Scottish Government Appoints CWU’s Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce to their Dog Control and Dangerous Dogs Law Review Group

CWU National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce has been appointed to the Scottish Government led dog control and dangerous dogs law review working group to advise and assist with taking forward the Scottish Government commitment to review the Dangerous Dogs Act.

The Scottish First Minister announced in the ‘Programme for Government’ that the Scottish Government will review the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act to help inform future Government policy and legislative changes to tackle irresponsible dog ownership in Scotland. This review is taking place with a view to introducing new legislation within this parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government led dangerous dogs review working group will look at the Legislation, enforcement, dog owner ‘strict liability’, statutory guidance a joint enforcement protocol involving Local Authorities and Police Scotland.

Other members of the working group include representatives from Scottish Government Criminal Law, Practice and Licensing Unit, Police Scotland, Local Authorities, The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS), Society of Chief Environmental Officers (SCEO), Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service(COPFS), Faculty of Advocates (Lawyers), Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA), Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN) and other key stakeholders including victim’s.

The Scottish Government will lead the enhanced review working group to support and inform policy thinking on prospective changes to the 1991 DDA Act which is the main criminal law legislation that operates in Scotland and across the UK in relation to dogs. The 1991 Act provides for criminal law measures for dog owners and persons in charge of dogs, where a dog is ‘dangerously out of control’.

The Review Working Group will commence work this month March 2022.

Dave Joyce led the highly successful CWU ‘Bite-Back’ campaign from 2007 to 2014 which achieved significant changes to the UK’s Dangerous Dogs Laws – in Scotland in 2010, Northern Ireland in 2011 and in England and Wales in 2014. This resulted in extension of the law to ‘private property’ where 82% of dog attacks on postal workers occur and where previously dog owners were immune from prosecution. Also sentences were significantly increased, Police powers extended and dog ownership bans and destruction orders became available to courts as additional penalties. Since then the number of prosecutions have increased significantly.

The Legal system in Scotland however differs from the rest of the UK and that system has presented a barrier to successful enforcement of the dog control law.

The number of dog attacks in Scotland rose by 80% over a decade but prosecutions have remained comparatively low.

Dave re-launched the ‘Bite-Back’ campaign in Scotland in 2018 and this resulted in a Motion carried unanimously, with all party support, in the Scottish Parliament calling for the Dog Laws to be reviewed.

A post-implementation review was carried out by a Committee of Scottish MSPs in 2019, concluding in support of the CWU campaign, that the Dangerous Dogs Act was not fit for purpose and 35 recommendations were made to the Government.

A public consultation agreed by a clear majority with the call for strengthening the Dog Law in Scotland and although the pandemic held up progress over the last two years, the Review Working Group will now complete the work on examining the detailed law and enforcement changes with the aim of producing a report before the end of the year.

There are 2,500 – 3000 Dog Attacks on postal workers across the UK every year – many suffering serious injury, some attacks result in permanent, life changing injuries. 1000 postal workers have been attacked through the letter box in the last 5 years, many having fingers bitten off.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB143 Scottish Government Appoints CWU’s Dave Joyce to their Dog Control and Dangerous Dogs Law Review Group

View Online

CWU Wins Two Major Mental Health Work Awards:

The CWU has won two major national awards for its work in the field of Mental Health with the presentation event taking place last night in central London at the ‘InsideOut Mental Health 2022 Awards’ evening.

The award that the CWU won collectively, which was presented last night, was made in recognition of the union’s Mental Health Strategy and achievements, the significant work the union does in the field of mental health and workplace stress, the CWU Reps’ training programme, the support given to members and the CWU’s raising of the profile of the issue of mental health – as well as the various landmark agreements with major employers.

The CWU was successful in the following two categories:

• Mental Health First Aid Award – Winner CWU

Awarded to the organisation who has the best strategy in relation to Mental Health First Aid.

• Behind The Scenes Champion – Winner Jamie McGovern CWU Area Health and Safety Representative and CWU MHFA Trainer

Awarded to an individual who has worked behind the scenes to create the biggest     impact on the mental health agenda and has made a difference.

