Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains. Karl Marx.
Hi
Can you inform kindly all the Eastern Regional H&S Forum Reps that I’ll be on BBC Essex Radio Breakfast Show at 8:05am tomorrow Saturday tomorrow talking about the Low Level Letter Box Campaign and the recent Private Members Bill on the subject which was passed on Wednesday
Thanks
Dave Joyce
National H,S&E Officer
POST OFFICE – “SAVE OUR POST OFFICE” – WESTMINSTER HALL DEBATE: “FRANCHISING OF CROWN POST OFFICES AND THE EFFECT ON HIGH STREETS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES”
Further to LTB 010/19 dated 8th January. A three hour debate took place in Westminster Hall last Thursday 10th January regarding the Post Office’s ill-conceived franchising plans.
Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, who initiated the debate, opened the meeting with a strong message for Kelly Tolhurst the BEIS Minister with responsibility for Post Office. Lisa Nandy questioned why Wigan Crown Office, which has been at its town centre site for 134 years, can have survived two world wars and a global financial crash and yet it can’t survive three years of Tory government.
Over 25 MPs participated in the debate, and a key feature of many of their contributions was the condemnation of the Post Office’s privatisation plans per se and also disbelief surrounding the choice of franchise partner – WHSmith which has been voted the worst or second worst retailer on the high street by Which magazine for the last 8 years in a row. Questions were repeatedly asked as to why the government would allow Post Office to waste millions of pounds of public money (in pursuit of TUPE avoidance) to pay off our members and give this excellent public service away to an ailing retailer.
There was also strong criticism over the lack of meaningful public consultation and the Minister was questioned over why the public is not consulted over the principle and concept of franchising the Crown Office to WHSmith, but just on the narrow issues such as accessibility. There were references to a comment made by Roger Gale, Network & Sales Director at the recent APPG for Post Office meeting in which he stated that the franchising strategy was “a commercial decision for us alone”, which consequently renders the “consultation” a sham.
Many MPs called upon the government to instruct the Post Office to suspend its franchise programme and Lisa Nandy summed up with a crucial message to the Minister in her speech as follows:
“I ask the Minister today to place a moratorium on the franchising programme and to bring together stakeholders for a conversation about how to grow the business and make the Post Office fit for future challenges, rather than selling off one of our most valued public services to a failing retailer.”
Disappointingly but unsurprisingly the Minister responded by stating:
“As the Minister, I will not call on Post Office Ltd to stop the franchising process, but I will work with it to ensure that it delivers its business in the best way possible and benefits our communities.”
Conclusion
The Westminster Hall debate was extremely well attended given the current demands on MP’s time in relation to Brexit, although it was disappointing to note the distinct lack of Conservative MPs who failed to attend despite a significant number being affected by Crown Office franchising within their constituencies.
The Minister came under pressure to hold the Post Office to account and to meet again with a group of MPs to listen to their concerns. She agreed to “listen, hold Post Office Ltd to account and take those things forward.”
The Hansard transcript from the debate can be accessed by using the following link:
Video messages supporting the Save Our Post Office campaign on the day of the debate are also available:
Thank you for your continued support in this crucial campaign. Further developments will be reported.
Yours sincerely
Andy Furey – Assistant Secretary
Terry Pullinger – DGS(P)
Dave Ward – General Secretary
19LTB017 Post Office – Save Our Post Office – Westminster Hall Debate
ROYAL MAIL – HR SERVICES: Customer Perception Incentive Scheme (CPSI) – Quarter 3
I would like to advise Branches that our members working in Royal Mail HR Services have achieved a score of 61 in the CPSI Survey against the target of 50. As a consequence, all members will receive the full Quarter 3 (October – December) payment of £250 (pro-rata for part-timers) with January salaries.
Total Payment of £750 to date this Financial Year
This payment means that members will have received the full potential of £750 for the first 3 periods 2018/19, having exceeded the quarterly targets. Hopefully this positive trend will continue and a further £250 will be paid following Quarter 4.
