OUTCOME OF THE LORD FALCONER INDEPENDENT REVIEW – CWU/RMG COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT
We are pleased to announce that we have now reached a collective agreement with RMG that concludes the Lord Falconer Review, which as Branches will be aware was a key part of the BRTG Agreement.
You can read a copy of the agreement here: www.cwu.org/lfr
- Confirmation of Lord Falconer’s decisions in the first 26 cases, plus confirmation that Royal Mail has now agreed that the 2 cases identified for further investigation, will instead be automatically covered by the terms of the collective agreement.
- Confirmation that the agreement has been reached following consideration of Lord Falconer’s decision’s on the 26 and his rationale for these. In this regard the deal reflects the reality that whilst Lord Falconer overturned the vast majority of Royal Mail’s original dismissal decisions, he did confirm that misconduct had taken place in all but two of those cases.
- Recognition that the agreement has also been reached based on the overriding principle of reconciliation and the need for all parties to move on from the dispute.
- The agreement sets out the categories of dismissals and short of dismissals alongside the number of cases involved. It goes on to explain that with the exception of the 3 cases Lord Falconer upheld and the referred back cases, the overwhelming majority of individuals involved in the review will now be automatically reinstated via a process of commuting down the original Royal Mail sanction and then confirming all these penalties and warnings are now time spent.
- There is a section covering the 46 cases which Royal Mail had previously challenged as not being in scope. This issue has also been resolved in a positive way with 35 of those cases now automatically covered by the terms of the collective agreement. There are 3 cases in this category that will be referred back to Lord Falconer for a final decision, with the remaining 8 being referred back for Lord Falconer to determine whether or not they are in scope. A separate process covers these 8 cases and is helpful to our members in whatever decision Lord Falconer arrives at.
- All individuals who are reinstated under the terms of this agreement will also have the choice of an enhanced financial settlement, if their preference is to leave the business.
- There are 10 cases identified as requiring a mediation process to support all of those affected, before reintegration into their unit. This is an alternative to Royal Mail wanting to bring these individuals back with a compulsory transfer. This section of the agreement has been carefully worded to reflect the concerns of all parties, albeit we are confident that the individuals will return to their unit once the mediation process has been concluded.
- The agreement is based on the principle of reconciliation and covers the approach to this. This includes Royal Mail committing to apply the 2015 Conduct Code Agreement going forward and participating in a session with ACAS to learn the lessons from the dispute and the Falconer Review.
Summary
Lord Falconer’s initial review of the 26 cases and the subsequent agreement represents a major victory for our members and our union. Throughout the dispute, Royal Mail attempted to break the spirit of our members through their disgraceful actions. In response, the CWU set out not only to resolve the dispute but also to get justice for these workers who had been unfairly treated. We can now say that we have delivered a resolution that brings justice to our members and delivers the choice of enhanced compensation for reinstated employees who may prefer to move on and leave the business.
However, we must also acknowledge that there will be three individuals who will be extremely disappointed that their dismissal cases were upheld by Lord Falconer. Furthermore, there are eleven cases that have yet to receive an outcome and these members will understandably be anxious regarding their future at Royal Mail. We will continue to support these members in the processes that will now take place.
The outcome of the agreement completely justifies the decision of the Postal Executive to put our faith in the Independent Review and the subsequent strategy of using the first 26 cases to negotiate a settlement for the overwhelming majority of the remaining cases. For purpose of complete clarity and to illustrate the magnitude of this agreement, it means 93.1% of those who submitted consent forms have already had a successful outcome, with the possibility this figure will increase.
We want to place on record our thanks to members of our team for their exceptional work that has greatly assisted this outcome. In particular, Postal Executive member Rob Wotherspoon, who has coordinated significant research and information on all cases. We would also like to thank members of the working group for their detailed submissions on the priority cases, which paved the way for the collective agreement.
We have attached a link for the member’s communication that will go out today and we would urge all Branches and Representatives to ensure this distributed in every workplace.
https://www.cwu.org/lfr-justice
Finally, we would like to place on record our thanks to Lord Falconer for the work he has undertaken in leading the independent review.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Andy Furey
A/Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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