BT PENSION REVIEW
 
Since the announcement of the review – see LTB 293/2017 – the CWU had been in talks with BT about the future of the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS).
In the talks BT has set out what it believes is the case for making changes and has issued the attached documentation today which summarises the Company view.
BT is seeking agreement with the CWU over possible changes but it is important to emphasise that nothing has been agreed,and nothing has been ruled in or ruled out. This means that BT has not ruled out closing the Scheme for future service.
Clearly, this is a very serious situation and we have made it veryclear to BT how important pensions are to our members. The CWU view remains as follows.
 
The CWU opposes any move to close the BTPS for existing members. We will use all means up to and including industrial action to keep the Scheme open for current members.

BT needs to improve the BT Retirement Saving Scheme, which now includes just over 50% of the UK workforce.

We will issue further updates as soon as there is something further to report.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
 
Andy Kerr
Deputy General Secretary (T&FS)
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 413/17 – BT PENSION REVIEW

Attachment 1 – Reviewing the BT Pension Scheme 20-07

Attachment 2: Strood Employee FAQ – C4C update – 20-07

National Blood Week Campaign – The Need For More New Blood Donors – Letter Of Thanks From NHS Blood & Transplant Service:
To: All Branches
 
Dear Colleagues, 
Why give blood?
Giving blood saves lives. The blood you give is a lifeline in an emergency and for people who need long-term treatments. Many people would not be alive today if donors had not generously given their blood.
The UK Blood Service Appeal For Donors: 
The UK Blood Services need over 6,000 blood donations every day to treat patients in need which is why there’s always a need for people to give blood. Each year 200,000 new donors are needed, as some donors can no longer give blood.
Most people between the ages of 17-65 are able to give blood. 
Around half the current donors are over 45. That’s why the blood donor service needs more young people (over the age of 17) to start giving blood, so the service can make sure they have enough blood in the future. Why not contact the Blood Service and then book an appointment.
Blood groups and types needed now 
The UK Blood Service desperately needs more donors from all blood groups and types. They particularly need more people from black and Asian minority ethnic communities to give blood so that they have a supply of certain blood types.
They aim to find 40,000 black donors to provide much needed blood donations for black patients with sickle cell disease. They need life-saving blood from black donors, which provides the closest match to their own.
Register as a blood donor and book an appointment to give blood and help someone in need today.
About blood 
Blood has many different parts or components including red blood cells, plasma and platelets.
It is also classified into different blood groups and blood types.
Giving blood in the UK 
UK/England Blood Service Website: https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/ Tel: 0300 123 23 23

Welsh Blood Service: https://www.welsh-blood.org.uk/ Tel: 0800 25 22 66

Scottish Blood Service: https://www.scotblood.co.uk/ Tel: 0345 90 90 999

Northern Ireland Blood Service: http://www.nibts.org/contacts.html Tel: 08085 534 669

Thanks for your support. See attached Letter of Thanks from Ian Trenholm Chief Executive NHS Blood and Transplant. 
Yours sincerely
 
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
 
 
Email Attachments – Click to download
National Blood Week

TERMS OF REFERENCE BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING A PROOF OF CONCEPT TRIAL FOR MERGING TRACKED 48 WITH 2C STANDARD PARCELS IN CONTAINERS WHEN PROCESSED BY THE PARCEL SORTING MACHINE (PSM) AT SWINDON MAIL CENTRE
Dear Colleagues
Branches and representatives will be aware that a key component of the joint vision and agenda going forward is the Parcels Automation Strategy and that trial activity has been taking place at Swindon Mail Centre in relation to the Parcel Sorting Machine.
Currently the Tracked 48 and standard 2c parcel streams are processed separately on the PSM and despatched in dedicated Yorks. The business has however recently approached the department with a request to undertake a proof of concept trial to merge Tracked 48 and standard 2c parcels that are processed via the PSM, which would enable mixed Yorks where the fill is less than 75%.
The proposed proof of concept trial process will be:
 
2C standard parcels will be run through the PSM, and once that run has been completed only the Yorks that are over 75% full will be despatched, the rest will remain on the machine.