Quotes:

Chris Cummings and Rob Stephenson ‘InsideOut’ Mental Health Co-Founders said “The pandemic has elevated mental health and wellbeing up the priority list for most organisations and we are seeing true excellence from organisations like CWU and individuals like Jamie McGovern, all contributing to creating mentally healthier workplaces. The CWU have inspired positive change, true commitment and courageousness to enable real change within their field towards creating mentally healthier workplaces.”

Dave Joyce CWU National Health and Safety Officer said “I‘m delighted and honoured to have received this prestigious award for the CWU and to be the first Trade Union to win it plus the fact that the award was sponsored and presented by ‘Mental Health First Aid (England)’ the organisation that sets the standards for training and guidance in this country. The award recognises the huge amount of work and achievement the Health and Safety Department has done at HQ but additionally this is an award recognising the great work of our CWU Mental Health Network across all our regions and an award for every single CWU representative and Mental Health First Aider throughout our Union at every level who has made a contribution to this great Union’s work in taking action to prioritise and address better mental health in the workplace and continually raising awareness of how important mental health is by getting involved with the membership, making every effort to support, engage and connect, promote wellbeing and highlight the importance of maintaining good mental health. Jamie McGovern winning the individual award also was the icing on the cake. He’s done nothing but great work for this Union and is a great flag bearer for others.”

Steve Jones, NEC and Chair of the CWU’s ‘Mental Health Project Team’ said: “In the week that I commemorated the 10th anniversary of the loss of my son to suicide, I am immensely proud that this Union has won 2 awards. I am particularly pleased that Jamie McGovern’s immensely inspirational work has been recognised. I know Jamie will want to share his award with Reps up and down the country who are supporting countless members. I am not exaggerating when I say lives have been saved.”

Jamie McGovern CWU Greater Mersey Amal Branch ASR and Mental Health First Aid Trainer said: “The CWU as a whole are lauded for ongoing efforts to care for members and it’s great to see our union being recognised for this and, hopefully, this will inspire others to take a similar approach in their organisations. Mental health support is a team game. The CWU mental health first aiders and our mental health support reps network are changing lives by supporting members and ensuring stress risk assessments are carried out in the workplace. The network has helped hundreds of people to improve their working experience and to be able to continue in their workplace and to help them to feel better in their everyday lives. I’m proud of every one of those CWU Reps and of my union who, in my opinion, set the benchmark for other unions to follow. These two awards give recognition to what we do and what we’ve achieved.”

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB142 CWU Wins Two Major Mental Health Work Awards

View Online

TERMS OF REFERENCE BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION COVERING THE CHANGE OF SORTING ARCHITECTURE IN RDC/PARCEL HUBS

Branches and representatives will be aware that Royal Mail has made various announcements with regard to aspirations on parcel automation and PSM utilisation levels across the Processing function. From a CWU perspective, the objective in supporting initiatives to improve automation levels must be based on a measured approach that balances workload across both automated and non-automated sites.

Key to the above objective of maximising the utilisation on the Mail Centre based Parcel Sorting Machines (PSM’s) while retaining current workload across the RDC network, discussions have focused on changes to the sort architecture in RDC/Parcel Hubs, to ensure that machinable traffic for PSM equipped Mail Centres is presented in dedicated Yorks.

A Terms of Reference for trial activity has now been concluded and endorsed by the Postal Executive, a copy of which is attached for information.

The trial activity will entail changes to the sort architecture within the RDC’s to enable the segregation and presentation of machinable parcels to PSM equipped Mail Centres, to ensure that machinable traffic can be better aligned to the PSM’s.

The agreed trial approach will test the concept of a revised sort architecture over a 6-week period at the following sites:

• PRDC
• SWDC
• NDC
• NWRDC
• SDC
• Atherstone

Branches will note that YDC is not included in the initial activity although it has been agreed that should the trial be deemed successful that YDC will be introduced to the trial during the 6-week period. Representatives at YDC will be updated in this regard, should it be proposed to introduce the revised arrangements at the site.