If you have any questions in relation to this LTB, please contact Lea Sheridan – lsheridan@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
19LTB015 Royal Mail – HR Services – Customer Perception Incentive Scheme (CPSI) – Quarter 3
RE: ATTENDANCE AGREEMENT – CONTACT STRATEGY
Branches and Members will be aware we have been challenging the business to ensure the Attendance Agreement is applied correctly. There have been particular concerns about misuse of the contact strategy, which has included use of unagreed contact letters.
Following protracted discussions, we have now agreed a tri-partite statement with Royal Mail and Unite/CMA. The joint statement (attached) reaffirms commitment to the Attendance Agreement and deals specifically with the contact strategy which is a vital part.
Branches and members will be aware there have been ‘rogue’ letters sent to members which were not part of the agreed suite of letters associated with the Agreement. These letters have been removed and the only letters to be used are the ‘official’ letters on PSP.
We have also been made aware of the threats of and the actual stoppage of pay. There are only two situations where stoppage of pay may be considered:
Even in these cases stoppage of pay should only be considered after the employee has been contacted and offered the opportunity to contact the manager about the contact strategy / fit note, in line with the agreement.
All contact should be agreed, including face to face meetings. Within the agreement is states face to face meetings can take place at day 28, week 12 and week 22. There can be face to face meetings outside of these timings, however these should be agreed and not ‘demanded’ by the manager.
We are in dialogue around the wider issues within the attendance agreement. We will be presenting the issues collated in December to Management over the next few weeks and will be looking to come up with an action plan to ensure the agreement is being followed correctly.
Where breaches of the attendance agreement are taking place, representatives should challenge it immediately and escalate the issue via the achieving agreement framework, if it cannot be resolved.
All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 415. Email address: khawkins@cwu.org
Yours sincerely
Ray Ellis.
Assistant Secretary
19LTB020 Attendance Agreement – Contact Strategy
19LTB020 Contact Strategy Joint Statement Jan 2019 Final.Att
Royal Mail Group – Handbrake Safety and Avoiding Vehicle Roll Away Accidents: (RMG SHE Safety Alert – GP SA 2019 001Vehicle Roll-Away)
The attached Royal Mail Group Safety Alert has been issued to all offices this week for immediate communication and driver briefings through the line to all Collection and Delivery Drivers.
Following the continued problem of Royal Mail vehicles rolling away, with a worrying number over recent months, the attached Safety (SHE) Alert has been produced by the Royal Mail Safety Health & Environment (SHE) Team for immediate communication to all drivers in all offices.
This Safety Alert reinforces the ‘mandatory controls’ required when parking Royal Mail vehicles, to eliminate vehicle roll-away incidents. All drivers must adopt the safety standards to prevent vehicle roll-away incidents which can and have caused very serious injuries and even a fatality. Drivers can additionally place themselves at risk of prosecution by the Police for serious motoring offences and Royal Mail/Parcelforce may consider Conduct Code/Disciplinary Action if drivers ignore and fail to comply with safety control instructions.
Royal Mail report that accident investigations into roll away vehicle incidents have found that drivers generally do apply the handbrake in most cases but it’s not always fully applied and the drivers don’t leave the vehicle in gear or turn the wheels as an added safety precaution. If the driver makes an error applying the handbrake, if the handbrake is not fully applied or the handbrake fails, the vehicle can then roll away. There have been a worrying number of Royal Mail/Parcelforce vehicle roll-aways since 2014. In conclusion, drivers are failing to follow the “HIT” Acronym “Handbrake On, Vehicle in Gear, Turn The Wheels” when parking their vans. A slight incline or even just an uneven road surface can be enough to start a vehicle moving. It’s important that the ‘HIT’ safety controls are ALWAYS applied, even on level ground to develop good practice and good, safe driving habits.
The attached Safety (SHE) Alert is being issued to ‘raise the profile of this risk’ to all Collection and Delivery Drivers and to promote “HIT”.
The “HIT” Acronym:
Remember and Think “HIT”
The three controls required to fully and safely secure a vehicle so that it doesn’t roll away are:
If drivers suspect a vehicle handbrake is faulty, the vehicle must be taken out of service and booked into the Royal Mail Fleet Workshop immediately, using the PMT1 Fault Report process. Drivers should never try to physically stop a rolling vehicle.
