Key Principles Framework Agreement (Pathway to Change) – Agreement between Royal Mail and the CWU on the guidelines for the implementation of the Shorter Working Week (SWW) for Fleet Admin Grades.

Further to LTB040/2021 where I stated we were in discussions around the shorter working week for our Fleet Admin members, I am pleased to announce we have now reached agreement.

The full agreement is attached to this LTB.

There will be negotiations between the CWU Fleet Territorial Representatives and the AFMM to reduce the current hours from 39 to 38.

Whilst there will be options locally for how the reduction in the working week will take place, our suggestion is to take it off the back end of the week, so there is no interference with the pay input on a Monday and Tuesday.

The trigger for the Shorter Working Week is the introduction of new technology, a paperless environment.

The implementation of the Shorter Working Week will take place on Monday 5th April 2021.This is obviously a good news story for our Fleet Admin Members and we will brief our Fleet Territorial Representatives on the agreement and encourage negotiations to
start as soon as possible.

I would like to place on record my thanks to Alan Tate, Postal Executive Member, who concluded the negotiations on behalf of the department.

All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 220. Email address: khay@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Carl Maden
Assistant Secretary (Acting)

LTB 075/21

Joint Statement Fleet Admin Shorter Working Week

TUC EVE OF BUDGET ONLINE NEW DEAL FOR WORKING PEOPLE RALLY – 2^ND MARCH 2021 – 7.30 P.M.

The purpose of this LTB is to advise Branches that the TUC will be holding an online Eve of Budget Rally on Tuesday 2^ndMarch commencing at 7.30 p.m.

The rally is designed to advance the call that in dealing with the economic outcome of the Covid pandemic, the Government must deliver a new deal for working people as its key priority.

All Branches will be aware that CWU has led this campaign by calling for the movement to harness our collective strength, agree shared industrial and political demands and a mobilisation programme that can shift the balance of forces in the world of work and wider society.

We are also emphasising the need for this to be positioned as a distinct trade union agenda, which must be pursued separately from any work we do with the Labour Party. 

Given the role the union has played in advancing this agenda, we are encouraging all CWU Branches to attend and are asking you promote the rally with your reps and members. 

The link to register for the event is set out below:-

https://tuccampaigns.typeform.com/to/y9PhHKA3

CWU speakers will be confirmed in due course.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

LTB 078/21 – TUC EVE OF BUDGET ONLINE RALLY 2ND MARCH 2021 – 7.30 P.M

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BRANCH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS AND BRANCH GENERAL MEETINGS

Branches will recall that at the outset of the Covid 19 pandemic in March 2020 CWU HQ issued guidance in respect of the convening of Branch AGM’s and Branch Membership meetings. This was contained in LTB 128/20.

The guidance was published in accordance with the relevant restrictions and legislation that had been published by the Government at that time. The main restriction, relevant to the holding of physical attended Branch meetings, was that events which involved large gatherings of people were not allowed to take place and, unfortunately (almost 12 months later), the situation regarding such meetings remains the same.

It is fair to say that at the time of issuing the original guidance in the above LTB we did not envisage that 12 months later that it would still not be possible for the CWU to be able to hold member meetings in the same way as we had done in the past.

As a result of this and following consultation with the CWU President and Vice President, we believe it is now necessary for the CWU to review the situation and to issue further guidance to branches and further to introduce regulated changes that will allow branches to convene decision making meetings in which members can participate.

This is pertinent as most branches would normally be arranging AGM’s at this time of the year and therefore we have received a number of enquiries seeking authority for meetings to take place and for guidance on how these can operate during the pandemic.

For ease of reference the Branch Model Constitution contains the following wording;

Each Branch shall hold an Annual General Meeting by no later than 31^st March of each year. Not less than 28 days’ notice shall be given to members of the Annual General Meeting and branches shall be responsible for publishing the agenda and timetable for the submitting of motions and amendments etc.

Quite clearly during the current pandemic it is not possible for branches to comply with this branch rule and therefore this requirement as set out has been suspended until further notice.