As the business have indicated that they wish to commence the trial activity with immediate effect, the department has written under separate cover to the representatives at the above listed sites and provided them with a copy of the TOR in advance of this LTB being issued in order that they may engage from an informed position.

The usual safeguards have been secured within the TOR with regard to duty structures, job numbers earning packages etc., although in the view of the business the change will have no impact on these issues going forward.

No workload will be diverted as part of this trial and the basic layouts are largely the same as at present with only the selections changing.

The trial will be monitored by the Joint RDC Working Group and a joint review will take place at the end of the trial period against the agreed success criteria.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org quoting reference: 231.07

Yours sincerely,

Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary

LTB 141/22

Att: TOR Changes to Sort Architecture in RDC’s 23.03.22

View Online

CWU ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2022– REMINDER – ONLINE REGISTRATION

Further to LTB 058/22 this is a reminder that branches need to register their delegates attending the conferences that are taking place in Bournemouth.    Branches are asked to do this in advance so that the credentials can be printed and conference packs prepared.

Please note that all Field Officials will be registered by HQ.

Branches should be familiar with the process but if you have difficulty with your login details or passwords please do not hesitate to contact eventsregistration@cwu.org and we will deal with this as quickly as possible.   This also applies if you need to make any changes once the applications have been submitted.

The log in website is https://conference.cwu.org    

Please note that all online registrations have to be completed by Friday 8^th April 2022.   After this date you will be unable to use the website to register

Any enquiries on this LTB should be directed to Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256 or email eventsregistration@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

22LTB140- CWU Annual Conference – Reminder – Online Registration

View Online

2019 National Pay Agreement – National Living Wage Foundation Rate For Cleaners

We were contacted by RMPFSL National Management some weeks ago in relation to the company informing us that they were uplifting salaries from April 2022 for the monthly pay run to those cleaners who will be below the National minimum pay rate of (£ 9.50 per hour) as this is a basic legal requirement.

However, during discussions with PFSL we reminded them that in fact the National Pay Agreement struck between PFSL and ourselves in 2019 committed the company over a 3-year period to annual yearly pay increases and to also more importantly track the pay of our cleaners to that of the real Living Wage Foundation recommended levels. In addition, the National Agreement also contained a further commitment that at the end of the 3-year lifetime cycle of the pay deal, cleaners would receive the real Living Wage Foundation rate if the incremental increases had not matched this rate by April 2022.

As a consequence, we have been in discussions with RMPFSL, outside of the formal pay talks which have yet to commence for this year’s pay, in order to ensure that the commitment as outline above is implemented and have jointly constructed the joint National Joint Statement which has been endorsed by the Postal Executive and is attached.

As you will note the National Joint Statement covers a number of areas and in particular that the monthly salary run should uplift the pay of our cleaning members from April to those hourly pay rates as recommended by the real Living Wage Foundation. However, due to difficulties within the payroll system the RLWF rates will be introduced in May but backdated to April. What this means from April 2022, is as follows:

Living Wage Foundation Rates & implementation 

£9.90   (ph.) National – Static cleaner + 5.9%

£11.05 (ph.) London Weighting area   + 1.9% (outer London)

What are the Current Rates? 

£ 9.35   (ph.) National – Static cleaner

£ 10.20 (ph.) National – Mobile Cleaner

£ 1.49   (ph.) Outer London weighting

£ 2.47   (ph.) Inner London weighting

As you will note from the current figures as outlined above, there is currently a defined separate boundary and rate for inner and outer London Weighting pay, which is a defined radius historically established, and is similar to that which is applied to the uniform grades in Royal Mail. However, in establishing that pay is determined by the RLWF rate, it has now become a complex situation (as the RLWF do not differentiate between the inner and outer boundaries and have one rate for all of the areas covered by the London Borough Councils). This is slightly higher than the current outer London Rate, but lower than the current inner London rate. In addition to the individuals outlined above within London, there are also currently a number of mobile cleaners who receive an hourly rate above that of the RLWF rate set from April 2022.

