POST OFFICE: POSTMASTERS – ELECTION OF TWO NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Last August the Post Office announced it was to appoint a Postmaster as a Non-Executive
Director (NED) to sit on the Post Office Board to “advocate the interests of more than
8,000 Postmasters” (press release from 17th August attached). This development came
about following the various rulings of Judge Fraser against the Post Office in the Horizon
court case and the subsequent establishment of the Horizon Inquiry chaired by
Sir Wyn Williams. Nick Read, CEO, has consistently said he wants to “reset the
relationship” with Postmasters, and giving Postmasters a voice on the Board goes some
way towards this, providing they are fully independent and accountable to those they
represent.

Whilst we welcomed the appointment of a Postmaster NED when it was first announced,
we obviously had concerns over the appointment process; the fact that just one new
director was being proposed; the need to ensure that the director was independent in
order to hold the Post Office to account; and over whether the director was going to be
chosen democratically via an election or selected by the current Post Office Board and
Government. Dave Ward, General Secretary, therefore wrote to Paul Scully MP, Post Office
Minister, in late August to highlight these concerns and also to urge him to consider the
CWU’s proposal that alongside any Postmaster seats, there should be an additional place
on the Board for direct employees of the Post Office, being elected from a Crown Office,
or within Supply Chain/Admin.

I also raised the matter of a second Board appointment for Postmasters directly with
Nick Read, Post Office CEO, at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Post Offices
meeting on 2nd November as he was in attendance at the invitation of the Chair,
Marion Fellows, SNP MP. We were concerned as it could be perceived that one
Postmaster’s voice would be a hollow or token gesture and therefore a further Postmaster
NED was required.

Further Announcement – Two Postmasters as Non-Executive Directors

On Monday 4th January, following an informed media report from Sky News on Sunday 3rd,
the Post Office confirmed there will now be two Postmaster NED appointments to the Board
which is a positive development and one we argued for (press release and “One Update”
communication from Nick Read attached). A further positive is that the process appears
to be being run independently of the Post Office and BEIS and there will be an election for
the position. Following a selection process by independent recruitment specialists, Green
Park, a number of candidates will be interviewed by an independent selection panel who
will then put a shortlist of candidates to a vote of the Postmaster community in March.
The election will be overseen by Civica Elections Services (formally Electoral Reform
Services – ERS) and the two candidates with the most votes will be recommended to the
Board and the Post Office Minister for final approval. The new NEDs are expected to
commence their roles from 1st April.

We welcome these developments with an additional post and an election process, however
we intend to raise a number of further questions about the election and shortlisting
processes and the shortlisting panel, and we will be following the selection process
carefully as clearly it needs to be fair and transparent throughout to win the confidence of
postmasters. In particular we will be closely following any further announcement
regarding members of the independent selection panel for the interviews for selection for
the ballot as the list published earlier this week doesn’t seem to be exhaustive.

CWU to Call Upon the Post Office/BEIS to Allow for an Additional NED

Whilst Monday’s news is welcome, we also don’t believe this goes far enough in terms of
representation for every Post Office worker which we have pushed for and we will therefore
be writing to both Nick Read and Paul Scully MP to propose once again that our directly
employed members are properly represented by having a spokesperson from this group
elected to a further NED position on the Board.

We will also be proposing CWU engagement with the Post Office on a range of issues in
relation to the NED role including confidentiality, training, ongoing
engagement/communication with Postmasters, conflicts of interest, etc. We also wish to
pursue greater transparency around the shortlisting criteria. Furthermore, we believe
there should be an appeals process involving an additional independent panel if an
applicant is not selected for the ballot and can demonstrate they have good reason to
appeal the decision.

Of course, any seat on the Board cannot replace the need for trade union representation
and collective bargaining either for Postmasters or employees. We continue to push the
Post Office to recognise the CWU as the only truly free and independent voice for
Postmasters and are raising this alongside the questions we have about NED positions on
the Board.