Can all Area Health and Safety Representatives carry out safety spot checks and inspections to ensure that managers havecommunicated the Safety Alert message to all staff that drive Royal Mail Collection and Delivery Vehicles please.
Royal Mail Vehicle Fleet Handbrake Safety Developments:
The Health, Safety and Environment Department has been in discussions with Royal Mail Fleet for some time, firstly looking at what Handbrake Safety Technology is available on the market which is simplistic in design but has been engineered to make an enhancement to fleet vehicle operational safety and secondly Royal Mail Fleet and the CWU have been conducting trials of three types of Handbrake Safety Systems.
Two types are being trialled on LGVs. These are the ‘DAF factory system’ and the ‘Vision Techniques BrakeSafe system’. These two systems automatically apply the handbrake/park brake if the driver leaves the vehicle without applying the brake. LGVs have an airbrake system and automatic application via these new safety systems is possible.
On the Light Commercial Van Fleet, the ‘TVG Parking Brake Safety System’ was initially, successfully trialled on 4 Royal Mail Peugeot Partner vans and the Trial has now been extended to a further 100 new Royal Mail VW Caddy vans and 1 Parcelforce Mercedes Sprinter van. This system consists of an Electronic Control Module and Sensor fitted in the Handbrake Mechanism. The electronic module detects when the vehicle door is opened and immediately checks the status of the mechanical handbrake sensor which will output a reading, having measured the amount of force applied to the handbrake lever and cables. If the electronic sensor and module detects that the amount of force applied to the handbrake has not reached the threshold and is insufficient to hold the vehicle firm when parked, an immediate loud audible alert will sound warning the driver to fully apply the handbrake to a point where the force exceeds the minimum threshold and the warning alert will then cease. Compared with existing standard systems where the driver is subjected to a repetitive automated reminder, this system will only ever voice a warning/reminder if the handbrake is not fully applied. (See attached TVG Specification Document).
We have strongly expressed the view that these trials should be further extended at the earliest opportunity and beyond that rolled out nationally as standard, if the kit proves to be universally successful in reducing roll-away vehicle incidents.
LTB No. 088/2017 also refers.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
19LTB025 Handbrake Safety and Avoiding Vehicle Roll Away Accidents
RMG/CWU Road Safety Campaign – ‘Alcohol and Drugs While Driving & The Morning After Effect’ – “Be Aware” W/C Monday 21 January 2019
Background and Importance of this Road Safety Communications Campaign:
The Department for Transport (DfT) statistics show that ‘morning after’ drink driving offences now account for 20% of all drink-driving offences. The figures suggest that the basic warnings concerning drink-driving aren’t always being heeded. People think that going to bed is the same as pressing a reset button but it’s not! Research from ‘Brake’ the road safety charity and the ‘Think!’ anti-drink-driving campaign supports this and report that around 5500 people are failing breath tests between 6am and midday every year.
The January RMG/CWU Road Safety Campaign is about raising awareness of the serious impairing effects of alcohol and drugs on drivers, covering the morning after effects, amounts of alcohol guidance and effects of drugs (including over the counter non-prescription medications).
Alcohol and drugs seriously impair the ability to drive and the effects can continue into the morning after and this could lead to early morning drivers being especially at risk of collisions and injuries to themselves, colleagues or members of the public as well as prosecution with fines and jail sentences.
All Royal Mail Drivers have a legal responsibility to drive safely and minimise risk to themselves and the public. As part of the January business-wide Road Safety Campaign and focus on road safety, the aim is raising awareness of the serious impairing effects of alcohol and drugs on drivers, covering the morning after affects, amounts of alcohol guidance and effects of drugs (including over the counter). A series of Road Safety messages will be communicated with drivers during week commencing 21 January on Alcohol and Drugs while Driving.
Alcohol and the Morning After Effect:
Early morning drivers are especially vulnerable to being over the legal limits the morning after, risking collisions and their own safety and that of other road users and pedestrians e.g. injuries to themselves, colleagues or members of the public. So it’s wise not to drink the night before an early start.
