COVID-19 (Coronavirus) – CWU MEETINGS/EVENTS – UPDATE

Branches will recall the contents of LTB 128/20 issued on the 17^th March 2020 outlining our position on the above.

Months on from that LTB we have revisited its contents in light, particularly, of the announcements made by Government regarding what some call the easing of lockdown.

We are not debating here the merits or otherwise of the Governments approach it is simply that the Government have made some changes to their initial advice and we have to take a view around how this may or may not impact our initial announcement.

In considering this issue we also sought the views of both the Industrial Departments and in particular whether the major employers have made substantial changes to their previous positions, particularly in the area of travel.

What has to guide our approach on this issue is the view that what matters most is still the health and wellbeing of our members and representatives. By this we mean we should not be instructing, asking or suggesting that our representatives take any unnecessary risks.

In making that point we are then led to the conclusion that the advice contained in LTB 128/20 still applies, as follows this means the cancellation of:

• NEC and Industrial Executive meetings and associated subcommittee and industrial business meetings.
• All CWU schools/training and CWU organised events.
• Branch Annual General meetings/Membership meetings.
• All Regional meetings.

It also means a continuation of the following:

• Implement an avoidance of all non-essential travel policy within the CWU.

In relation to the final bullet point above, we do understand that there may be some extreme emergency situations that could require a rep to attend a meeting of some sort. Our advice would be that in such circumstances the use of public transport should be avoided and that if attendance at a meeting in an emergency situation is required, then social distancing (2 metres) must apply at all times and PPE would have to be provided and used. Again we make these points because the safety of our representatives and members is the key issue at this time.

However, it is important to remember that CWU Representatives are not CWU employees, they are employed by other companies, BT, Capita, EE, o2, POL, Royal Mail Group, Santander and so on. As a result, their employer could well have issued strong guidance or rules that they expect all employees to follow in response to this pandemic. It is not our intention to issue advice that puts our representatives in conflict with their employer on this matter, hence the advice contained herein.

Separately we are also in discussion with the trade union representatives of our employees regarding the opportunity of a return to work at 150 The Broadway for a very small number of staff. These discussions are at an early stage and further details on this will be shared once those discussions have concluded but we wish to be clear, any small scale opening of work areas at 150 The Broadway will be for employees i.e. staff of the CWU only. Our duty of care to them as their employer dictates that visitors to the building be they either CWU Representatives, members or from external companies is not being considered as part of these discussions.

Any comments or questions on the above should be addressed to Tony Kearns at sdgs@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,Dave Ward

General SecretaryTony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 310/20

£200 COVID-19 Recognition Payment

I write following the publication of LTB 290/20, in which it was advised that further representation was being made with the business regarding the criteria for calculating payment for those part time members who worked in excess of their conditioned hours during the 8 week reference period (Monday 16^th March – Sunday 10^th May). In addition further clarification was sought regarding those members required to self-isolate for a 14 day period.  A response has now been received and is reproduced below for ease of reference.

Q:        I would respectfully request that the company reconsider the qualification criteria for payment for our part time colleagues and exceptionally apply the terms of the agreed criteria we have in place?

A:         The purpose of making the one-time discretionary Covid-19 payment was to make a meaningful acknowledgement to as many colleagues as possible who worked through this challenging period.

As you acknowledge, this payment was not planned.  In order to make the payment in the timeframe eligibility criteria needed to be used.  We have used a structure that is simple to understand, given the short timeline before payment.

Just to reiterate what I said in my previous letter, there are some similarities in terms of eligibility and calculation with the Christmas Supplement, that is paid to just OPGs, albeit not directly the same.  This is a one-off discretionary non-contractual payment.  This payment is based on appropriate eligibility criteria linked to colleagues contracted duty hours.

This does not change the agreements reached as part of the Guiding Principles Agreement (which you refer to as Four Pillars Agreement).

Q:        If someone has been forced to isolate for a two week period only, do they still get a pro rata payment?