That said we believe it is now essential that branches are once again able to consult with their members at meetings, place important and urgent issues before them for decision and seek agreement on branch policy matters. A number of branches have already successfully held meetings using electronic meeting tools and we believe other branches are able to do the same.

We have therefore set out below how this can happen and have provided further guidance and a framework of how branches can now begin to arrange decision making member meetings.

Guidance on Decision Making Branch Member Meetings including Annual General Meetings

The democratic principles of the CWU are founded on the union ensuring that members are fully involved in our decision making processes and that they are given the opportunity to receive reports from their elected branch officers/committee on issues of branch policy and finance, etc. thereby giving them their say on matters that impact upon them.

It is also important that branch members are given the opportunity to put themselves forward, where appropriate, as candidates in relevant representative elections for local, regional and national representative positions in accordance with their entitlement as set out in the national rules of the union, this normally happens at branch meetings.

In order to be able to do this and be compliant with the COVID 19 restrictions Branches should now begin to make arrangements for decision making member meetings to take place in the coming months. All such meetings will need to held virtually and be conducted via a suitable video conference platform such as Zoom or Skype, etc. that provides the opportunity for large numbers of members to participate in the meeting either by joining online via a laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. Branches will need to ensure that the platform it is using is not restricted to a set number which may then result in some members not being able to join the meeting. Further information regarding this can be obtained from CWU HQ.

Notice of Meeting 

Branches will need to provide suitable notice for meetings. This notice should be given at least 14 days before the date of the meeting.

The notice should contain the details of how members can participate and join the meeting, and should contain the agenda for the meeting including the wording of any particular policy, motions or relevant documents that are going to be placed before the meeting for a decision.

Branches will also need to give the opportunity to members to submit their own motions (or amendments to motions being submitted by the Branch Committee) to the meeting.

Branch Finances

Branches should ensure that regular detailed financial updates are produced containing, as a minimum, a breakdown of bank account balances, income received and expenditure. This information should be published and circulated to members by all means at the disposal of the Branch.

Members should also be given the opportunity to raise questions on branch financial matters at member meetings. Branches should also place a comprehensive detailed summary of their annual accounts before a member meeting for approval at the earliest opportunity. Ideally this should be done at the virtual AGM or if this is not possible at a separate meeting called specifically for this purpose.  

Voting Arrangements 

All major online meeting systems have the facility for individuals to show their support or not for a particular position or proposition.  Branches will need to familiarise themselves with the facility of the system they are using and publish the arrangements on how such voting will take place during the meetings to their members.

Additionally, Branches will need to ensure they have a mechanism in place to verify attendees as actual members of that branch before allowing the attendees to vote. This is obviously needs to also take account of the rights to vote of retired members or not in certain circumstances.  As per the rule book.

Branch Nominations 

In respect of seeking nominations for relevant positions from members, branches will need to put in place a robust system and use all reasonable methods to advise members of positions for which nominations are being sought and for which endorsement is being sought at the meeting.

Conclusion

As you would imagine it is not possible for CWU HQ to be absolutely prescriptive about what arrangements will operate in each Branch.  There may well be individuals who, as would be the case in face to face meetings, for a number of reasons cannot participate at the set time and date of the meeting.  We do not believe that this factor, as with meetings in person, should be a barrier to any Branch organising a meeting to include as many of their members as possible in line with the above guidance.

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 076/21

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POST OFFICE: ONE YEAR PAY AGREEMENT – 1ST APRIL 2020

I am pleased to be able to report we have concluded a one year pay agreement from 1st April 2020 for our Post Office members which was unanimously endorsed by the Postal Executive earlier this week. In the event that our members ratify the pay agreement in the consultative ballot, full arrears backdated to 1st April 2020 will be made with April’s salaries. The attached Joint Statement was published late yesterday confirming the headlines of the agreement.

Key Features of the 2020 Pay Agreement (One Year Duration)

Crucially there is no conditionality, meaning the following key features are all beneficial:

• 1.5% pay increase – the headline pay increase of 1.5% applies from 1st April 2020 and flows through to all allowances, overtime rates, Scheduled Attendance and London Weighting.