Many drink drivers are caught the morning after they have been drinking as they don’t realise that it takes several hours for alcohol to disappear from the body and someone who was drinking late the previous evening, could easily still be over the limit on their way to work the next morning.
Many people drive vehicles the morning after they have consumed alcohol, believing that they are perfectly capable of driving in a safe and legal manner but this is not always the case.
Drugs (including prescribed and over the counter medicines):
It goes without saying that people should never drive if they’ve taken illegal drugs; Royal Mail Group has a zero-tolerance policy on drug abuse.
Many prescription and over-the-counter medications impair the ability to drive safely, for instance causing drowsiness, affecting reaction times, coordination, concentration or vision. These include some hay fever treatments, decongestants and cough medicines. If unsure, drivers should seek advice from either their G.P. Surgery or a Pharmacist.
A new drug drive law came into force in England and Wales in March 2015 and made it an offence to drive, attempt to drive, or be in charge of a motor vehicle with certain drugs in the body above a specified limit. This applies to illegal drugs, prescribed medicines and over-the-counter medicines.
Any staff member (Royal Mail, Parcelforce, RMSS, RMPFS, Engineering, Fleet etc.) having problems with alcohol or drugs can speak to their manager or they can ring the Royal Mail Group Feeling First Class helpline 0800 6888 777. Counselling, including referral to external sources for support, is available through this service to all employees.
CWU ASR Involvement:
ASR’s are to be fully involved and consulted on joint RSW activities.
ASR Activity Plan and Checklist:
By carrying out the following activities during w/c 21 January 2019, ASRs can help to raise the profile of Road Safety and keep our driver members safe.
Agree with your Operational Managers, which units you will jointly support during this Road Safety Campaign, and:
Use the Road Safety Campaign materials to talk to drivers about alcohol and drugs use while driving.
Ask Drivers:
Ask Front Line Managers:
Animation
The animation will be available on “On Demand” and on the link which is on the Managers’ Checklist (attached). This will become live late on Friday 18 January 2019.
ASR full involvement and support would be much appreciated by both Royal Mail Group (Royal Mail, Parcelforce, RMSS, RMPFS, Engineering, Fleet) and CWU/HQ.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
19LTB024 RMG-CWU Road Safety Campaign – Alcohol and Drugs While Driving & The Morning After Effect
ROYAL MAIL DRINKDRIVE POSTER 080118
RSC Alcohol and Drugs while Driving Jan 2019 ASR activity plan Final
RSW Alcohol Drugs while Driving – Managers Checklist Final
RSW Alcohol and Drugs while Driving – one-pager for logistics drivers
Royal Mail Vehicle Fleet Handbrake Safety Developments
Royal Mail has had a worrying number of vehicle roll-aways since 2014, some of which have caused very serious injuries and even a fatality plus in some cases extensive property damage and huge costs have resulted. Police prosecution for serious Road Traffic Act Driving Offences can also be a result.
Royal Mail Safety Alert – “HIT”
This week a further Royal Mail Safety Alert has been issued reinforcing driver safety standards and ‘mandatory controls’ required when parking Royal Mail vehicles, in a further effort to reduce and eliminate vehicle roll-away incidents.
Royal Mail with CWU support continues joint efforts to ‘raise the profile of this risk’ and to promote the “HIT” driver parking safely Acronym as follows:-
Remember & Think “HIT”
Handbrake Safety Technology
Additionally, the Health, Safety and Environment Department has been in discussions with Royal Mail Fleet for some time, firstly looking at what Handbrake Safety Technology is available on the market which is simplistic in design but has been engineered to make an enhancement to fleet vehicle operational safety and secondly Royal Mail Fleet and the CWU have been conducting trials of three types of Handbrake Safety systems.
LGVs
Two types are being trialled on LGVs. These are the ‘DAF factory system’ and the ‘Vision Techniques Brake-Safe system’. These two systems automatically apply the handbrake/park brake if the driver leaves the vehicle without applying the brake. LGVs have an airbrake system and automatic application via these new safety systems is possible.