In total from both of these groups this amounts to 93 Cleaners. As the implementation is outside of the formal pay talks and pay round and is a simple uplift which has arisen from the 2019 commitment, these 93 members will not receive the uplift in pay which the overwhelming majority of cleaners will do from the 1^st April, but will have their hourly rates protected.

In addition to the above, the joint Statement also ensures that;

• The RLWF rates will be introduced outside of the formal pay talks, which have yet to start and are without prejudice to the outcome of these national discussions.
• The complication in payroll means that this will be done in two stages but with backdating to April.
• The current practice of 24 months for new entrant’s static cleaners to achieve max pay is ceased and they will now receive max pay on entry.
• Annual Review of RLWF rates and these to be applied each April to pay rates as a minimum, outside and without prejudice to those formal annual pay talks.
• Commitment that this year’s pay discussions will commence in April.
• Commitment that the impact of the RLWF rates along with the individuals which are pay protected will be monitored and reviewed.

Although RMPFSL are a separate bargaining unit within the RMG, the discussions have been difficult with the company as they have had to reluctantly accept the commitment they signed up to jointly within the pay deal in 2019, resulting in having to increase pay outside of the formal pay talks. In addition, they have been slow to commence the formal talks as they are very likely to have been given a steer from the Royal Mail Group in advance of the overall pay talks.

Further, and from our perspective, when we signed up to the National Pay Agreement in 2019, we did not know what the full impact of inflation would be, along with the current cost of living rises which are currently soaring. We were also unaware of how the impact of the RLWF rates would affect rates within London and the complication that this would initially cause with the one boundary impact and set level.

We will table a number of other increased pay and associated benefits which will take into account the current cost of living crisis and impact on our members, which will also include the group outlined in protected pay, and this will be placed before the Postal Executive and communicated to Branches in due course.

Any queries to the content of the above please contact the Outdoor Department reference 120.12, email address: njones@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Mark Baulch

CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 137-22- RM Property Facilities Solutions Limited (PFSL) CWU Joint Statement (002)

PFSL CWU Pay Joint Statement – Final 22.03.22

View Online

CWU Annual Conference 2022 – Postal Conference Agenda Pad

Branches would wish to know that the 2022 Postal Conference Agenda Pad has now been published on the website and can be accessed using the following link:

Click to access POSTAL-AGENDA-2022.doc.pdf

A Pdf. copy has also been attached.    Hard copies of the agenda are in the process of being printed and will be distributed to branches when completed.

Any enquiries to this Letter to Branches should be addressed to conferences@cwu.org or call 020 8971 7256.

Yours sincerely

A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

22LTB139 – Annual Conference 2022 – Postal Conference Agenda Pad

POSTAL AGENDA 2022.doc

View Online

CAPITA TVL: COST OF LIVING CRISIS – IMPROVED PAY OFFER REJECTED

Further to LTB129/22 dated 21^stMarch.  I am now in a position to report the headlines of the revised pay offer made by Capita TVL which has been considered by the Postal Executive earlier today.  Due to the paucity of the offer, the Postal Executive unanimously supported the recommendation to reject.  The key headlines are:

• Members earning above the Real Living Wage
  • a 3% pay increase to cover the 3 month period from 1^st January to 31^st March 2022 (this is conditional on moving the pay review date to 1st April 2023).
  • a further 1% increase with effect from 1st April 2022 which would provide for a 4% pay increase for 12 months.*

*The previously rejected offer was a mere 1.5% from 1^st January (for 3 months) increasing to 3% from 1^st April (for 12 months).

• Real Living Wage –Capita Group’s policy is to apply the Living Wage Foundation’s recommendation, meaning members earning the RLW will receive an increase from 1^st April 2022 from £9.50 to £9.90 per hour. This equates to a 4.2% pay rise.

We have written to Paul Johnston, Managing Director, TVL, to advise him of the Postal Executive policy whilst urging him to improve the pay offer.  This is necessary as we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis, with RPI inflation having risen to 8.2% for February.  It follows the rejected pay offer equates to less than 50% of current inflation, which is obviously not good enough.  We have also written directly to our TVL members to advise them of the situation and this letter is attached for information.

