Final message before Christmas. Here’s the General Secretaries message to reps and members. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year and thanks for sharing and supporting all our work.

CWU Communications Department

https://fb.watch/2ApRx93-oo/

🌲 🎅🏼

Link to live session – please share

https://fb.watch/2xWcJpFAzD/

Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash – Increased use of Pallets and Cardboard Containers During Christmas Peak – Fire Hazard Caused By Build-Up of Unmanaged Combustible Materials:

Introduction:

The attached ‘Safety Flash’ (SHE Flash FY20 022 ‘Housekeeping and Pallet Storage’) has been issued by Royal Mail Group’s Safety, Health and Environment Group to RM Distribution, RM Logistics, RM Processing and Parcelforce.

The shortage of York Containers during the combined Pandemic and Christmas pressure period has resulted in the increased use of wooden pallets and cardboard containers. The knock-on effect has been a build-up of hazardous, combustible, ‘fire-risk’ materials in a number of sites which has been left unmanaged.

This ‘fire-risk’ has been identified and reported by ASRs and visiting Enforcing Authority Inspectors requiring remedial action.

Key Message:

• All waste, including pallets and cardboard must be managed at all times.
• Interior site: must not have excess build-up of waste materials, must not block or impede any designated pedestrian access routes and fire exit routes.
• Exterior site: must not store waste within 10 metres of the building unless assessed on an individual basis and agreed with the SHE Advisor.
• RMG insurance requirement is for internal stacking of pallets to be no more than 5 high in a maximum of 4 stacks with a separation of 1.8m between stacks.

Key Managers’ Activities and Learning Points set out in the Safety Flash are to:

• Ensure all combustibles are kept at a safe distance from the buildings and ignition sources.
• Ensure there is no build-up of combustibles within the building, specifically along fire exit routes, blocking fire exits, within plant rooms and gantries and nowhere close to any ignition source.
• Display Safety Flash on the SHE Notice Board and brief employees on the flash content and SSOW.
• Review the Pallet and Non-Wheeled Containers Task Risk Assessment.
• Review your Fire Risk Assessment where any action is taken or processes changed.

Area Health and Safety Reps 

Would all CWU Area Health and Safety Reps please note and communicate the content of the Safety Flash, supporting the key messages and learning points, reminding members of the importance of looking after their own safety as well as the safety of work colleagues and to report all fire safety hazards and unsafe working conditions.

Attachment:

• RMG SHE Safety Flash FY20 022 Housekeeping and Pallet Storage

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

20LTB610 Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash – Increased use of Pallets and Cardboard Containers During Christmas Peak

SHE Flash FY20 022 Housekeeping and Pallet Storage

Shared Vans – Withdrawal By Royal Mail (Tier4 Lockdown Areas):

A small number of incidents ‎have occurred where local Managers have claimed to have ‘dispensation’ from the Withdrawal of ‘Shared Vans’.  THIS IS UNTRUE.

I would draw your attention to LTB No. 602/2020issued on 21 December 2020‎ entitled “Royal Mail Withdrawal of Shared Vans – Following Covid-19Tier 4/Lockdown Announcements in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland:”

Following the weekend’s Tier 4 Lockdown announcements by UK governments, the Royal Mail Executive Board decided, as an ‘emergency measure’ to withdraw their current shared van arrangements – putting the safety of the workforce and the public first.

The Union certainly welcomes that prompt reaction to the Government announcements as the Union’s position has remained that shared vans should not have been reintroduced in the first place (See LTB No. 489/20 dated 6 October 2020).

Royal Mail state that this is a ‘temporary cessation’ of the use of shared vans in Tier4/ Lockdown areas which will be kept under review.

This means shared vans should have stopped in the England listed Tier 4/Lockdown areas and in Wales (from 20 Dec), and will also stop in Scotland and Northern Ireland (from 26 Dec).

Royal Mail will be keeping this decision under close review.

The following areas of England entered Tier-4/Lockdown from 20 December:

• Greater London (all 32 boroughs and the City of London)
• Kent
• Buckinghamshire (including Milton Keynes)
• Berkshire
• Surrey (excluding Waverley)
• Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth
• Rother and Hastings
• Bedfordshire
• Hertfordshire
• Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring)
• Peterborough

THE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS

If there should be any Delivery Offices reportedly ignoring the Royal Mail Mandatory Instruction, ‎ASRs need to verify it then it should be taken up with the DOM, OM and SHE/BP immediately to get it stopped.

SEE ATTACHED COMMUNICATIONS FROM Dr. SHAUN DAVIS GLOBAL DIRECTOR SHE, SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY – FIRSTLY ANNOUNCING THE WITHDRAWAL AND A SECOND COMMUNICATION TO CWU/HQ ISSUED TODAY RE-AFFIRMING THAT THERE ARE NO DISPENSATIONS FOLLOWING AN INCIDENT WHERE LOCAL OPPS. MANAGEMENT CLAIMED WRONGLY THAT THERE WAS!