• Bonus Consolidation: £750/£900 – we have secured the consolidation of bonus monies for all members from 1st April 2020. This means that as part of the arrears, our Crown and Admin/Supply Chain members will receive for 2020/21 £750/£900 respectively.

• New Pension Tier of 8% Employee/12% Employer contributions – the current maximum tier for pension contributions is 7%/11% (employee /employer). This has now been improved with a new tier which in total would put 20% of pensionable earnings into the scheme. This position is further improved with bonus consolidation (which is elaborated upon below).

• MTSF VR Payments – Removal of the Taper for those aged 64.5 and above – we have also agreed to remove the taper that was detrimental to members taking VR who are aged over 64.5.

• Removal of the Statutory Sick Pay Position for New Entrants in their First Year of Employment – during the pandemic, the Post Office has quite rightly suspended the application of SSP for new entrants (for Covid related illnesses/shielding). SSP will now be ceased going forward for new entrants.

• Pay Review Date 2021 – the next pay review date will be 1st April 2021.

New Higher Pension Tier (8% Employee and 12% Employer Contribution)

This additional benefit applies if members agree to pay 8% into the scheme. Those members already paying 8% or greater into the scheme voluntarily will immediately benefit with the employer’s contribution increasing to 12% (backdated to 1st April 2020). The table below demonstrates the new top tier in comparison to the previous arrangements:Employee ContributionEmployer ContributionNew Top Tier8%12%Previous Top Tier7%11%

£900 Bonus Scheme Consolidation – Admin/Supply Chain (Pro-Rata for Part-Timers)

The Admin & Supply Chain bonus scheme currently pays a maximum of £1,000 p.a. for on-target performance. The last bonus payment made with 2020 salaries was £874.62 for Admin members and £887.31 for Supply Chain, for the period 2019/20. Accordingly, as the consolidation of the £900 is fully pensionable, the Post Office will pay the employer pension contribution for each scheme member on the full £900. The new maximum employer contribution is 12%; therefore, once you add this money to the £900, this essentially means that our members (paying 8% into the pension scheme) will be receiving the full value of potential bonus payments as the employer would actually be paying £108 into the pension scheme.

The positive impact of bonus consolidation is not restricted to the pensionability as it would also improve hourly pay rates which in turn will flow through to overtime rates and also Scheduled Attendance payments (for Crew members).

£750 Bonus Scheme Consolidation – Crown Offices

The Crown Office scheme is a workplace based scheme with different payments for each Crown Office based upon performance. Consequently, we are pleased with the £750 figure as many Crowns have struggled to achieve good bonus payments in recent years. In fact, the scheme hasn’t been particularly lucrative for our members overall; therefore the £750 will be recognised by the majority of members as being beneficial. The same point about pension contribution as outlined above applies to the £750 (12% of employer pension contribution amounts to £90).

UPAP – For Part-Time Members (Crowns Only)

For our Crown members, as the bonus scheme pays equal amounts to both full and part-timers per Crown, we have protected the full value of the £750 by a combination of pro-rata consolidation based on contractual hours together with a monthly UPAP payment to account for the differential between the consolidated amount of money and the £750. An example of this is as follows:

➢ Part-timer on 17.5 hours contracted (50% of a full-timer’s contracted hours) would receive £375 consolidated into basic pensionable pay and the remaining £375 (making £750 in total) would be paid as a monthly UPAP supplement.

The UPAP supplement is also pensionable and is reckonable for MtSF/VR calculations which ensures there is no detriment whatsoever to part-time members. The UPAP supplement will also be uprated through future pay agreements, thus protecting the value of it going forward.

£550 Bonus Scheme Consolidation for Product Specialists (PS)

For our PS members (c.200) who work in Crown Offices, there is a further consolidation of £550 (making £1,300 consolidated in total when adding the £750). The same benefits above in terms of pensions equally apply to this bonus consolidation.

