TUC BLACK WORKERS CONFERENCE 2021 – REGISTRATION

This year the TUC Black Workers Conference is being held as a virtual conference.   The conference is scheduled to run from Friday 19th March until Sunday 21st March and registration to attend is open to all.   The timetable for the conference is as follows:

Friday 19 March

10.00                    Race Relations Pre-Meeting

10.30 – 11.30am  Extended Committee Meeting

2.00pm – 3.00pm    Racism a Trade Union response 

Members from the TUC Anti-Racism Taskforce will explore how we can use the Black Lives Matters campaign’s momentum to make trade unions more effective at fighting racism and more inclusive for Black workers.

4.00pm – 5.30pm    Making Black Lives Matter 

An international panel of speakers from Brazil, India, Palestine, South Africa and the USA will discuss how we can reinvigorate and rebuild and international anti-racism movement

6.00pm – 7.30pm   Art Exhibition Launch 

Our annual TUC Black Workers’ Conference is moving online and will be launched in conjunction with ‘Artists Union of England’. An opportunity to see and hear from young creative and radial Black artists taking part in the exhibition.

Saturday 20 March

Four workshops will be running that will gives a chance to input into the TUC Anti-Racism Taskforce work. The workshops will be led by members from each of the TUC Anti-Racism Taskforce workstreams and provide an opportunity to discuss questions on each area in breakout rooms. Numbers for the workshops will be limited, so if you want to get involved sign up as soon as possible.

The titles of the workshops are as follows:

10.00 am –    11.15 am Workshop One – Organising will explore

11.30 pm –   12.45 am Workshop Two  – Negotiating and Collective Bargaining

  2.00 pm –     3.15 pm Workshop Three – Public Policy

  3.30 pm –      4.45 pm Workshop Four – Black Unions and Representation

A maximum number of ten participants will be a put in each breakroom. Therefore, each workshop’s maximum number of participants will depend on the number of available facilitators for each workshop.

Sunday 21 March

2.00 pm – 3.30 pm   Race, COVID–19 and the Vaccine 

A panel of experts will inform you about Vaccine development, how the Covid19 vaccine works with the immune system and how the vaccination program is impacting BME communities.

The CWU do have an involvement at the conference.  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.   The link to register is as follows:

BlackWorkersConference@TUC.ORG.UK

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

Dave Ward

General Secretary

LTB 066/21 – TUC Black Workers Conference-Registration

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TUC YOUNG WORKERS CONFERENCE 2021 – REGISTRATION

This year the TUC Young Workers Conference will be held as a virtual conference. The conference is scheduled to run from Saturday 27th March until Sunday 28^th March and registration to attend is open to all young workers.    The themes to be debated and discussed reflect the key issues emerging from the final agenda which are as follows;

Saturday 27 March: The unequal impact of Covid-19 on young workers 

Session         Opening Speech with Q&A, Frances O’Grady, General Secretary TUC

Time             10:00 to 10:45

Session         Conference debate

Time             11:00 to 12:00

Title              Covid-19 and the impact on young workers

Session         Political Speaker

Time             13:00 to 13:45

Speaker        TBC

Session         Panel Discussion on Stopping Mass Unemployment of Young People

Time             14:00 to 15:00

Session         Workshops and Fringes

Time             15:00 to 17:00 (workshops from 15:00, fringes from 16:00)

Sunday 28 March: Mental Health of Young Workers 

Session         Opening Speaker on Antiracism/Black Lives Matter

Time             11:00 to 12:00

Speaker        TBC

Session         Conference Debate

Time             11:00 to 12:00

Title              Mental Health of Young Workers

Session         Panel Discussion

Time             12:00 to 13:00

Title              Rising to the Challenge, what we need to do.

The CWU will have an involvement at the conference.  Those interested in attending the Young 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.

Registration will be open until the day prior to the Conference, but attendees are encouraged to register before 12^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.   The link to register is as follows:

https://www.tuc.org.uk/events/young-workers-conference-2021

Any further enquiries with regards this please contact ltownsend@cwu.org

Dave Ward

General Secretary

LTB 065/21 – TUC Young Workers Conference 2021 Registration

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PSP – PAYROLL RUN AND OVERTIME PAYMENTS FOR 26^TH FEBRUARY 2021

The DGS(P) Department has received confirmation from Royal Mail Group that the PSP system will be closed to users at 1800 on 19^th February 2021 (this evening), with the payroll re-opening around 0600 on Monday 22^nd February 2021.