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

20LTB611 Shared Vans – Withdrawal By Royal Mail (Tier4 Lockdown Areas)

Updated shared vans policy

Shaun Davis 23122020

A few bits of media coverage on the deal you may want to share

Express https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1375866/royal-mail-pay-dispute-end-deal

Mail https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/money/markets/article-9079983/Royal-Mail-unions-reach-agreement-end-two-year-dispute.html

BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55406135

Morning Star https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/posties-secure-national-agreement-royal-mail

CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 – TIER 4 – ENGLAND

On Saturday 19 December 2020 the Government in England announced further lockdown measures known as Tier 4. We have had discussions with Royal Mail about what this means for members, especially our Clinically Extremely Vulnerable members who live and/or work in Tier 4.

Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Members

If you live in Tier 4 in England you should NOT travel to work, even if your workplace is in Tier 1, 2 or 3.
If you live in Tier 1, 2 or 3 and work in Tier 4, you should NOT go to your normal place of work. If you cannot work from home, you may be contacted by your line manager to discuss working in a location near to your home address, which is not within Tier 4.

Only Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Members in Tier 4 are advised to shield.

Pay

Any member who cannot work from home and is shielding will receive full pay, even if you are due to move to half or nil pay. This includes members who have less than 12 months service who would normally receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

Royal Mail’s communication on the above is attached to this LTB.

Any enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 420 Email address: khawkins@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Carl Maden
Assistant Secretary (Acting)
PTCS Department

Attachment 1: 20LTB609 – Coronavirus Covid-19 – Tier 4 – England

Attachment 2: Coronavirus new restrictions announced

TERMS OF REFERENCE BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL LOGISTICS AND THE CWU REGARDING A PROOF OF CONCEPT TRIAL BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Branches and representatives will be aware that there that is currently a shortage of LGV drivers in the UK and that this position is not anticipated to improve in the short term.

Issues such as an aging demographic, the introduction of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) and difficulty in candidates gaining the relevant experience employers seek has reduced the supply of new drivers to the industry.

This clearly presents challenges for Royal Mail going forward in respect of recruitment and retention of Professional Drivers. In an attempt to address this issue, for some years the business and the Union have worked together via the Driver Career Path agreement and recruitment opportunities to develop internal driver abilities and progression to try to address this issue and this will continue in the future.

It is recognised however that the use of agency is still required, particularly at peak times of year. Discussions have therefore been taking place in respect of possible solutions that would provide RM with the additional cover required at peak times and also make them more attractive in the recruitment market going forward.

The opportunity that has been identified involves the Royal Logistics Core (RLC) who has over 500 drivers with the Class 1 Licence available in a younger age range. However, due to the nature of the activities that RLC perform their drivers do not hold the required DCPC as they do not drive on public highways and this would of course need to be rectified before they could drive for any haulage company.

The MoD have approached Royal Mail with a mutually beneficial proposal to trial the use of their drivers at RM sites at peak times of year. The trial would enable the RLC drivers to obtain the required DCPC and gain experience of driving commercially, which would open employment opportunities for them when they leave the service. Royal Mail are one of 4 companies who would be involved in the Proof of Concept trial.

The department has therefore been in discussion with the business in relation to securing a Terms of Reference for the trial activity and an agreement has now been concluded, a copy of which is attached for information.

In summary the trial phase is expected to commence in January 2021, this may however be subject to change due to support that the army is providing to the Government in relation to Covid-19 test kit activity. The trial will involve the following Royal Mail VOCs:

•  Swindon VOC
•  Greenford VOC
•  Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre

8 MoD drivers with the required licences will be assessed by an ADC as per the agency driver induction standard for their suitability and capability for the trial. If the driver is unable to drive to the required standard, they will not be able to participate in the trial.

Once drivers have been assessed and are deemed suitable for the trial they will have a two-week period of job shadowing to ensure they fully understand Royal Mail processes and procedures. The drivers involved in the trial activity who pass the training and assessment stages will be available to drive commercially for Royal Mail.

It has been confirmed that while on secondment with Royal Mail army personnel will be wearing appropriate civilian clothing with the required PPE for their duty. They will not be wearing their army uniform.

The trial will not have any impact on employee earnings, i.e. SA etc., or duty numbers during the trial period. To this end MoD drivers will only be utilised after all internal coverage has been exhausted and prior to agency drivers being facilitated for cover.

All Health & Safety Procedures and SSoW will be maintained throughout the trial activity. Ministry of Defence drivers involved in the Proof of Concept trial will be subject to the same security procedures as Royal Mail and Agency drivers and will be required to maintain Royal Mail business standards throughout their involvement in the trial activity. Drivers will be subject to all current rules that underpin driver CPC and all legal requirements supporting this activity including the recording of driving and working hours on Vision.