Further developments will be reported.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

LTB 008/21 – Post Office – Postmasters – Election of Two Non-Executive Directors

Attachment 1 to 21LTB008 – PO Press Release 2020.08.17

Attachment 2 to 21LTB008 – PO Press Release 2021.01.04

Attachment 3 to 21 LTB008 – One News Special – A message from CEO Nick Read 2021.01.04

RMG & CWU KEY PRINCIPALS FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT (THE PATHWAY TO CHANGE) CONSULTATIVE BALLOT TIMETABLE

Further to LTB 607/20 circulated on 22^ndDecember 2020 the timetable for the consultative ballot is detailed below. Ballot Papers will be dispatched and returned by First Class Post.

• Ballot Papers Dispatched Monday 18^thJanuary 2021
• Ballot Closes First Post Wednesday 3^rdFebruary 2021
• Result announced Wednesday 3^rd February 2021 (Afternoon)

Online Voting

The option to vote online will also be available for Postal CWU Grades taking part in this consultative ballot. The online option will be via a secure voting site administered by Civica specifically for this ballot. The details and instructions for the online option will be contained on the ballot paper.

Please note that members will only be able to vote once, either by post or online, the software system used to count the votes will not allow more than one vote to be counted for each member.

All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be referred to the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) Department (hford@cwu.org) or Senior Deputy General Secretary Department (lparrett@cwu.org) as appropriate.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)   

LTB 007/21 – RMG & CWU KEY PRINCIPALS FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT (THE PATHWAY TO CHANGE) CONSULTATIVE BALLOT TIMETABLE

NATIONAL BRIEFINGS – RMG & CWU KEY PRINCIPLES FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

(THE PATHWAY TO CHANGE)

Further to LTB 003/21 issued yesterday, for the avoidance of doubt please note that the following Representatives are invited to attend the Parcelforce Worldwide Briefing listed below:

• PFW Depot Representatives
• PFW Area Representative

Thursday 7^th January 2pm – 5pm– Parcelforce Briefing

Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary.

Link to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ld-CgqTsrEtWYgQ0_Or0zuWBgwUgcf-eS

The business has agreed that release will be provided for Representatives to take part in the Briefing.

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 005/21 – NATIONAL BRIEFINGS – RMG CWU KEY PRINCIPLES FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT – THE PATHWAY TO CHANGE

CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 – Lockdown Measures within the UK

Due to the increase in cases and the new variant of Covid-19, further lockdown measures have been announced and we have been discussing these further measures with Royal Mail.

Shielding – Clinically Extremely Vulnerable – CEV
In Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland Members in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Category cannot go to work even though we have key/critical worker status. You must stay at home.
Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Members should shield  immediately. If you have not already received a letter, you will be receiving a letter from the relevant Government/NHS and should be sent to Royal Mail when received.

Pay
Clinically Extremely Vulnerable members will continue to receive full sick pay, this includes members who have less than 12 months service.

Royal Mail have put out a communication which is attached at Appendix A.

Contact Numbers
Many members experience difficulty during lockdown. Please find below some helpline numbers you may find useful.

Refuge Domestic Abuse 0808 2000 247
Mind 0300 123 3393
Samaritans 116 123
Anxiety UK 03444 775 774
Calm 0800 58 58 58
Crisis text line (text) 85258
RM First Class Support 0800 6888777

Furlough

We are disappointed Royal Mail have not offered Furlough for members whose children cannot attend school. We have written to Royal Mail today to allow our members, whose children do not have access to school to be furloughed with full pay.

Review Dates

Whilst all devolved nations are providing the same shielding advice, the review dates are not. The review dates for each devolved nation is below:-

Wales January 18 2021
Scotland Beginning of February 2021
Northern Ireland Mid-February 2021
England Mid-February 2021

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

Yours sincerely

Carl Maden
Assistant Secretary (Acting)
PTCS Department

21LTB004

App.A

CWU Social Media Directory

Dear colleagues,

Over recent years, the whole union has significantly enhanced its presence on social media. We have seen some fantastic work from Branches, Regions and Divisions.

We want to put together a directory of all the CWU accounts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We will then share this document with all branches on a regular basis to enable you to follow, like and share each other’s accounts.