A:         In short, they will be eligible for the payment and the amount will depend on what type of leave they used for the isolation period.  The Christmas Supplement was used to help inform the eligibiity approach for this one-off discretionary payment.  Therefore, eligibility is based on the type of leave taken in that two-week period.  For example, for each full week an individual receives no pay during the period (e.g unpaid Special Leave etc) the individual will lose one-eighth of the discretionary payment).

In summary, only those colleagues that agreed to vary their conditioned hours of employment for the reference period up to or pro rata to 38 hours will be entitled to receive the £200 payment.

Colleagues who were self-isolating on no pay will be abated 1/8^th for each week they were not at work.  Colleagues who were self-isolating on full sick pay will receive the full £200.

I am aware that some individuals will be disappointed at this response, however as previously pointed out, this is a non-contractual/one-off discretionary payment to acknowledge the contribution made by those CWU members who were able to support the operation throughout the above period.

The union has as far as reasonably possible endeavoured to ensure that the payment criteria be extended to cover as many members as possible. Against that backdrop it is time to put a line under this particular issue and concentrate our efforts on dealing with the real challenges that the union and its members will need to address in a postal market that has dramatically changed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)          

LTB 309/20 – £200 COVID-19 RECOGNITION PAYMENT

Equality, Education & Development Department – New Facebook Page

The Equality, Education & Development department are currently in the process of fully merging our social media platforms with the assistance of our Communications, Engagement & Media Department. 

We are delighted to announce that today we are launching our “new look” Departmental Facebook page. 

The page is accessible with or without a Facebook account and can be viewed via this link: www.facebook.com/CWUEqualityAndEducation 

The page will be used to share videos, articles and reports on the work, projects and events that the Department is undertaking and advancing on. 

We have a programme of activities planned to support the launch this week including: 

– A live session with the communications team at midday on Thursday 11th June. 

– A live Pride event at 6pm on Thursday 11th June. 

Other pages and platforms will gradually be closed down to ensure a consistent approach and to avoid duplication. 

Branches, representatives and members are encouraged to like the page and share it as widely as possible.

Yours sincerely, 

Kate Hudson 
Head of Equality, Education & Development 

LTB 307/20 – Equality, Education & Development Department – New Facebook Page

Facebook – Live Video AutoCaptioning

Dear colleagues,

As we have previously reported, we have been working hard and investing significant resources into making our communications as accessible as possible.

Today, we launched new streaming software, which we will use for major live video communications to members. We have received confirmation this software supports Facebook AutoCaptions which means viewers can turn on subtitles for live broadcasts.

We are delighted with this development and hope it gives branches further evidence of the efforts we are going to in order to reach every single member.

We have produced this short video to show you how to turn on the auto captioning service: https://vimeo.com/427350909

Kind regards,

Chris Webb
Head of Communications, Engagement and Media

LTB 304/20

Logistics Covid-19 Response – Occupational Driver Updates

Attached for information are the following Covid-19 Driver Updates that have been received from the business, further to revised guidance from the Department for Transport (DfT):

Annex A – DfT This Week in Logistics Briefing
Annex B – Logistics Comms Driver CPC
Annex C – Logistics Comms Tachograph Renewal 
Annex D – Logistics Comms Driver Photocards

Branches and representatives are requested to ensure that members are made aware of the attached information as soon as possible.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org quoting reference 014.14

Yours sincerely,

Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary

LTB 303/20
Annex A – DFT This Week in Logistics Briefing
Annex B – Logistics Driver CPC validity extended
Annex C – Logistics Tachograph card renewal
Annex D – Logistics Drivers granted seven-month photocard licence extension

Covid-19 CWU Survey and impacts on people with protective characteristics

The Equality, Education and Development department have become increasing aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected some sections of the population more than others, and that there are growing concerns that minority groups are being disproportionately affected. 

To raise awareness of some of the issues affecting people with protected characteristics the department has produced the attached report setting out some of the key points emerging from recent research and analysis. The report reviews the evidence that black and minority ethnic communities are at greater risk of catching and dying from the virus than their white counterparts. It also considers the impacts coronavirus is having on other minorities such as women, people with disabilities and LGBT+ groups. Exploring the government’s reactions, the report highlights what the trade union movement has been calling for in response. 