The reason for the closure is to complete the calculation of back-pay / arrears for the April 2020 pay rise as next week’s payroll runs over this weekend.

This means that the inputting for weekly overtime this week had to be completed by 1700 tonight, in order to be included in the weekly pay on Friday 26^th February 2021.

When the system re-opens on Monday 22^ndFebruary 2021 any payments / hours keyed will be paid on Friday 5^th March 2021.  This may therefore apply to overtime performed on Saturday 20^th and Sunday 21^st February 2021.

Branches should ensure that the contents of this LTB are made available to all representatives so that they can respond to any enquiries that may come their way.

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 064/21 PSP – PAYROLL RUN AND OVERTIME PAYMENTS FOR 26TH FEBRUARY 2021

POST OFFICE: CLINICALLY EXTREMELY VULNERABLE – JOINT STATEMENT

Branches are advised that all Post Office employees categorised as Clinically Extremely
Vulnerable and pregnant employees have been shielding on paid special leave since 5th
November 2020 and are not expected to return to work until at least 31st March 2021.

As a consequence of new government guidelines issued on 16th February 2021, a further
1.7m adults have now been identified by medical experts as being at higher risk and
therefore now fall into the category of CEV. These people will shortly be receiving letters
advising them to shield.

Consistent with the original agreement those newly designated CEV, if employed by the
Post Office, will also be offered paid special leave with immediate effect. Whilst there
is no definitive list of those who have now been included, the NHS is using a Covid-19
Population Risk Assessment to determine the priority group.

The following Joint Statement has been issued informing members of the latest
development:

JOINT STATEMENT POST OFFICE, CWU AND UNITE
Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Employees

Following the guidance released by Government on 16th February the number of
people who are being asked to self-isolate is to be increased. This new
Government risk assessment takes into account extra factors other than just
underlying health conditions to determine an individual’s risk of becoming
seriously ill if they were to catch COVID 19.

We will continue with our approach that all Clinically Extremely Vulnerable
colleagues should be placed on paid Special Leave with immediate effect. This
includes individuals who are pregnant who are unable to work from home and
those that have received a letter from their GP or NHS asking them to shield.
Those able to work from home will continue to do so.

If you receive a letter from your GP or the NHS in the next few weeks, please let
your line manager know so they can support you on the next steps.

In line with the Government guidance colleagues should shield till at least 31st
March. We will continue to review this approach and Government guidance with
the aim of providing a further update by 31st March. Colleagues placed on Special
Leave as a result of this announcement will not return to work before this date.

Lee Kelly                                      Phil Savage                       Andy Furey
Employee Relations &            Unite the Union              CWU Assistant Secretary
Policy Director

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

I wish to extend my thanks to Lynn Simpson, Postal Executive member for her
endeavours in engaging with the Post Office to secure this position for our Clinically
Extremely Vulnerable members.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

LTB 063/21 – Post Office -Clinically Extremely Vulnerable – Joint Statement

Election of: Parcelforce Worldwide Area Health & Safety Representative/Substitute Area Health & Safety Representatives – 2021

Further to LTB 048/21 dated 9^th February 2021, CWU Headquarters has received notice from the Northern Ireland Combined Branch that their candidate for Substitute Area Health & Safety Representative, North/Scotland and Northern Ireland Mr David Agnew has withdrawn his nomination.

There is no longer a requirement for a ballot and Mr Paul Devlin is elected unopposed.

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 062/21

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Election of: Parcelforce Worldwide Regional Organiser & Parcelforce Worldwide Regional Organiser Substitute – 2021

Further to LTB 047/21 dated 9^th February 2021, it has been brought to our attention that the ballot timetable for the above election was omitted from the LTB.

Accordingly please find below the ballot timetables for both Scotland/Northern Ireland/North East Regional Organiser and the Substitute Regional Organiser South Central Wales & West Region.