On that basis can we request Branches, Regions and Divisions to send names and details of their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts via email to Marcia Murray mmurray@cwu.org

The cut off date for emails will be February 5th.

If this piece of work is successful, we will then branch out to other social media channels.

Kind regards

Chris Webb

Head of Communications, Engagement and Media 

LTB 006.21

POST OFFICE: SUPPLY CHAIN – SOCIAL DISTANCING – JOINT STATEMENT

Branches are advised that the following Joint Statement regarding social distancing in
Supply Chain (all workplaces) has been published:

JOINT STATEMENT POST OFFICE, CWU AND UNITE
Social Distancing in Supply Chain

Post Office, Unite and CWU are continuing to work together to ensure we
prioritise making the workplace as Covid-secure as possible. Our aim in
collaboratively working is to enable us to react quickly to any challenges that
arise.

As essential workers we all recognise the importance of continuing to operate,
especially as many in society and across local communities and in particular the
most vulnerable rely on us to provide the services they need.

It’s clear that we are seeing infection rates climb and areas being hit by this
new strain of highly contagious CV-19, and we have also seen more areas move
into Tier 4 lockdown as a means to slow down and control the rate of infection.

The Health, Safety and Wellbeing of colleagues is our number one priority so it
is essential that everyone follows the advice that has been given, utilising
without fail the PPE that is in place to protect us all. Therefore, everyone must
continue to follow the guidance below:

• Everyone must respect each other’s space and maintain social distancing at
  all times. It is easy to forget this when dealing with an issue or when
  engrossed in work, but it is essential we keep those safe distances between
  each other.
• Continue to follow the good advice on keeping hands clean at all times.
  Regular washing with soap and water or hand sanitiser, wearing gloves
  where available and being mindful when touching common surfaces such as
  door handles etc.
• Wear a face mask when you are moving around operational units – ideally
  keep one on at all times you are in the workplace, but absolutely wear one
  without fail when moving into communal areas.
• Ensure that before you enter a room it is safe to do so – no small meeting
  room should ever have more than 2 people in at a time, rest areas such as
  staff canteens should have a maximum of 5 people who continue to be
  socially distanced at all times this may mean break times need to be
  staggered.
• Signing on areas and entry / exit points should also be limited to no more
  than 1-2 people at a time.
• Continue to reach out to your manager, union safety reps or safety
  champion and highlight anything that puts colleagues at risk.
• Car sharing should not be undertaken under any circumstances unless those
  sharing the car are in the same support bubbles – use face masks and keep
  windows slightly open to ensure that air is moving constantly.
• Ensure you are following the Tier advice that pertains to your own area of
  residency and when you are out and about continue to follow the Hands
  /Face / Space message at all times.

The next 4-8 weeks are going to be crucial in order to continue to keep
ourselves, our Postmasters, our DMB colleagues and customers safe and well,
while efforts continue to bring the rate of infection down.

We will of course carefully monitor all related developments from government
and communicate these accordingly. If you are unsure or need further
clarification on the above, please speak to your manager or union rep who will
advise you. You can also find further details on the Hub Coronavirus microsite
or government Covid19 website.

Russell Hancock                       Phil Savage                         Andy Furey
Supply Chain Director               Unite the Union                   CWU Assistant Secretary
Post Office

Branches and Representatives are urged to bring this LTB and associated Joint
Statement to the attention of our Post Office Supply Chain members.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

21LTB001 Post Offie – Supply Chain – Social Distancing – Joint Statement

Health, Safety & Environment Department LTB Digest for 2020

As in previous years the Health, Safety & Environment Department is circulating, for the particular attention of Safety Representatives, a digest list of LTBs issued by the Health, Safety & Environment Department during 2020.

I attach for your information a digest list of LTBs issued by the Health, Safety & Environment Department during 2020 which the department issues annually as a reference document.

Copies of all back-number LTBs are available for downloading via the CWU Website or on request directly from the Health, Safety & Environment Department.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

21LTB002 Health, Safety & Environment Department LTB Digest for 2020

Health, Safety & Environment Department LTB Digest for 2020