Further developments will be reported.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

22LTB136 Capita TVL – Cost of Living Crisis – Improved Pay Offer Rejected

Attachment 1 to 22LTB136

View Online

Royal Mail Group – New Updated ‘Stay Calm’ On-Line Digital Replacement – On Site Response and Guidance Dealing With Suspect Packages/Parcels, Dangerous Goods/Spillages, Office Flooding, Fires, Asbestos, Gas Leaks, Serious Accidents etc:

Royal Mail Group New Updated On-Line Digital ‘Stay Calm’

An updated version has been launched and this is an on-line digital replacement to the old ‘Stay Calm’ manuals and ‘Be Aware’ booklets. The Stay Calm on-line guide has been refreshed to make it more user friendly.

‘Stay Calm’ is primarily focussed on operational site managers and PiCs (Persons in Charge), but contains advice that will be of use to all RMG employees, CWU Health and Safety Reps in particular and other CWU Reps.

‘Stay Calm’ guides managers and PiCs on how they should respond to an incident such as a serious suspect parcel, dangerous goods, or an office flooding.  ‘Stay Calm’ provides guidance on responding to a wide range of incidents, advice on how to manage an evacuation and actions that can be taken in order to be better prepared for such incidents.

New Managers Stay Calm Smartphone App

The updated on-line ‘Stay Calm’ has been communicated to every RMG manager’s work ‘smart phone’ as a tile App (application). An image of the Stay Calm tile App is attached for your information.

‘Stay Calm’ On-Line Website

The new on-line ‘Stay Calm’ guide Website; https://staycalm.online/ is publicly available and anyone can bookmark it to create the tile app (see attached) You can then move the tile to where you can find it easily on your phone and become familiar with the contents. Please note you will not be able to access the CPC or Business Response sections.

• The structure of the website has been refined to make it more user friendly – there are two ways to navigate – either by the menu options in the top bar or by scrolling down the page to find the relevant sections. Scrolling down works very well on a phone.
• There are three main sections: 
  • Immediate Response: providing guidance on how to manage an evacuation, organising roll calls, liaising with emergency services, comms etc.
  • Incident specific guidance for a wide range of incident types. Changes have been made to simplify the advice shown, but no changes to content except for Suspect/Dangerous Items – see below. 
    • If you use the menu option then all incidents are listed alphabetically. If you scroll down, you’ll see a ‘Common Incidents’ section before an alphabetical list. This is to allow you to find ‘Suspect/Dangerous Items’ quickly.  Roles & Resources provides advice on how you can prepare for an incident, access to a blank unit plan etc.

• Suspect/Dangerous Items: Due to the increasing quantities of dangerous goods which can cause physical reactions but are not ‘suspect’, it’s been necessary to bring both type of incidents together to provide a common risk assessment, then provide different solutions – suspect or dangerous or other. Once decided, the advice in each section has not changed.

‘Stay Calm’ Sections Cover The Following:

Immediate response to incidents

• How to manage an evacuation
• Key contacts
• What to do if YOU have been evacuated
• Why contacting CPC is so important

Common incidents

• Suspect/dangerous items
• Serious accident
• Severe weather

Incident specific guidance 

• Active shooter/terrorist
• Asbestos
• Bomb threats
• Building damage
• Coronavirus
• Explosions
• Flooding
• Fires
• Fuel/Adblue/chemical spills
• Gas leaks
• GDPR data breach
• Health alerts
• Hostage situations
• Major public incidents
• Power loss
• Serious accident
• Severe weather
• Suspect/dangerous items
• Roles & Resources
• Incident log

Role specific guidance

• Preparing for an incident
• Your site plans
• Parcelforce unit plan
• Royal Mail unit plan

Central Postal Control CPC

If in doubt at any stage, the Office Manager/PiC should always call Central Postal Control (CPC). Central Postal Control deals with issues on a regular basis and will be able to talk the manager/PiC through how to deal with any situation. Telephone: 0345 266 1060.