Light Commercial Van Fleet
On the Light Commercial Van Fleet, the ‘TVG Parking Brake Safety System’ was initially, successfully trialled on 4 Royal Mail Peugeot Partner Vans and the Trial has now been extended to a further 100 new Royal Mail VW Caddy Vans and 1 Parcelforce Mercedes Sprinter Van. This system consists of an Electronic Control Module and Sensor fitted in the Handbrake Mechanism. The electronic module detects when the vehicle door is opened and immediately checks the status of the mechanical handbrake sensor which will output a reading, having measured the amount of force applied to the handbrake lever and cables. If the electronic sensor and module detects that the amount of force applied to the handbrake has not reached the threshold and is insufficient to hold the vehicle firm when parked, an immediate loud audible alert will sound warning the driver to fully apply the handbrake to a point where the force exceeds the minimum threshold and the warning alert will then cease. Compared with existing standard systems where the driver is subjected to a repetitive automated reminder, this system will only ever voice a warning/reminder if the handbrake is not fully applied. (See attached TVG Specification Document).
The 4 Royal Mail Peugeot Partner Vans fitted with the TVG Handbrake Safety System are located at;-
Kiln Farm DO, Woodbridge DO, Grimsby DO and Whitchurch DO.
The Parcelforce Mercedes Sprinter Van Fitted with the TVG Handbrake Safety System is located at Milton Keynes LD.
Going Forward
We have strongly expressed the view that these trials should be further extended at the earliest opportunity and beyond that rolled out nationally as standard, if the kit proves to be universally successful in reducing roll-away vehicle incidents.
Footnote:
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
19LTB023 Royal Mail Vehicle Fleet Handbrake Safety Developments
Draft-TVG-Parking-Brake-Safety-System
VW Caddy Maxi Vans Fitted With TVG Handbrake Safety System (Jan 2019)
All branches will be aware of the result last night on Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal which saw an historic defeat for the government on its flagship policy and resulted in Labour tabling a no confidence motion which will be heard later today.
The situation is very fluid and it’s important that we continue to set out the CWU’s position.
We have supported the call for a General Election and today we are calling for all Labour MPs to vote against the government on the no confidence motion this evening. We all know that the deal between the DUP and the Tory Party means this is unlikely to succeed. However, securing a general election and a change in government remains our priority and the best outcome for the country. We will continue to push for this whatever the outcome of tonight’s vote.
We took the decision yesterday to be very active in proceedings and you may have seen that our Head of Communications and his team gained access to College Green and were reporting live as events unfolded. We make this point because there were a number of really good interviews they were able to undertake, two of which (Vince Cable and Owen Jones) we are sharing again on the following links:
https://twitter.com/davewardgs/status/1085445457772535809?s=21
https://twitter.com/cwunews/status/1085287709021782021?s=21
https://twitter.com/cwunews/status/1085288708788637697?s=21
https://twitter.com/cwunews/status/1085294917474283520?s=21
https://twitter.com/cwunews/status/1085296371672981504?s=21
In the likely event that tonight’s no confidence vote goes down, we are firmly of the view that the defeat suffered by the government will open up opportunities for a different approach on Brexit and the government must take a different course in order to get a deal through.
In her statement last night, the Prime Minister made a calculated move to say she is now prepared to listen and reach out to other political parties in order to look at amendments to her deal that might gain overall support in Parliament, prior to going back to the EU.
It is clear that there is no majority for either a no deal or a hard right Brexit and the government must now face down the hard right Brexiteers within the Tory party and work with Labour in the interests of the country.
Should the no confidence vote be defeated attention will undoubtedly turn to the call for a second Referendum/People’s Vote. The NEC discussed the issue at length in November 2018 and branches will have seen the document we sent out on Brexit with LTB 684/18. As outlined in that document the CWU is not currently calling for a second Referendum and our position has been to try and unite our members around the campaign for a new deal for workers. As highlighted in the CWU’s interview with Vince Cable last night, it is difficult to see how we can bring people back together by simply re-running the arguments of the past two years.