Ballot Papers Despatched:          16 February 2021

Ballot Close:                                      16 March 2021

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 061/21

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Joint Statement between Royal Mail / CWU – Safety and Operational Arrangements During the Covid – 19 Pandemic

Dear Colleagues,

Branches will be aware of the continuing difficulties being experienced within the operation due to the Covid pandemic. You will also be aware that our members’ heroic efforts to provide a fantastic service to the UK public, whilst also playing a key role in fighting the pandemic has proven extremely difficult.

This is due to constraints within the operation arising from single only use of vehicles, social distancing measures in space constrained buildings, particularly in DO’s, whilst also dealing with increased absence rates related to the pandemic. This has now been exacerbated due to the break out of virus variants resulting in local spikes in some cases and areas across the UK.

In addition to this, Royal Mail, as demonstrated in their recent announcements, have experienced a massive boom in parcel growth with record levels of items and in particular tracked items with YOY levels up considerably on those previously ecountered. These factors have placed enormous strain on our members within the operation and in many cases these have impacted on quality of service, in particular on USO and letter deliveries. This aspect has also been the subject of unwelcomed reporting from the media which has raised the focus on Royal Mail and the qulity of service which is being provided.

Accordingly, we have been in dialogue with Royal Mail in order to agree and put into place a structured approach in dealing with these issues and to engender a joint way of working which the Divisional Reps and SDL’s will oversee and for them to jointly monitor the current situation and in particular, concentrate help and provide assistance at pace where “hot spots” of absence and operational issues arise.

We have therefore concluded a Joint Statement, agreed today by the Postal Executive, which we believe will help to provide the process for this activity whilst also ensuring that our National agreements along with full involvement of the CWU are accommodated, and fully taken into account.

As you will note the Joint Statement includes issues that are specific to both the Processing and Delivery functions, whilst also including important commitments that are necessary in the current situation and will assist reps and Branches.

In addition Dave Joyce and the HSE department have been fully involved with those aspects contained within the Joint Statement which fall under his department’s remit.

Branches will note that the Joint Statement also includes the full involvement of the Divisional Reps, who will oversee the activity along with the direct involvement of the Area Reps, with an escalation of any issues that

cannot be resolved to the National Officers to raise with Royal Mail’s senior management team on the joint weekly operational call.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Branches, members and representatives for their fantastic efforts in carrying out a vital service to the public and as key workers during this very testing time.

Any enquiries with regard to the content of the above for Delivery Issues please contact the Outdoor Department reference 600 email address: njones@cwu.org 

Any Processing, Area Distribution, Network enquiries please contact Sue Hayman

Reference 014.14 email address shayman@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Mark Baulch
CWU Assistant Secretary
Davie Robertson
CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 059/21 – Joint Statement Between Royal Mail and CWU – Safety and Operational Arrangements 16th February 2021

Safety and Operational Arrangements During the Continued Lockdown Period – February 2021

Key Principles Framework Agreement (Pathway to Change) – Agreed National Guidelines for 2021 Realignment Activity to Rebalance the Operation in Processing Units. (Mail Centre, RDC, WBC)

Branches and representatives will be aware of the commitments related to realignment activity contained within the recently endorsed Pathway to Change National Agreement.

In line with those commitments, discussions have been taking place with the business to conclude arrangements and guidelines for the realignment activity in the Processing, RDC and WBC functions.

Discussions have been protracted but have culminated in the attached Key Principles Framework Agreement (Pathway to Change) – Agreed National Guidelines for 2021 Realignment Activity to Rebalance the Operation in Processing Units (Mail Centre, RDC, WBC) being concluded and endorsed by the Postal Executive (Annex A). 

Colleagues will note that the attached agreement captures the commitments contained in the Pathway to Change Agreement Section 2.3 The Approach to Capturing in the Parcels Market and the sub heading Future Revision Activity in Processing and Distribution. 

The Guidelines also recognise the difficulties related to the unprecedented impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and provide an Interim Processing Resourcing Realignment Strategy and process to enable activity to be jointly progressed. The process is also supported by the principles of the previously agreed Resourcing Realignment Arrangements 2018.