New Basic Pay – Full Value of the 1.5% Pay Increase Coupled with the Bonus Consolidation

The benefit of the 1.5% pay rise coupled with the bonus consolidation provides for consolidated pay increases across the various grades of c.5% (the PS is greater by virtue of consolidating £550+£750).GradePay as at 31st March 20201.5% from 1st April 2020Bonus ConsolidatedIncrease in Pay vs 31st March 2020CSC – Crowns (Bonus £750)£23,160.49£23,507.90£24,257.904.7%Product Specialist (Bonus £750+£550)£23,160.49£23,507.90£24,807.907.1%Crew (Bonus £900)£28,362.91£28,788.35£29,688.354.7%Admin PO (Bonus £900)£25,565.46£25,948.94£26,848.945.0%Admin PA (Bonus £900)£21,804.38£22,131.45£23,031.455.6%SO1 Swindon Warehouse (Bonus £900)£24,203.94£24,567.00£25,467.005.2%

The various percentage increases above crucially flows through to the hourly pay rate and in turn overtime and also SA rates (for Crew members only).

Conclusion & Next Steps

Ballot Timetable

The Pay Agreement will now be the subject of an individual members’ ballot; the timetable is as follows:

• Ballot papers dispatched Wednesday 10th March
• Ballot closes and result declared Wednesday 31st March

I am certain the members will welcome this agreement overall. Whilst all of us would have wanted a better headline for the pay increase, the agreement has to be viewed holistically as it is a package of benefits. There is no actual downside to the agreement as conditionality is absent. The improvement in pensions, with the employer increasing their maximum contribution to 12%, is clearly a positive step in the right direction. Additionally, the consolidation of all bonuses into basic pay protects and secures these monies going forward.

We are obviously fast approaching the next pay review date of 1st April 2021 and we have started to consider and will be preparing to submit a new pay claim. Accordingly, following the ratification of the 2020 Pay Agreement by the membership, I plan to bring a draft pay claim before the Postal Executive. An LTB will be published following the submission of our claim.

Our Senior Representatives have been briefed and all of them are fully supportive of the agreement which is the best that can be achieved through negotiation and as such is worthy of members’ support. Consequently the Postal Executive has no hesitation in recommending this Pay Agreement to Branches and our members.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

Attachment 1: 21LTB072 – Post Office – One Year Pay Agreement – 1st April 2020

Attachment 2: Joint Statement

Election of: Parcelforce Worldwide Regional Chair – 2021

Further to LTB 047/21 dated 9^th February 2021, the position for Regional Chair Northern Region remained vacant.

Nominations are now invited from members in the respective Parcelforce Worldwide Region (including RMSS) for the following position:-

• Regional Chair Northern Region

A nomination form is attached to this LTB, completed forms must be signed by the Branch Secretary and Branch Chair or accredited deputies and the nominee, should be returned to Tony Kearns, Senior Deputy General Secretary on the following email elections@cwu.org by 11^th March 2021

The timetable for nominations is as follows:-

Nominations Open         :               25 February 2021

Nominations Close         :               11 March 2021 (2.00pm)

Should a ballot be required the timetable will be advised to branches in due course.

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department, telephone number 020 8971 7237 or email address sdgs@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 071/21 – Regional Chair Northern Nom-LTB

Election Guidelines

Candidate Biographical Form

Candidate Biographical Form Regional Chair Form

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CWU Equality Month & Online Equality Event

The Equality, Education & Development department are delighted to confirm that we will be hosting CWU Equality Month throughout the month of March, which will conclude with an Online Equality Event taking place on Friday 26th March 2021 through zoom.

The month will be an opportunity to engage in a number of activities across our equality strands that will link many key issues discussed back to the workplace.

Below is an outline of the structure which in each week will include Webinars, Podcasts and Workshops, some of which will be hosted by NEC Equality Leads and Regional Leads.

A link for the programme can be found here

Week 1 – 1st March will be dedicated to a number of events with the focus primarily around disability in the workplace.

Week 2 – 8th March this week will focus on engagement around women and will coincide with International Women’s Day.

Week 3 – 15th March aims to raise awareness around matters of direct relevance to our BAME members, this week also coincides with UN Anti-Racism Day.

Week 4 – 22nd March the final week will see us focusing on the LGBT+ community in the run up to International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Online Equality Event

The Online Equality Event will be held on Friday 26th March 2021 from 10:00 – 16:00.

The day will bring together the work that has taken place throughout the month of March and a number of innovative sessions, which will include how we build on our achievements and the CWU’s commitment to achieving a more inclusive union.

