Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains. Karl Marx.
CWU REDESIGN PROJECT – NATIONAL BRIEFING 13TH MARCH 2018
Further to LTB 81/18 CWU Redesign Project regarding the National Briefing being held at the Midland Hotel, 16 Peter Street, Manchester, M60 2DS on the 13th March 2018, please find attached for the information of Branches an advance copy of the Agenda.
Any enquiries should be addressed to the gsoffice@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
CWU Education & Training Courses / UCU Industrial Action
You will be aware that members of the UCU are currently taking strike action in defence of proposed changes to their pensions.
Owing to the formal arrangements that the CWU has with colleges around the UK, including within the devolved nations, the dispute has meant that to ensure CWU support with the UCU, any scheduled accredited courses have been cancelled.
We have assured Branches and individual students that we will be looking to reschedule these as soon as possible.
The greatest impact involves the following courses:
• Advanced Skills Part 1 course (Alvescot Lodge) scheduled for 12th – 16th March 2018 will now to take place from 30 April – 4 May 2018
• The Postal Agreements & Procedures course (Alvescot Lodge) scheduled for 30 April – 4 May is postponed and all those that have applied will be transferred to the course running from 2 – 6 July 2018
All effected Branches and representatives have been informed but this LTB reinforces the position.
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to:
Lee Wakeman (lwakeman@cwu.org) or Maxine Todd (mtodd@cwu.org).
Yours sincerely,
Trish Lavelle
Head of Education & Training
18LTB141 – CWU Education & Training Courses – UCU Industrial Action
Branch BAME Officer Positions
The CWU Rule Book makes provision for the role of BAME Officer to be included in the Branch Officer makeup and we are eager to see all our CWU Branches fill these positions accordingly.
The CWU is also keen to ensure that we maximise the opportunities available to our members from under-represented groups to become involved in our trade union structures.
If you require any advice and guidance or assistance regarding the above please contact the Equal Opportunities Department on dnoel@cwu.org.
Attached for your information is a copy of a guide to the role of BAME Officer.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
RoSPA Survey – Supporting Those Working In Health and Safety:
Dear Colleagues,
Introduction
Gavin McNab, Business Development Project Manager for The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has contacted the CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department requesting participation of CWU Reps in a new survey. RoSPA is conducting a survey to better understand how it can support those working in a health and safety environment.
Background
RoSPA is interested in your views and opinions on your relationship with RoSPA, including how you feel about what they do, how you rate and value different aspects of the services that RoSPA provides for safety professionals/Safety Reps.
Why is it important to take part in this survey?
Responses to this survey will help RoSPA to understand how to invest in and prioritise the services they maintain, the services they develop and the ways the organisation can help the Safety community to access and benefit from those services.
How long will it take?
The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete.
To make it as easy as possible for you to take part, the below link will take you to a personalised survey. Your responses will be saved as you move through the survey so you may continue where you left off at any time.
‘Research by Design’ is an independent market research consultancy which is undertaking the survey on RoSPA’s behalf. Your answers will go directly to them and, although RoSPA will see the overall results, your answers will remain anonymous.
Enter the survey here:-
RoSPA has thanked in advance all those completing the survey and for helping with this very important project.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
18LTB136 RoSPA Survey – Supporting Those Working In Health and Safety
Wolverhampton Mail Centre Loading Bay Roof Collapse
Dear Colleagues,
This is a brief report to Branches in response to enquiries received in relation to the above.
The Wolverhampton Mail Centre Warehouse Loading Bay Roof collapsed on Friday night at around 9:45pm.
What normally is a very busy area was at the time deserted due to the bad weather conditions preventing normal operations in the area and fortunately there were as such no casualties by sheer luck. The roof section came down on ten of the Mail Centre’s fleet of 7.5 tonne vehicles which remain in situ, in a cordoned off area and are in effect are holding up the collapsed roof for approximately two thirds of its length whilst plans are made to remove the damaged roof and then safely extract the vehicles from beneath it. The end section of the roof came down, virtually to the ground, on top of smaller vehicles which were severely damaged. The fallen roof also impacted the traffic office.
It is thought that the heavy snow fall caused a huge build up on the roof and the weight of snow on the roof was the cause of its collapse but an investigation has been launched involving expert structural engineers in order to determine the exact cause.
The fire service and structural engineers examined the building in the aftermath and determined that there is no risk of further collapse whilst further detailed structural engineering investigations take place.
The CWU National Health, Safety and Environment Officer visited the Mail Centre shortly after the incident and discussions have been taking place with the Director of Property Risk, Compliance & Assurance, the Head of Safety Health & Environment and Operational Management about the incident and what needs to be done.
Royal Mail Property, Royal Mail Opps and Royal Mail Group SHE have been working over the weekend and this week with specialist construction experts and structural survey engineers, firstly to ensure the area affected is suitably cordoned off such that access is prevented and that there is no further risk to staff at the site. This was the primary focus of the initial period following the incident.
The area of the collapse is now secured and cordoned off and remains out of bounds to all personnel whilst contingency arrangements have been put in place to keep operations going at the Mail Centre as best they can in alternative areas.
The next steps for RM Property & Facilities includes an in depth investigation into the root cause of the structural failure. This will take time and the intention is to make sure it is done thoroughly and the cause of the collapse is fully understood.
The removal work will only commence once input has been received from structural engineers and safety specialists as to the safest way to remove the canopy roof and the vehicles trapped beneath. All work will be done in accordance with the Construction Design Management (CDM) Regulations and will have the support of the RM Property Team throughout.
Plans will then be drawn up and initiated to clear the area and carry out any safety checks and works to stabilise the area and to ensure no danger exists before removal of debris and any necessary demolition works commence.
Following that any temporary repairs and fix will be considered and subsequently permanent remedial construction works longer term will be progressed.
RM Property has fully acknowledged the severity of the incident and the root cause analysis that must now be undertaken. When more information is available, the Health, Safety & Environment Department at CWU/HQ will be updated on the findings.
Locally, the CWU Area Safety Rep and other branch officials have been and will continue to be briefed and consulted and will be fully involved ongoing as the remedial action planning to get things put right is developed with the appointed specialist contractors.
The CWU National Health, Safety and Environment Officer has also contacted the HSE and has called for the incident to be formally reported to the HSE and declared as a Dangerous Occurrence.
This could have been a very different situation and outcome had drivers been in their vehicles and other staff been working on, in and around the loading bay area and in the yard. Therefore we have called for a thorough, full structural survey and investigation into the construction of this area and the rest of the building and other Royal Mail buildings, to ensure there are no recurrences.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
18LTB135 Wolverhampton Mail Centre Loading Bay Roof Collapse
Facebook Q&A on the Four Pillars
Colleagues,
Last night Terry Pullinger, DGSP and Ray Ellis, Assistant Secretary held a live Q&A session on the Four Pillars.
You can view a recording of the event by clicking the link below. Please share this with all your colleagues.
https://www.facebook.com/ThecommunicationsUnion/videos/1687203008025838/
#TheCWU
Here is a pensions FAQ from CWU HQ – Hopefully this will be useful when engaging with your members #PowerOfTheUnion
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 