following basic criteria:
• That you have been a CWU activist for up to three years and that you are currently a CWU representative of any sort.

• That you wish to progress and develop your role in the CWU 

• That you are a woman, BAME and/or under 30 years old
Places are limited so please apply to the scheme using the attached application form.
Please return this to msimpson@cwu.org by Friday 10 June 2017.
Please refer any queries regarding this LTB to Trish Lavelle, Head of Education and Training tlavelle@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Trish Lavelle

Head of Education & Training
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 306/16 – CWU Exchange Mentoring Scheme : Activists Supporting Activists

Attachment 1 – Application Form

POST OFFICE: SUPPLY CHAIN – EXITING THE EXTERNAL MARKET – JOB LOSSES
Dear Colleagues,
The Post Office is advising our Supply Chain members this morning of its intention to “exit from the external CViT market on a phased basis during the remainder of the 2016/17 financial year”. This outrageous decision entails the potential loss of 515 CWU represented jobs (and 79 managers). This equates to approximately 50% of the total workforce from the 22 depots and 6 cash centres. However, it is evident this decision will impact on all operational jobs and members’ earnings. 
Additionally, as part of the job losses, the Post Office has indicated it will be seeking to close 8 CViT depots and 1 Coin Centre as follows:
 
Dartford Hull Poole
Eastbourne Inverness Preston        
Edinburgh Merlin House (Birmingham) Stoke
 
We also understand the Coin operation at Hemel Hempstead as well as Merlin House will be moving into Midway House (Birmingham).
Given the unprecedented scale of the proposed job losses, there is a real threat of Compulsory Redundancies which this Union will oppose in line with Conference policy (Motion 89, Postal Industry conference 2016). When combining the job losses in Supply Chain to the Crown Office franchising and the recently announced job reductions in Finance, it equates to a total of over 1000 job losses from CWU grades working for the Post Office which is simply astonishing.
The Union last week received the legal redundancy notification (Section 188 letter and HR1 form) surrounding the planned job losses in Supply Chain. In view of a lack of any negotiations on this issue, we formally requested to Paula Vennells, Chief Executive, on Friday 13th May and again on 16th May that the legal documentation be withdrawn and the 90 day consultation should not commence at this stage. The response received from Paula Vennells failed to address our proposal to withdraw the redundancy notification, hence the reason why we sent a further letter.  
The provocative decision to announce these job losses and site closures has been made without meaningful consultation with the Union and no real attempt to work together to reach an agreement and find an alternative solution to secure the future of Supply Chain.  
In the face of this latest attack on the livelihoods of our hard-working members, we will be campaigning to put pressure on the Government and the Post Office as part of our “Peoples Post” campaign. We need to stop these unnecessary plans and prevent large scale job losses.
The Post Office should never have been separated from Royal Mail. It is the only postal operator in Europe to split off its retail network from the rest of the postal service. Since separation we have witnessed a constant attack on jobs resulting in a running down of the Post Office network and now this is being extended to Supply Chain. This crude cost-cutting approach which is unimaginative and short term has led to further Crown Office franchising and closures as part of a programme of managed decline.
The Post Office’s decision reflects the Government’s failure to support and invest in the future of the network in a meaningful way and the systemic mismanagement of the company, which has a complete lack of vision. Crucially we are calling for a coherent long-term plan for the future based on greater investment, new products and services and reintegration back into Royal Mail. A press release is attached for your information.
The future of the Post Office is at a crossroads; consequently we will need to consider every avenue for action to defend our Supply Chain members. We will be consulting with our Representatives and further with the Postal Executive to develop a united strategy across the whole of the Union to defend jobs and stop closures in accordance with Emergency Motion E3 (attached) carried unanimously at this year’s Postal Industry conference.  
The Following Branch Representatives are invited to attend a National Briefing:
Branch Secretaries (with Post Office members)

CViT / Cash Centre Unit Reps (if the Unit Rep is not available, the Deputy Rep is invited)

Post Office Territorial Reps

Post Office Supply Chain Area Reps (including Deputy Area Reps)

Post Office Area Reps (including Deputy Area Reps)

Regional Health & Safety Reps 

The details of the Representatives Briefing are as follows:
Monday 23rd May
12 noon – 3pm
Indian YMCA
41 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 6AQ
As this briefing will be focussed on a serious Industrial Relations matter, paid release from duty should be provided by the Post Office for CViT / Cash Centre Unit Reps.
Our Post Office members must be supported as we will not stand idly by and watch another nail hammered into the coffin of this vital public service.
 
Yours Sincerely,
 
Dave Ward Ray Ellis Andy Furey
General Secretary Acting Deputy General Secretary (P) Assistant Secretary 

Email Attachments – Click to download
· LTB 302/16 – POST OFFICE: SUPPLY CHAIN – EXITING THE EXTERNAL MARKET – JOB LOSSES
· Attachment 2: Emergency Motion – Future vision of the post office
· Attachment 2: CWU-Unite joint press release on the Post Office – 17th May 2016

UPDATE ON ROYAL MAIL PAY 2016 #TheCWU 
Pay 2016

 

Further to the verbal update provided by the DGS(P) at Annual Conference, I am writing to update you on the very latest developments in relation to our outstanding 2016 pay claim.

 

At the Postal Policy Forum in March the Union agreed the following:

 

“That we seek a one year Pay and Reward Agreement from April 2016 which seeks to achieve our current policies around pay, hours and leave (including holiday pay) and a further long term agreement aligned to wider negotiations around future change”.

 

In pursuit of our claim, the CWU attended two initial pay meetings with the business on 7th and 18th April. At the second meeting, Royal Mail made a “closed” offer which the Union rejected.

The business then notified the Union that they would be making an “open” offer to allow us to report and publicise the details to our Representatives attending Annual Conference in Bournemouth. Unfortunately, Royal Mail has yet to provide a new offer.

 

In response (and notwithstanding Terry’s unfortunate recent illness) the Union has made clear our concerns about the unacceptable delay in providing an offer and we have been pressing the business hard to make an open offer to the CWU as soon as possible and avoid any further delay.

 

As the April review date has already passed and some members have experienced a cut in take-home pay this month as a result of the Government’s National Insurance increases, the Union recognises the pressing need to secure a decent rise for 2016 and we are continuing to push the business to provide a pay offer to the CWU as a matter of urgency.

 

Further updates will be provided to Branches in due course.

 

Yours sincerely
Ray Ellis

Acting Deputy General Secretary (P)