The CWU will have full involvement at all levels and will be involved in all aspects of the initiative including implementation, monitoring and assessment of the trial. The local CWU Representative will be given the appropriate release to ensure their full involvement in the process.

The trial activity will be overseen by the joint Network Working Group (NWG) supported by local, Divisional and ADC expertise where necessary.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org quoting reference: 211.07

Yours sincerely

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

20LTB608

Attachment 1 – TOR MoD Driver Proof of Concept Trial 22.12.20

RMG & CWU KEY PRINCIPLES FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT (THE PATHWAY TO CHANGE)

We are pleased to announce that at its meeting yesterday the Postal Executive unanimously endorsed the negotiators’ agreement reached with the Royal Mail Group on Friday 18^th December 2020.

This agreement marks the end of our two year dispute with Royal Mail Group and brings closure to one of the most adversarial periods of our history. It builds upon and does not replace our previous agreements including the spirit and intent of the 2018 Four Pillars Agreement. It reflects and re-positions a joint philosophical approach to the future based on growth not decline, opportunity and optimism, and a re-designed Royal Mail Group, importantly including Parcelforce, thriving in the modern day.

It has been negotiated during the most unpredictable circumstances in a generation, with Royal Mail Group predicting between a £400 – £800m loss this year and 10,000 to 14,000 job losses over the next three years. We have seen businesses closing, jobs being lost, workers’ terms and conditions being attacked and record numbers of unemployment.

However, as the year has gone on the circumstances and opportunities for RMG have changed.  Those circumstances have massively advanced the change anticipated in our previous agreements in parcel growth which has placed huge pressure on our current design and our members. It has illustrated the challenge going forward and the real need to change and expand our operations to seize the opportunity and determine a positive future out of adversity, protect this great public service and our members’ employment, standard of living and retirement security.

Be in no doubt this agreement could not have been achieved without the amazing support of our members, the dedication and work of our Representatives at all levels, and the astonishing human effort by postal workers keeping the country connected during this pandemic.

We now need a sustained period of pragmatic progress and industrial peace and we must be clear with our members that change carried out at pace and in line with this and our other agreements is the route to a positive future.

The Agreement 

A full copy of the agreement can be found here:

http://www.cwu.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Joint-draft-KEY-PRINCIPLES-FRAMEWORK-AGREEMENT_18_12_20_Final.pdf

A summary of the key points, as laid out under each heading in the document, are set out below.

Introduction

This is an important scene setter that represents a major shift from the previous narrative of managed decline to a clear recognition that through the efforts of the workforce during the pandemic and despite continuing letter decline, there are now enormous opportunities to grow the business.

The Strategy and Future Direction of the Company

This confirms the future strategy that the company and the CWU will now jointly pursue and represents a reversal of the direction the company were taking under the previous senior management, which without doubt would have led to parcel growth being pursued through separate structures, whilst leaving Royal Mail to wither on the vine.  The union can now justifiably claim that through this agreement we have shaped the future direction of the company including;

• Confirmation that the existing workforce and infrastructure will now be at the heart of all plans for future growth and that the company will no longer limit its ambitions just to parcels.

• To secure and grow Royal Mail Group’s position as the UK’s number 1 parcels company.

• A new strategy to expand the role of postal workers beyond letters and parcels by exploring new commercial markets, supporting communities and developing new local to local services. This will be achieved by tapping into the knowledge of frontline workers and building on the trust that they have with customers.

• Confirmation that letters and the USO will continue to be an important part of our future.

Culture 

The agreement accepts that to be successful in the future we must change the culture within the business, particularly on the frontline.  This is all about ensuring that local managers, CWU Representatives and employees are encouraged and empowered to agree local solutions on day to day operational issues.  We all know that changing culture is ultimately a matter of actions not words and the union has made it clear that we will work tirelessly to ensure that genuine local empowerment becomes a reality throughout the business.

Capturing Parcel Growth

The agreement recognises that capturing parcel growth is essential to our future and that the opportunity to do this is here now and will be at a premium over the next two years.  This will mean all of us accepting the need to introduce change at a greater pace, including;

• Revision activity (driven by local solutions) to rebalance letters from parcels, reflecting the change in volumes between the two. These revisions will also focus on maintaining the USO (Q of S) and improving overall efficiency across the business, whilst taking full account of the ongoing implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The need to maximise parcel capacity in our existing networks.
• The development of a 24/7 operation and the introduction of Sunday deliveries (initially on a voluntary basis).
• The introduction of new automated parcel hubs and the creation of an enhanced network through a major joint review of the whole operation, whilst ensuring there is no reduction in the existing Mail Centre and RDC estate.
• A commitment to maintain and invest in the Parcelforce brand, whilst improving productivity and developing synergies with the rest of the Royal Mail Group.
• Agreement that use of owner drivers in Parcelforce will not spread to the rest of Royal Mail.

