Telecoms and Financial Services Conference 2017 – Submission of Motions
 
Attached with this Letter to Branches is the Motion form to be used for Telecoms and Financial Services conferences 2017. The purpose of this Letter to Branches is to remind those who do not have access to an e-mail facility that they must contact head office direct to request hard copies of the form to be dispatched to them. They should contact Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256.
 
We would also remind Branches that the closing date for the submission of motions to this conference is Midnight Thursday 9th March 2017, by post, or by email to conferences@cwu.org. If by email only motions emailed to the conferences email address will be accepted.
 
General guidance on the submission of motions to the Telecoms and Financial Services Conference 2017 is attached to this LTB.
 
As part of the General Guidance has changed, Branches are urged to check it before submitting motions.
 
Branches and the TFSE are reminded that the Standing Orders Committee will not alter or amend any of the motions submitted therefore it is important that motions are checked before they are submitted.
 
Any queries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to Angela Niven at Head Office.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
 
 
A J Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 071/17

Guidance Notes TFS 2017

Motion Form TFS 2017

National Disciplinary Committee (NDC)
I am writing to advise Branches that following changes in our officerial team at headquarters we have now put in place arrangements to ensure the National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) continues to run effectively and in accordance with the rules of the union. 
In putting in place these arrangements, we will now take the opportunity to review the NDC process going forward as part of the wider re-design project.
Therefore, in respect of the NDC interim arrangements I have asked Tony Rupa Head of Legal Services to take on and oversee the officerial role within the NDC process. In this role, Tony will have policy advisor support from Martin Akerman and the NDC process and admin role will for the present continue to be done as before by Jo Thair.
I can advise branches that I have also asked Tony Rupa to undertake an immediate review of the whole NDC process. It has been apparent for some time that many of the cases that end up coming before the NDC, often involve a breakdown in relationships at branch level. It is also clear that the current process has no real facility to offer alternative ways of resolving relationship issues. Therefore, in undertaking this review, I have asked Tony to consider ways of modernising the process and in particular to look at the potential for mediation and dispute resolution facilities, to feature in a revised procedure.
A further report will be made to the NEC and we will keep branches informed of developments and any new arrangements which may be considered.
Any further enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office at gsoffice@cwu.org quoting the reference GS 6.3.1
 
Yours sincerely
 
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 069/17 – National Disciplinary Committee (NDC)

HSE Report – Work Related Stress, Anxiety and Depression Statistics in Great Britain 2016:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Work-related stress remains one of the top causes of sickness absence according to latest statistics.
Work-related stress, depression or anxiety is defined as a harmful reaction people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work.
The latest figures on stress for Great Britain reveal that, in 2015/16, it accounted for 37% of all work related ill-health cases and 45% of all working days lost due to illness.
In a recent report published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the statistics also show that the total number of cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety over that period was 488,000. That equates, the HSE points out, to a prevalence rate of 1510 per 100,000 workers.
There were 224,000 new cases in 2015/16 – an incidence rate of 690 per 100,000 workers.
Overall, 11.7 million working days were lost due to work-related stress during 2015/16, equivalent to an average of 23.9 days lost per case. The HSE notes that working days lost per worker showed a generally downward trend to around 2009/10, since when the rate has been broadly flat.
Stress is more prevalent in public service industries, the HSE points out, including education, health and social care, defense and public administration.
According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the predominant cause of work-related stress is workload and particularly very tight deadlines, too much work, or too much pressure or responsibility.
A lack of managerial support, organisational changes at work, violence, and a lack of clarity about a job have also been identified as factors leading to stress.
Compared with all workplaces combined, small enterprises had significantly lower rates of workplace stress anxiety and depression, the HSE highlighted, with medium and large enterprises having significantly higher rates.
Work-related stress is defined as a harmful reaction that people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work. By its very nature, stress is difficult to measure and the HSE has two different data sources from which to conduct analysis. The preferred data source used by the HSE for calculating rates and estimates for stress, depression or anxiety is the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS is a household survey consisting of around 38,000 households per quarter across Great Britain which provides information about the labour market. The HSE commissions a module of questions in the LFS to gain a view of work-related illness based on individuals’ perceptions.
The LFS provides national estimates and corresponding rates of the overall prevalence (total cases) of self-reported work-related illness during the previous 12 months, which includes long standing and new cases. It also provides estimates of work-related illness in the same period and of annual working days lost due to work-related illness. Estimates and rates relate to people working in the previous 12 months. Statistics presented in this document are based on the LFS data, unless otherwise specified.
In addition to the LFS, the HSE also collects data on work-related stress through the Health and Occupation Research network for general practitioners (THOR-GP) across Great Britain. This network asks reporting general practitioners to assess whether new cases of mental ill health presented in their surgeries are work-related, and if so, what was the work-related cause of this disorder. The two data sources may reflect different perceptions of work related attribution to individual cases.
Longitudinal studies and systematic reviews have indicated that stress at work is driven largely by psychosocial factors and is associated with common conditions such as heart disease and anxiety and depression and may play a role in some forms of musculoskeletal disorders.
The Report looks at:
Prevalence and incidence rates of stress, depression or anxiety caused or made worse by work.