All Branch Equality Officers, Regional Equality Leads and any representative’s or members with an interest in Equality are invited to attend.

Register

Further details will follow on the full days programme and how to register delegates for the main event on the 26th March 2021.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be directed to the equality&education@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

LTB 070/21 – CWU Equality Month Online Equality Event

Tomorrow for the first time since 1999 we will see strike action in BT Group as 170 Openreach engineers defend their terms and conditions.

At 7pm tomorrow we want to hold a mass solidarity session on Zoom and every CWU rep and member is welcome.

We would urge you to join us at 7pm tomorrow by simply registering via the link below.

When they come for one CWU member, they come for us all.

Sign up and show your solidarity

CWUandProud

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdeiqqzkrHtT9A0U-4TF3YBV3jdbLhFFq

Royal Mail Fleet Maintenance Territorial Representative Vacancy – South West, West Coast & South Wales

Further to LTB 036/2021 dated 2nd February 2021.

At the close of nominations today the following nominations have been received:-

Ian Gray Western                                         MT Branch *ELECTED

Congratulations to Ian on being elected and welcome to the position of Fleet Territorial Representative.

All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 220. Email address: khay@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Carl Maden
Assistant Secretary (Acting)

LTB068

TUC BLACK WORKERS CONFERENCE 2021 – REGISTRATION LINK

Further to LTB 066/21 with regards the above conference the link for registeration was incorrect.   The correct link to register is below:

https://www.tuc.org.uk/TUCconferences

Those interested in attending the Black Workers Conference will need to pre-register.  Once registered, attendees will be sent regular updates containing conference documents and links to sign up for the individual sessions that will be running along with panel debates and fringe events and workshops.

Registration will be open until the day prior to the Conference, but attendees are encouraged to register before 15^th March 2021 to ensure that they receive all communications and have enough time to secure their place at any breakout sessions.

To obtain as high attendance as possible we encourage you to circulate this information to your members.

Any further enquiries with regards this please contact conferences@cwu.org or Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256.

Dave Ward
General Secretary

21LTB069 – TUC Black Workers Conference Registration Link

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National Terms of Reference – New Uniform Range Trials (The New Performance Wardrobe)

Dear Colleagues,

For some time now discussions have been taking place with Royal Mail in relation to trial activity of a new
uniform range, recognising that a number of the existing standard uniform items have been in place for some
10 years or more.

These discussions have now been concluded and the attached Terms of Reference have been agreed by
the Postal Executive; also attached are images of the new uniform range.

Whilst the Terms of Reference are self-explanatory, in summary the new uniform range due to be trialled, is
a complete refresh of the current uniform and builds on some of the latest commercial design and fabric
developments. More importantly, this also takes into direct account frontline employee feedback received
over the past few years from the workplace Uniform Roadshow visits.

The new uniform range (which Royal Mail have entitled The Performance Wardrobe) will be trialled across
11 different job roles within Royal Mail Group and includes some 340 frontline colleagues who have all
agreed to be involved and who have been selected to ensure both a gender and age profile representative
balance.

Clearly, the wider relevance of this trial on uniform against the ongoing everyday challenges and strain,
faced by members who continue to provide the UK with essential services during the Covid-19 pandemic, is
fully understood. Nonetheless, the union wholeheartedly welcomes the trial and what is hoped to be a real
improvement to the current uniform.

Any queries to the content of the above please contact Mark Baulch, Outdoor Department, email address:
njones@cwu.org, quoting reference 500, or to Davie Robertson, Processing, Logistics, Parcelforce,
International, Quadrant Department, email: dwaytt@cwu.org quoting reference: 005, or to Carl Maden, PTCS
Department, email address: khay@cwu.org, quoting reference 420.

Mark Baulch 
CWU Assistant Secretary

Carl Maden
CWU Assistant Secretary (Acting)

Davie Robertson
CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 067/21 – National Terms of Reference New Uniform Range Trials
Final TOR National New Uniform Range
Appendix 1 Uniform TOR
Appendix 2 Uniform TOR
Photos of New Uniform Range 2021