Tracked 48 parcels will then be sorted on top of the 2C Parcels in the York and will be despatched as a mixed York.

This will result in both products being located in the same York containers when despatched from the PSM to all Inward Mail Centres who receive merged traffic.

The mixed York’s will be labelled with a discreet Tracked York card to indicate that they are Tracked parcels and will be despatched with the rest of the automated Tracked and the manual Tracked parcels.

On receipt in the Inward Mail Centre they will be sent to the manual Tracked area and all Tracked parcels will be scanned in line with current processes.

Any 2C parcels will be sent to the manual area for sorting.

The trial will allow for an assessment of whether the revised process would address issues in relation of time lost due to machine clear down/set up when changing product streams and if there would be any benefit in relation to additional capacity on RM Network vehicles.
Discussions have therefore taken place with the business and a Terms of Reference has been concluded and endorsed by the Postal Executive, a copy of which is attached for your information.
The trial activity will not entail any change to the existing Workplan, or despatch/arrival times. Equally, it is not envisaged there will be any impact on existing road services for the duration of the trial. Any issues identified however in relation to the provision of Network services will be dealt with in line with existing agreements.
Colleagues will note that the TOR for the activity ensures that all appropriate representatives, i.e. IR, Engineering and H&S will be fully involved and that our members’ duties and earnings will be protected throughout the trial.
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: 732.01
 
Yours sincerely
 
Davie Robertson  
Assistant Secretary  
Email Attachments – Click to download
TOR Trial Merging Tracked 48

Pillars of Security and Pay Negotiations
Further to LTB 403/17 regarding Royal Mail’s position on pensions, the Postal Executive at its meeting on 18th July 2017 discussed management’s current communication and actions and how it relates to Emergency Motion E5 which was unanimously carried at this year’s Annual Conference (copy attached for ease of reference). 
Clearly the Motion represents the determined position of the CWU to resist management’s current approach and secure the best possible agreement for our members. However, we are fast approaching the deadline for those negotiations and yesterday the Postal Executive took the decision to assess progress at the next PE meeting scheduled for 15th August, and if sufficient progress has not been made it will then agree a timetable for a national industrial action ballot.
In respect of pensions, you will also note that Emergency Motion E5 also carried the policy that if Royal Mail choose to introduce any of their policies by executive action then an immediate ballot for industrial action should commence. On Friday 14th July 2017 Royal Mail Group issued an alert in a Commercial Organisation press release which strongly suggested that talks with the CWU on a new pension solution had ceased and that they would, by executive action, be offering our members a choice between their latest proposal of a mutant DC cash out at the point of retirement saving scheme, or the current Defined Contribution scheme.
The timing of this announcement also coincided with the news that Unite (who represent the managerial grades) will be holding a consultative ballot on Royal Mail’s latest proposal. Whilst it should be noted that Unite are not recommending the managerial offer they have said that the offer represents the best position achievable and are positive in regard to its Defined Benefit nature.
To be clear, we (the CWU) have totally rejected the offer as being anything like an acceptable solution to replace the pension promise and deferred wages in retirement offered by our current DB scheme and which both parties agreed was a key element of the reward package for our members in the Growth and Stability/legally binding agreement.
Whilst Royal Mail’s released update and their published communications with Unite would imply that the talks have concluded, they are also taking actions which suggest that the talks will continue. For example, on 18th July they released their latest trading update in which they state that the managerial union (Unite/CMA) believe that Royal Mail’s latest offer is the best position available but they are continuing to discuss future pension arrangements with the CWU. Equally, on Monday 17th July, Jon Millidge, (RM Group HR Director) contacted the DGSP Department seeking further meetings on the pension issue and I can report that a meeting has been arranged between Royal Mail, the CWU and our advisors, First Actuarial, for Tuesday 25th July. 
This activity would suggest that they have not ceased negotiations on an acceptable pension solution but we will be seeking a straight answer before the meeting on 25th July to clarify if the company has ceased negotiations or are genuinely prepared to continue talks to find an agreed settlement.
In a final effort to try and reach an agreement on all aspects of the Four Pillars of Security and pay, the Postal Executive have also decided to write to the business offering a meeting between their lead negotiators and the CWU Officers, in an attempt to reframe the negotiations and understand if there is any meaningful desire to move all the issues forward and reach an agreement. 
It is imperative that everyone understands that we are now at a very serious stage of these negotiations and that unless there is a substantial breakthrough prior to the PE Meeting on 15th August, the Postal Executive will have no option or hesitation to carry out the terms of Emergency Motion E5 and set a timetable for a ballot of our membership on industrial action.
Yours sincerely

