Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains. Karl Marx.
EASTERN 5 BRANCHAnnual General Meeting
The meeting will be held at the Peterborough Bowls Club, Burton Street, Peterborough, PE1 5HA. On Sunday 29th January 2017 at 10.30am. All members are encouraged to attend.
ACCRINGTON DELIVERY OFFICE – DISPUTE
Dear Colleagues,
Further to LTB 740/16 I am pleased to report that following discussions between Royal Mail and CWU head office yesterday, members at Accrington Delivery Office voted to attend work at a gate meeting called by the East Lancs Amal Branch this morning.
Royal Mail have in effect confirmed that the remaining issue from the Flashpoint Report of 24th August concerning the management of the office will be resolved in the New Year.
The Accrington members have received tremendous support from Branches all around the country and there is no doubt that the solidarity shown has helped to bring the dispute to a successful resolution. The key factor was of course the unity, determination and discipline of the Accrington members.
All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 412.
Email address: djeffery@cwu.org
Yours Sincerely,
RAY ELLIS
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Email Attachments – Click to download
· LTB 753/16 – ACCRINGTON DELIVERY OFFICE – DISPUTE
MANAGERS’ UPDATE: RECOGNISING GOOD ATTENDANCE
Dear Colleagues,
I attach a document issued by Royal Mail to its managers entitled “Recognising good attendance” dated 16th December, received at head office from representatives in the field on 19th December.
Contrary to the claim in the document the CWU was not briefed on the scheme nor was the union consulted on the attached document. The union was informed that Royal Mail intended to run an incentive scheme in the form of a prize draw. Last Friday, clearly after the attached brief had been drawn up and after copies of the December edition of The Courier which contains details of the scheme had gone to print, we were advised that the business intended to brief employees this week – no details of the scheme were shared.
The union is opposed to any scheme which encourages members to attend work when they are not well enough to do so, or penalises people for being ill. We believe the scheme is an ill thought out, knee jerk return to the policies of a decade ago. It is extremely disappointing that the business has reverted to an unimaginative and self-defeating approach to the management of attendance which seeks to bypass the union.
According to “The Courier” the intention is to “reinforce the message that our people have a vital part to play every day in delivering a great service to our customers”. Our members don’t need patronising messages of this kind, particularly at this time of year. Whatever the intention of the scheme, in reality, it will act as a further signal to managers that they must “get tough” on sickness absence.
Over the last 18 months the union has received an increasing number of reports from all parts of Royal Mail of aggressive and bullying misapplication of the Attendance Procedure – in particular:
Abuse of contact strategy
Routine issue of stage reviews regardless of circumstances
Threatened or actual stoppage of pay for alleged “non-cooperation”
Counting absences arising from accidents on duty or disability
Sacking people with an underlying health condition – in some cases when they were attending work regularly
Despite this return to the sort of management behaviours in evidence before the introduction of the 2013 Attendance agreement, the level of sickness absence has continued to increase. The union has called for a joint and root and branch analysis of the underlying causes of this increase, which has taken place over the same period in which the number of reported bullying and harassment cases has increased by 52% and significant concerns about reasonable workload and aggressive management have been reported by staff in the company’s “Big Conversation” employee opinion exercise. Royal Mail has agreed to meet to discuss this in January. The union will positively engage to improve workplace morale and address some of the issues which we believe are driving the increase in sickness absence. This half-baked panic measure will not help. Branches should ensure that the Grievance Procedure and Industrial Relations Framework are used if managers abuse the contact strategy (the terms of which were jointly summarised by CWU and Royal Mail in LTB 691/2016) or if any of the other aggressive management behaviours and breaches of the Attendance Procedure listed in the bullet points above are encountered.
All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 415.
Yours Sincerely,
RAY ELLIS
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Attachment can be found in the attached LTB.
Email Attachments – Click to download
· LTB 751/16 – Managers’ Update: Recognising Good Attendance
CWU Youth Conference Agenda Pad 2017
Branches would wish to know that the agenda for the forthcoming CWU Youth Conference being held in Manchester on Saturday 21st January 2017 has now been published on the website and can be accessed by pasting the link below into your browser:
Click to access youth-conference-agenda-pad-2017.pdf
Hard copies of the agenda will be sent to Branch addresses of everyone that has registered using the online registration system.
Credential cards for delegates/visitors and voting cards for this conference will be issued on the Thursday morning at registration prior to the conference opening.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by telephoning 020 8971 7256 or by post to head office or by email to conferences@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 749/16 – CWU Youth Conference Agenda Pad 2017
CWU Retired Members Conference Agenda Pad 2017
Branches would wish to know that the agenda for the forthcoming CWU Retired Members Conference being held in Manchester on Thursday 19th January 2017 has now been published on the website and can be accessed by pasting the link below into your browser:
Click to access retired-agenda-2017.pdf
Hard copies of the agenda will be sent to Branch addresses of everyone that has registered using the online registration system.
Credential cards for delegates/visitors and voting cards for this conference will be issued on the Thursday morning at registration prior to the conference opening.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by telephoning 020 8971 7256 or by post to head office or by email to conferences@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 748/16 – CWU Retired Members Conference Agenda Pad 2017
Election of: CWU Delegates to the TUC Equality Conferences – 2017
Please find attached the Regulations, Nomination Forms and Candidate Consent and Biographical Details forms for the above Conferences. The details of which are as follows:
TUC WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
Date: 8/9/10 March 2017
Venue: Congress House, London
TUC BLACK WORKERS CONFERENCE
Date: 7/8/9 April 2017
Venue: Congress House, London
TUC DISABLED WORKERS CONFERENCE
Date: 18/19 May 2017
Venue: Congress House, London
TUC LGBT WORKERS CONFERENCE
Date: 6/7 July 2017
Venue: Congress House, London
The Timetable for the elections is as follow:
Nominations open: 5 January 2017
Nominations close: 19 January 2017 (14:00)
Despatch ballot papers: 24 January 2017
Ballot closes: 7 February 2017 (14:00)
Reminders:
All candidates for election to the TUC Women’s Conference must be women.