Whilst it is important that members and representatives are made aware of these issues and responses, it is vitally important that we conduct our own CWU research to help inform our CWU lobbying and campaigning work. We are particularly interested to hear about the impact of Covid-19 on our members, therefore the department has produced a short questionnaire for members and representatives to participate in. The survey will take less than 3 minutes to complete. A link for the survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DMTMW6F 

The closing date for the survey is 30th June 2020. Please share your experiences of COVID-19 and fill in the survey. 

Any queries on this LTB should be directed to equality&education@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development 

LTB 302/20 – Covid-19 CWU Survey and impacts on people with protective characteristics

LTB 302/20 Attachment – Covid 19 – impacts on people with protective charateristics

COVID-19 – RETIRED MEMBERS

As you will no doubt be aware elder people are amongst those considered to be particularly susceptible to coronavirus.

We recently held an online meeting with members of the Retired Members Committee and a discussion took place around checking in on our retired members.

A number of Branches have already written to their retired members, making contact with them and offering assistance.

Attached to this LTB is a draft letter that we would like Branches to send to their retired members where possible as part of efforts to keep an eye on those considered more vulnerable during this difficult time. We appreciate that a number of Branches will have instigated their own approach when it comes to keeping in touch and the Retired Members Committee are extremely grateful to those who have done this.

Any further assistance that can be given, by way of sending a local version of the attached letter would be greatly appreciated.

In the meantime, the Retired Members Committee passes on its best wishes to all Branches and would like to thank you in advance for any assistance you can give on this matters.

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

LTB 301/20

Suggested Draft Template Letter for Branch Retired Members

View Online

Celebrating Windrush Day Windrush Webinar – Monday 22nd June 2020, 6-7pm

Further to LTB 261/20, we attach a flyer for the above event. We would be grateful if you could share this widely on social media and with your members. The full details for the webinar are now confirmed and these are as follows: 

The event will be chaired by Eastern Region’s BAME Lead, Janice Richardson. Guest speakers include: 

Bishop Dr Desmond Jaddoo – Chair of the Windrush Movement UK Amrit Wilson – Writer & Activist Ian Taylor – NEC & North West Divisional Rep Tony Kearns – Senior Deputy General Secretary Ali Moosa – NEC BAME Lead 

A special solo vocalist performance has also been confirmed to round off the evening. 

The event does not require registration and will be available to view live on the CWU’s Facebook page. 

The CWU is committed to highlighting Windrush issues as part of our wider strategy fighting structural racism and tackling the hostile environment that sees many people from the BAME communities suffer inequality and injustice. 

Any queries on this LTB should be directed to equality&education@cwu.org 

Yours sincerely, 

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

LTB 300/20 – CWU Windrush Day Webinar Monday 22 June 2020 6-7 pm

Attachment 1

View Online

Coronavirus Covid-19 Issues – CWU Courses (2)

Further to LTB 148/20, we are pleased to report that students attending Certificate courses in Occupational Health & Safety and Employment Law are being given the opportunity to complete their studies (online) through Ruskin College before the end of the Academic Year. 

Meetings are continuing with our Partner College/s to further explore ways of progressing an accredited activist education and training programme given the continuing restrictions. 

It should be noted that accredited classroom based training and education provides numerous advantages for the trade union movement. It affords us legally binding release agreements and compliance within trade union legislation. 

As some school children return under strict controls and certain other restrictions are easing, it is crucial that the CWU remain consistently clear in our approach. 

Therefore, any and all classroom based training is not to take place until further notice. This is the case for both activist training (regional or residential); and lifelong learning for members e.g. within our many CWU Learning Centres. 

Branch Union Learning Centres exist both within employers’ premises and CWU owned property. Looking to the mid-term future we are working on a generic risk assessment for both. This will not replace the employers own risk assessment – but it may compliment it and assist Branches. 

We will continue to offer bespoke, unaccredited and informal zoom workshops on a regular and focused way as well as those on CWU Left-Click and outlined in LTB 148/20. 

We will of course continue to review the situation as developments progress. 

Yours sincerely, 

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

LTB 293/20 – Coronavirus-Covid-19-Issues – CWU-Courses update 2