A governance approach has been included with the Guidelines which empowers Plant Managers and CWU Representatives to utilise their local expertise to reach agreement on revised resourcing outcomes. To support the activity the National Joint Working Group (JWG) will establish a mechanism to monitor that activity is being jointly signed off locally and that it is compliant with all National agreements and relevant SOPs and SSOW. The JWG will also be available to support requests where assistance/clarification is required and will review the ongoing impact of changes post deployment.

The intention of this local activity at each Processing unit is to address resourcing imbalances across all shifts and other associated challenges in relation to efficiency in line with National agreements and ensure that the business is able to respond and adapt to customer demands and enable growth. In particular, the aim will be to reduce reliance on Agency/External Resource, identify and enable agreed productivity improvements and stabilise the network reducing the requirement for workload diversions or the need for relief operational sites and efficiently align resource to workload to meet the evolving traffic levels.

A joint launch has taken place today for Divisional and Area Representatives in relation to the arrangements and a copy of the materials used is attached to this LTB for information (Annex B).

In addition to the joint launch CWU activities are also currently being planned for our representatives to provide support and assistance in relation to the realignment activity.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org quoting reference: 054.06.

Yours sincerely

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

LTB 058/21

Annex A – Pathway to Change – Processing Guidelines 12.02.21

Annex B and attachments below:

Annex B Presentation – Joint Launch – Resourcing Realignment 2021 – Final 15.02.21

Attachement to Annex B Presentation – Model Week 2021 Revisions

Attachment to Annex B Presentation – Annex B – Weekly Resourcing Meetings – Guidance Document

Attachment to Annex B Presentation – Annex C – Processing Resourcing Checklist

Attachment to Annex B Presentation – Annexe A – Guide for MC Short Term Resourcing Realignment 2021

Attachment to Annex B Presentation – Annexe D – Quality Checklist

Extra Info to Presenation – Appendix 2 – A Guide for Regional Distribution Centre and Walk Bundling Centre Resourcing Realignment

Extra Info to Presentation – Annex B1 MC Resourcing Meetings

Joint Statement between RM National Distribution and the CWU on the Deployment of the 2020/21 National Network Revision

Branches and representatives are informed that in line with the commitments contained in the Pathway to Change Agreement, discussions have been taking place with the business in relation to progressing arrangements for the 2020/21 National Network Revision activity (also referred to as Linehaul Review).

Building on the tried and tested processes developed in previous reviews this year’s discussions have developed aspects of the data gathering process to recognise the increasing fluctuations in workload by modelling across an agreed week, rather than a single day as was previously the case. This year’s review will also include for the first time the workload associated to the Mini VOC’s created since the inception of the Area Distribution PAD revision activity and will include consideration of the formal introduction of a full VOC at Atherstone, to alleviate capacity issues in the Midlands and replace the current seasonal arrangements at that site.

Effectively all other aspects of the process will mirror previously agreed arrangements and attached for information is a Joint Statement covering the detail and process for the deployment of this year’s review, which has been endorsed by the Postal Executive.

Branches will note that it is reaffirmed that the revisions will support both current Workplan arrangements, including current scheduled Delivery Office arrival times and our joint Ambitions & Growth agendas.

As with the previous Network Review Joint Statements the process fully recognises the role of the CWU at all levels and ensures that any operational savings are recorded for potential consideration in ongoing incentive discussions.

All activity will be overseen by the Network Working Group.

Colleagues will note that the Stage 1 Data Gathering will commence on the 15th February 2021 and representatives are therefore requested to engage with management accordingly in relation to the activity and release arrangements. 

Due to the nature of the duty structures in National Distribution (Logistics) function it was previously agreed that in respect of the 1st Hour of the SWW, equal benefit would be applied in the form of payment for the first hour of Meal Relief each week. This approach will continue and it is confirmed that the National Distribution Professional (LGV) Drivers will receive additional payment at the appropriate standard hourly rate in relation to the second hour of Meal Relief each week, when the National Network Review is deployed. 

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org quoting reference: 233.15

Yours sincerely

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

LTB 056/21

JS National Network Review 2021 12.02.21