The purpose of CPC is to provide a leadership response to any actual or potential threats to Royal Mail Group operations. CPC is available 24/7, 365 days of the year and CPC prioritises the safety and security of the workforce and the connectivity of RMG customers’ products.

‘Stay Calm’ On-Line Website – https://staycalm.online/ 

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB135 RMG New Updated Stay Calm On-Line Digital Replacement – Suspect Packages Parcels Dangerous Goods

New Managers Stay Calm Smartphone App

View Online

Correspondence With Simon Thompson CEO Royal Mail Group – Health, Safety and Wellbeing in Royal Mail Group Going Forward in 2022 and onwards – Post Pandemic:

For your information, see attached exchange of correspondence with the Royal Mail Group CEO Simon Thompson and the newly appointed Interim Global Safety Director Phillip Graham regarding Health and Safety in Royal Mail Group going forward in 2022 as the business and nation emerges from two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. The correspondence follows up discussions that have been taking place with RMG Directors at the weekly RMG/CWU National Joint Coronavirus Operations Group meetings and separate discussions with RMG Property and Facilities Solutions Directors Martin Gafsen and Stuart Davies.

We have re-emphasised strongly the points repeatedly made during the pandemic and that is that RMG must learn the lessons of the last 2 years of the pandemic and make some positive, permanent changes to the following:

Improve RMG Buildings Ventilation                              

Dealing with indoor air pollution, improving air quality and filtration, deal with airborne viruses, germs, dust and particles. Install CO2 Monitors to measure air quality.

Improve Cleaning Standards                                         

Providing a better, cleaner, healthier workplace environment as well as promoting a healthy workplace and culture.

Improved Workspace                                                     

Facilitate a safe workplace, well-maintained equipment, with no obstructions in floors and traffic routes, windows kept cleaned, the right number of toilets and washbasins cleaned and maintained, drinking water and having somewhere to rest and eat meals. A healthy working environment, clean workplace with a reasonable working temperature, suitable lighting and the right amount of workspace and seating.

Accommodation Replacements and Uplifts                   

Expediting over 239 Delivery Offices that have been identified as needing action by way of uplifts or replacement.

Mental Health, Stress and Anxiety                                

RMG need to pay attention to the growing mental health, work stress and anxiety problems that existed before the pandemic which have worsened during it. RMG need to take cognisance of the Government (Department for Work and Pensions) sponsored independent ‘Thriving at Work’ report, the independent review of mental health at work by Lord Dennis Stevenson and Paul Farmerwhich sets out what employers can do to better support all employees with mental health problems.

Reinstate Safety as No1                                                 

Because Safety isn’t Number 1 right now! The Royal Mail Group Safety Health and Environment (SHE) Team have been cut, cut and cut again since 2012. The 17 strong Integrated, Safety Audit has just been abolished. Cutting costs in this way leads to cutting corners and there’s too much corner cutting in RMG. Proactive management of safety and health in the workplace helps prevent accidents, injuries and ill-health but a well-resourced safety team is needed to achieve that goal by achieving compliance. Good health and safety risk control systems, standards, policies, plans and procedures alone are not worth the paper they are written on if they are ignored. RMG has a legal and moral obligation to comply with the law and keep the workforce safe. RMG need to improve workplace safety culture, boost morale and generate a better understanding of dealing with safety hazards and risks in order to fully implement a health and safety system that can keep the workforce safe and reduce accidents and ill health.

See attached: 

• Letter to the RMG Chief Executive Officer dated 9 March 2022.
• Reply on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer by the new Interim Global Safety Director dated 22 March with attachments on RMG First Class support, RMG Mental Health Support and RMG Health and Wellbeing Support.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB133 Correspondence With Simon Thompson CEO RMG – Health, Safety and Wellbeing in RMG in 2022 and onwards – Post Pandemic

Attachment 1

Attachment 2

First Class Support Services

Mental Health Support

Health Wellbeing

View Online