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)  
Email Attachments – Click to download
· Attachment 1 to LTB 410/17 – E5 Emergency Motion Four Pillars
· LTB 410/17 – Pillars of Security and Pay Negotiations

Pillars of Security and Pay Negotiations

Dear Colleague,
Further to LTB 403/17 regarding Royal Mail’s position on pensions, the Postal Executive at its meeting on 18th July 2017 discussed management’s current communication and actions and how it relates to Emergency Motion E5 which was unanimously carried at this year’s Annual Conference (copy attached for ease of reference).
Clearly the Motion represents the determined position of the CWU to resist management’s current approach and secure the best possible agreement for our members. However, we are fast approaching the deadline for those negotiations and yesterday the Postal Executive took the decision to assess progress at the next PE meeting scheduled for 15th August, and if sufficient progress has not been made it will then agree a timetable for a national industrial action ballot.
In respect of pensions, you will also note that Emergency Motion E5 also carried the policy that if Royal Mail choose to introduce any of their policies by executive action then an immediate ballot for industrial action should commence. On Friday 14th July 2017 Royal Mail Group issued an alert in a Commercial Organisation press release which strongly suggested that talks with the CWU on a new pension solution had ceased and that they would, by executive action, be offering our members a choice between their latest proposal of a mutant DC cash out at the point of retirement saving scheme, or the current Defined Contribution scheme.
The timing of this announcement also coincided with the news that Unite (who represent the managerial grades) will be holding a consultative ballot on Royal Mail’s latest proposal. Whilst it should be noted that Unite are not recommending the managerial offer they have said that the offer represents the best position achievable and are positive in regard to its Defined Benefit nature.
To be clear, we (the CWU) have totally rejected the offer as being anything like an acceptable solution to replace the pension promise and deferred wages in retirement offered by our current DB scheme and which both parties agreed was a key element of the reward package for our members in the Growth and Stability/legally binding agreement.
Whilst Royal Mail’s released update and their published communications with Unite would imply that the talks have concluded, they are also taking actions which suggest that the talks will continue. For example, on 18th July they released their latest trading update in which they state that the managerial union (Unite/CMA) believe that Royal Mail’s latest offer is the best position available but they are continuing to discuss future pension arrangements with the CWU. Equally, on Monday 17th July, Jon Millidge, (RM Group HR Director) contacted the DGSP Department seeking further meetings on the pension issue and I can report that a meeting has been arranged between Royal Mail, the CWU and our advisors, First Actuarial, for Tuesday 25th July.
This activity would suggest that they have not ceased negotiations on an acceptable pension solution but we will be seeking a straight answer before the meeting on 25th July to clarify if the company has ceased negotiations or are genuinely prepared to continue talks to find an agreed settlement.
In a final effort to try and reach an agreement on all aspects of the Four Pillars of Security and pay, the Postal Executive have also decided to write to the business offering a meeting between their lead negotiators and the CWU Officers, in an attempt to reframe the negotiations and understand if there is any meaningful desire to move all the issues forward and reach an agreement.
It is imperative that everyone understands that we are now at a very serious stage of these negotiations and that unless there is a substantial breakthrough prior to the PE Meeting on 15th August, the Postal Executive will have no option or hesitation to carry out the terms of Emergency Motion E5 and set a timetable for a ballot of our membership on industrial action.
Yours sincerely
Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