Days lost due to work related stress, depression or anxiety in 2015/16

Work related stress anxiety and depression rates by industry group.

Work related stress by broad occupational category.

Work related stress within the category of professional occupations.

Work related stress rates by age and gender.

Work related stress for small, medium and large enterprises.

Self-reported stress, depression or anxiety rates.

Analysis of mental ill-health reported cases.

A pdf file copy of the Report is attached.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
 
Email Attachments – Click to download
Attachment 1 – LTB068/17 HSE Report – Work Related Stress, Anxiety and Depression Statistics in Great Britain 2016:

Attachment 2 – HSE – Work Related Stress Anxiety Depresssion Stats in GB 2016 Report

BT Consumer: Operating Model – Enniskillen
BT Consumer has advised the CWU that it is changing the operating model in Enniskillen as part of the plan to ensure that 90% of calls are answered in the UK.
The plan is to end duplication of work that is done elsewhere in BT Consumer and reallocate email and white mail traffic to other UK sites.
This change in approach will affect 43 full time equivalent advisors in Enniskillen currently working on white mail and email. Help work will be moved onto the site to facilitate redeployment and in the first instance Advisors working on email and white mail will be given the opportunity to volunteer to move to Help.
There will be no changes to the My Donate, Social Media or Executive Level Complaint teams on site.
The CWU has a number of concerns with these changes.
Moving the Work
The CWU has argued that the work should remain on site and that reducing the amount of off-line work could cause problems for those with disability or medical issues that prevent on-line working.
BT has responded that it is cutting out the double handling of cases to improve customer service and is redeploying staff in line with existing agreements. BT has reconfirmed that it remains committed to achieving 80% of direct labour jobs in Sales and 90% in Service; and will deal with any disability or medical cases in line with Company processes.
Grading 
BT has confirmed that the grading for the role will be B1CC. Where necessary Pay & Pension Protection will be applied.
In line with the national agreement those on Pay & Pension Protection will be paid at the rate for the substantive grade for the role; in this case B1CC.
Training
The Union has expressed concerns about the arrangements for training and the need for a quality approach. 
BT has accepted that the training required for advisors will vary by individual. BT will ensure that training requirements are created on a bespoke basis, and following the training there will be a period of grad bay working in the same way as other new staff.
ECOH or Flexible Working Requests that are in place will continue as normal during the training. 
As training is normally delivered on a full time basis the CWU has requested that if attendances need to be altered then Advisors should be given at least 5 weeks notice of the training course. This is to ensure that advisors, and particularly those working part time hours, have a reasonable period in which to make arrangements.
BT has said it will give as much notice as possible but has not confirmed any minimum notice period. We will continue to discuss this issue with BT. 
Attendance Patterns
The Universal attendance patterns will continue to apply as will existing ECOH and Flexible Working Regulation requests.
At the moment the current opening hours will continue to apply but this will probably change in the next 12 months. We have flagged up concerns that changes to opening hours may cause issues with caring and transport which will need to be addressed.
We will continue to discuss attendances with BT.
Selection Process
If there are not enough volunteers to move to Help, Consumer will run a selection process in line with Group procedures. We will discuss the selection arrangements with BT further if it proves necessary.
Next Steps
There are a number of issues that remain unresolved with BT and the CWU National Team will be doing all it can to secure the best possible outcome for members. Branches will be kept informed of developments.
A copy of BT documentation is attached.
Yours sincerely
 
Nigel Cotgrove
Assistant Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 062/17 – BT Consumer: Operating Model – Enniskillen

Celebrating International Women’s Day : March 8th 2017
Please find attached a Poster we have produced to celebrate Women’s International Day.  
The Poster is also available to download on the CWU Website under events. The link for this is:

Click to access iiwd2017bbeboldposterlast2.pdf

Please feel free to use the Poster at any events you may have organised.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact my department.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Linda Roy
Assistant Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 064/17 – Celebrating International Women’s Day : March 8th 2017

Safe & Well – January 2017
Please see attached the January 2017 edition of Safe and Well newsletter with contributions from our USRs and field teams. It contains a refresh on the red alert around Steps Mobile, more on the Working at Height review, a couple of shout outs from the teams and also TSO, a reminder about the need to report any physical abuse incidents and more updates on waste with the handy guide, and details of an exciting competition. 
Yours sincerely 

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
 
Att.
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 065/17 Safe & Well January 2017

LTB 065/17 Openreach H&S Update Q4

Safe & Well Issue 42 LTB 065