The NEC will keep all developments under review and will discuss the overall situation again when it meets later this month. Finally, there is a link below to an interview I did earlier this morning with Chris Webb on my reflections on last night’s events and potential next steps.
https://twitter.com/davewardgs/status/1085470931122823168?s=21
Further information will follow in due course.
Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed togsoffice@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
RM Uniform Trousers – “Posting Peg” Pocket: (Anti-Dog Bite Finger Injury Device)
The National Joint Dog Attack Working Group has been considering the recent significant increase in finger injury and finger amputation dog bites through letter boxes along with feedback from members in delivery offices with high dog attack numbers and re-examining the feedback from an earlier trial of postmen and postwomen’s trousers modified with an additional, specifically designed Posting Peg pocket added – the feedback from which was very positive. The Posting Peg pocket is a ‘ruler type’ design pocket usually found on workmen’s overalls.
In all of these finger bite through letter box injury cases, the victims broke the ‘Golden Rule’ of not putting their fingers though the letter box opening and when asked why they hadn’t used the ‘Posting Peg’, many victims replied that they had forgotten it and had either left it back at the office, left it in the van or left it on the trolley so the Dog Awareness Working Group are of the view that a specific pocket for the ‘Posting Peg’, designed into the trousers, may overcome that problem and make it easier to carry as the Posting Peg is awkward to carry in the standard design pockets.
Discussions have taken place with Royal Mail Assets and the National Uniform Manager about the benefits of adding a ‘Posting Peg’ pocket, to the uniform trousers from which there are potential benefits and the cost of introducing this additional pocket is minimal.
Engagement sessions held at CWU National Conference, Uniform Roadshows and Courier questionnaire returns from the front line workforce have also regularly supported the idea of an additional ‘Posting Peg’ pocket.
The current National Royal Mail/CWU Joint Dog Attack High Impact Units Campaign has also seen this suggestion for a ‘Posting Peg’ pocket requested by many CWU delivery members.
The National Uniform Manager has confirmed to the Health, Safety & Environment Department that Royal Mail is currently out to tender for the uniform supply contract, the outcome of which will be the awarding of a new contract from April 2020. As a result of this, the design brief for delivery staff trousers includes the need for a posting peg pocket in the design.
As a final footnote to this, the following should not be forgotten; The Law (Dangerous Dogs Act) requires dog owners to keep their dogs under control at all times and to prevent their animals from attacking and injuring postal workers and others on both private property as well as in public places. This law change was won by the CWU after a 7 year campaign. Dog bites through the letter box are a criminal offence. Owners should prevent their dogs attacking the letterbox or if not, then they can fit a letterbox cage or an outside letter box which are options to prevent attacks. Additionally the Posting Peg is not suitable for all items of mail and indeed all types of letter boxes but is a tool provided to be used appropriately by postmen and women which the Union fully supports. However, there are occasions where some managers try to blame members for attacks through the letter box which is totally wrong and should not be the case as the dog owner has committed a criminal offence against the postal worker.
In conclusion, the current trend of finger injuries is worrying and anything that can be done to reduce the trend is worth considering. The change to be introduced to the trousers design by the National Uniform Manager Sam Dixon is therefore welcomed.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
19LTB021 RM Uniform Trousers – Posting Peg Pocket (Anti-Dog Bite Finger Injury Device)
General Conference 2019 – Obituary List
It is the practice to include in the General Conference Agenda a reference to those members who have served the Union in many different capacities and who have sadly died since the previous Conference.
Please let us know the names of those members of your Branch whom you wish to have included in the Obituary List.
Following the decision of the National Executive Council, the Obituary list to be published in the General Conference Agenda shall include the names of all members who have died in the previous twelve months, as notified by branches.
To enable the list to be prepared for inclusion in the Agenda all names must be received no later than Friday 15th February 2019.Unfortunately, any names received after this date will not be able to be included. Notification should be either by letter addressed to Angela Niven at Headquarters or by email to conferences@cwu.orgInformation supplied should include initials, surname and branch.
Any queries on this paragraph should be addressed to Angela Niven, CWU Headquarters.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 