All nominees require the nomination of their own Branch.
Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches 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
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 750/16 – Election of CWU Delegates to the TUC Equality Conferences – 2017
Regulations – TUC Equality 2017
RE: CWU NORTH WEST REGION – ‘WOMEN OF TODAY’ EVENT
The CWU North West Region are holding their ‘Women of Today’ event on Thursday 26th January 2017 in Manchester. The details of the event are as follows:
DATE: Thursday 26th January 2017
TIME: 10.30 – 15.30
VENUE: Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6DD
Tea & Coffee will be available during registration between 10.00am and 10.30am
The Keynote Speaker will be FRANCESCA MARTINEZ, a comedian, writer and respected social commentator. In 2014 she was named as one of Britain’s most influential women.
Other speakers include:
LINDA ROY, CWU National Equality Officer
KATE HUDSON, CWU Midland Regional Secretary
LISA NANDY, MP for Wigan
LYNN COLLINS, North West TUC Regional Secretary
CAROL SCHEFFER, CWU Ireland National Equality Officer
JEAN SHARROCKS, Chair of CWU Women’s Advisory Committee
LYNNE MORRIS, UNISON & North West TULO Chair
There will also be a panel discussion and various information stalls
LUNCH will be provided
The aim of the day is to increase involvement of women members in the CWU and the wider Labour movement. All women Representatives and Branch Women’s Officers are encouraged to attend and for them to bring as many CWU women members as possible.
To register please visit: https://nwcwuwot17.eventbrite.co.uk
If you require any further information, please either contact Karen Bosson, North West Regional Women’s Secretary on 07894 423 892 or Carl Webb, Regional Secretary on 07850 019 602.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
Attachment 1: LTB 746/16 – Women of Today Event
CWU Youth Conference – Saturday 21st January 2017
The online registration system for registering delegates and observers to the above conference is now open.
As with previous conferences we ask that Branch Secretaries register their delegates/observers to the above conference. Branch Secretaries have been provided with a password for their branch. If you experience any problems please contact eventsregistration@cwu.org
The link to access the webpage is as follows or this can be copied into the search browser: https://conference.cwu.org
Please note that once a delegate has been registered correctly using the online registration system an agenda will be sent via the branch office, if time permits. There will also be a small amount of spare agendas available on a first come first served basis on the day of the conference.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by email to conferences@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 745 – CWU Youth Conference – Saturday 21st January 2017
CWU Retired Members Conference – Thursday 19th January 2017
The online registration system for registering delegates and observers to the above conference is now open.
As with previous conferences we ask that Branch Secretaries register their delegates/observers to the above conference. Branch Secretaries have been provided with a password for their branch. If you experience any problems please contact eventsregistration@cwu.org
The link to access the webpage is as follows or this can be copied into the search browser: https://conference.cwu.org
Please note that once a delegate has been registered correctly using the online registration system an agenda will be sent via the branch office, if time permits. There will also be a small amount of spare agendas available on a first come first served basis on the day of the conference.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by email to conferences@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 744/16 – CWU Retired Members Conference – Thursday 19th January 2017
ACCRINGTON DELIVERY OFFICE – INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Dear Colleagues,
Branches will wish to be aware that CWU members at Accrington Delivery Office took a second day of strike action on Saturday 17th December as a result of the failure of Royal Mail to implement a joint CWU/Royal Mail recommendation from a Flashpoint report published on 24th August relating to aggressive and bullying management of the office.
Last Saturday’s action followed a one day strike on Saturday 10th December and if the issue remains unresolved will be followed by further one day strikes on 23rd and 31st December.
The dispute raises a number of serious issues:
Disregard of the welfare of employees. Royal Mail has abrogated its duty of care to employees by failure to address management behaviours far outside the standards the company says it expects from all employees.
Disregard of its agreements with CWU. Royal Mail is acting in breach of the Agenda for Growth Agreement by failure amounting to refusal to implement a joint recommendation made through the Flashpoint Procedure – which is designed to avoid industrial action.
Disregard of its duty to customers. 85 managers have been deployed in Accrington on the last two Saturdays to undertake the work of striking delivery staff but customer service was still disrupted by Royal Mail’s refusal to implement the agreed recommendation of the Flashpoint report.
I am sure Branches, Representatives and members will wish to send messages of support to members in Accrington who are standing up to bullying and harassment. In addition, members are facing loss of 4 days earnings over the holiday period.
Messages of support should be sent to:
Martin Berry, Branch Secretary, East Lancs Amal Branch, Union Room, Delivery Office, Bank Parade,
Burnley, Lancs. BB11 1DY
Tel: 07800 794221
Email: cwueastlancsamal@gmail.com
Donations should be sent clearly marked “Accrington DO Dispute” to the following account:
Bank: Unity Trust
Name of Account: CWU North West Regional Fund
Acc No: 33954055
Sort Code: 608301
All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 412.
Yours sincerely,
RAY ELLIS
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Email Attachments – Click to download
· LTB 740/16 – Accrington Delivery Office – Industrial Action
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 