The Importance of Workplace Fire Drills – RMG Fire Safety Week
To: All Branches with RM Members
Dear Colleagues, 
What is a fire drill and why are they necessary?
A fire drill is a simulated emergency procedure which aims to emulate the processes which would be undertaken in the event of a fire or other similar emergency. It involves creating a situation which replicates what would happen if a real fire were to occur, with the inclusion of fire alarms, and requires all employees, and anyone else who may be within the property at the time, e.g. visitors, customers, contractors to evacuate. 
Fire drills are an important part of workplace fire safety procedures for many reasons. Preparation is the key to effective response to workplace fires. Fire drills help ensure that the workforce responds quickly, calmly and safely and that all staff, customers and visitors to the premises understand what they need to do if there is a fire. They also help to test how effective the fire evacuation plan is and are used to improve certain aspects of fire provisions. Along with fire alarms, fire exits, fire doors, fire extinguishers and fire safety signs, Fire Drills are an indirect, but equally significant, form of fire protection and aim to protect everyone who works within a Workplace building from the devastating consequences of fire. 
As well as testing that the fire alarms are working, carrying out a full fire drill will help to check other equipment such as fire doors, which are used when a fire alarm sounds. Checking that Emergency Lighting works effectively can also be carried out during the fire drill. If there are problems or weaknesses discovered with the emergency evacuation plans then the Person in Control (PiC), along with the Management team, Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Team, in consultation with Union Health and Safety Reps can work together to improve it. Additionally, immediate steps can be taken to rectify any problems with the building’s equipment, getting it fully checked out, repaired or replaced. If it’s found that Fire exits and routes are blocked, or too narrow for employees to quickly escape, remedial action can be taken. 
Fire Drills can often be viewed as an inconvenience by Managers and the Workforce alike. Not only do they disrupt the day and distract from valuable working time, they can also be perceived as a nuisance to staff and are often greeted with distain so it’s important to communicate the value and reasons for Fire Drills and that, in a real life situation, not knowing what to do may be putting their lives in danger. 
The intention is to make an evacuation in the event of a fire as simple, efficient and effective as possible, it involves running employees through the evacuation procedures, ensuring they are familiar with the plan and are able to get out quickly and safely. It is also intended to make sure relevant fire wardens know exactly what they are doing and can assist if their support is ever really needed. 
Fire Drill Frequency 
In Royal Mail Group there will be a minimum of one Fire Drill or (Fire Evacuation Practice) per year, per shift in each operational building. 
If a Unit Manager, in consultation with the RMG SHE Team and Union Health and Safety Reps decides to carry out further Fire Drills, more frequently than above, for operational of risk assessment reasons within the Office, e.g. due to the number of staff, size of the building, diversity of operations, joint user sites or other complexities, this is acceptable to RMG. 
Who is responsible for a fire drill and how often should be they undertaken? 
According to Fire Safety Laws in the UK, the person responsible for all aspects of fire safety in commercial and non-domestic premises is the owner, occupier or manager. Legislation refers to this person as the ‘responsible person’ (Person in Control – PiC) and, as such, they are in charge of ensuring all fire safety regulations, as required by law and enforced by local fire and rescue authorities, are fully complied with. 
The PiC, as the ‘responsible person’ has a number of duties, including planning for an emergency and providing staff with information, fire safety instruction and training. Therefore, they must make sure regular fire drills are carried out and conducted effectively, putting into place any remedial actions which must be taken as a result of the drill’s evaluation. 
In order to fulfill the legal obligations, and in accordance with fire safety regulations, fire drills should be conducted at least once a year (more often in environments such as schools and nurseries and high risk workplaces) and the results should be recorded and kept as part of the fire safety and evacuation plan. Additionally, all new staff should be informed of the fire evacuation procedures as soon as they start work and if a new fire risk is ever noted or recognised all employees should be informed. 
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 
In the United Kingdom fire safety was covered by about seventy pieces of fire safety legislation, the principal ones being the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997/1999. In 2001 it was therefore decided the legislation needed to be to simplified. This was achieved with:-
England and Wales – the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Scotland – the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Northern Ireland – the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) were introduced in 2010. 

[Note: The contents of this LTB have been agreed by the Royal Mail Group Property and Facilities Solutions National Fire Risk Manager] 
Yours sincerely
 
Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 404/17 The Importance of Workplace Fire Drills – RMG Fire Safety Week