Job Security

The agreement recognises that in the current Covid and economic climate job security is crucial to employees and the union has secured the following commitments from the company;

• As change is deployed we will avoid compulsory redundancies and the next joint review of this commitment will be in May 2023.
• Our existing MTSF voluntary redundancy terms will continue to apply and the next joint review will be in May 2023.
• The legal agreement that protects us from the break-up of the company and replacing existing terms and conditions with insecure employment models will now be extended and the next joint review will be in May 2023.

Technology

The agreement recognises the need for the greater use of technology and agrees the rollout of Scan in/Scan out and restarts the trial of Resource Scheduler.  In agreeing this technology, the union has secured ground-breaking protections for employees and CWU Representatives.  These protections will ensure that as technology is rolled-out we will not allow the exploitative practices that bear down on workers (as seen in companies that operate in the wider post and logistics sector), will not de-humanise the workplace and ensure that the key decision makers in the workplace are the local

manager and local Representative and not the technology.

Improving Efficiency/Productivity

The agreement recognises that to secure our future as we introduce change, it is also important that we improve overall efficiency within the business.  This will be done on the basis of recommendations from the relevant Joint Working Group that was established under the previous Four Pillars agreement.  This will also support greater fairness and manageable workloads.

As part of this commitment we have agreed a new productivity measure (WIPWH) and further work will be undertaken by the JWG to agree relevant standards across the operation and a three-year flightpath programme to achieve these.

Pay

The union has now secured a two year pay and conditions deal that represents a vast improvement on all of Royal Mail’s previous offers and that in the current climate will be seen as one of the best settlements around.  In achieving this, there is no doubt that the work our members have done throughout the pandemic in meeting customer and societal needs significantly improved the company’s financial position and this has facilitated the following;

• Year 1 – April 2020 to 2021 – a 2.7% pay increase backdated to April 2020 and flowing through to all appropriate elements of pay.

• April 2021 to March 2022 – a further 1% pay increase flowing through to all appropriate elements of pay, plus the introduction of the second hour reduction of the Shorter Working Week. The second hour reduction to be introduced by October 2021 through the local revision activity set out in the agreement.

• For part time employees and those on the new 35 hour contracts, the Shorter Working Week element will be reflected through increased hourly rates.
• All business units within the Royal Mail Group will receive the same two year deal, or the equivalent value of this in regard to the Shorter Working Week.
• Additionally, we have reached agreement to develop new local incentive schemes that will support plans for growth and increased revenue.

Working Together 

This section recognises the need for us to restore relationships and to work together in a way that introduces change more quickly.  This includes a commitment to a new trials process and revised Dispute Resolution Procedures.  These will continue to be based on our existing IR Framework and will protect all current CWU interfaces, whilst also ensuring that the union continues to negotiate on all issues that impact on our members’ terms and conditions.

Next Steps

Following the publication of this LTB, in conjunction with the Communications Department, we will be developing a plan to engage with Branches, Representatives and members to explain the terms of the agreement and allow space for an open and transparent debate. The plan includes the following:-

• A Senior Field Officials Briefing is taking place today at 12pm.
• A live Facebook session will be held today at 4:30pm
• An online National Briefing for CWU Representatives in January 2021
• A National Ballot of CWU members in January 2021, timetable to be sent out in due course.

Conclusion 

This agreement meets the demands in our dispute and maintains the high standard the union has always set itself in protecting its members, we believe it faces up to the challenges of our time and is an excellent agreement.

We have now established a set of principles on pay, Shorter Working Week, job security, change and the future direction of the company that will give us the best opportunity we have ever had to secure our future.

Finally, in thanking our members and Representatives for their continued support, it’s vital we now throw the whole weight of the union behind delivering this agreement.

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) hford@cwu.org and relevant Postal Officers.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger                                                             Dave Ward

Deputy General Secretary (P)                          General Secretary

Andy Furey                                                                Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary                                           Assistant Secretary

Mark Baulch                                                                Carl Maden

Assistant Secretary                                             Acting Assistant Secretary

LTB 607.20 RMG and CWU Key Principles Framework Agreement – The Pathway to Change

Some press coverage of the deal to share

Sky News https://news.sky.com/story/landmark-deal-to-end-dispute-at-royal-mail-12170128

Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/12/22/posties-win-inflation-busting-pay-deal-royal-mail/

FT https://www.ft.com/content/d7380a80-eefe-42a5-a1ea-eef08b3913a0

CityAM https://www.cityam.com/royal-mail-settles-industrial-dispute-over-pay-and-operational-changes/