RAISING CONCERNS AT WORK

The Raising Concerns procedure replaced the Bullying & Harassment and Grievance procedures as they were no longer fit for purpose, or being applied in a manner which was in the best interest of our members.. it is important that everyone should feel comfortable and able to raise concerns at work without fear of recrimination.

You can raise your cnncern in one of three ways:

Speak to your manager
Use the Raising Concerns tile on the People App
By calling the HR Helpdesk on 03456060603 (option 5)

Raising Concerns – the CWU guide for branches, representatives and members is linked below.

Click to access 08198-Raising-Concerns-A5-36pp-v1.pdf

Everyone should feel confident they are working in an inclusive culture and environment where everyone is treated fairly, with respect and protected from inappropriate behaviour. If yo have an issue or concern but are unsure or lack confidence in raising it or the process, then please speak to your Unit or Area rep or contact the Branch for advice and support.

This procedure applies to all employees in Royal Mail Group Limited (including Parcelforce and Property, Facilities and Solutions)

Reminder to Register: CWU LGBT+ and Allies Networking Event 

We are writing to remind Branches that our CWU LGBT+ and Allies Networking Event will be taking place on Friday 23^rd May in conjunction with Birmingham Pride on the 24^th May.

The day is being sponsored by the Midlands Region and will be an opportunity to connect and network with other LGBT+ activists and Allies from across the union.

Day 1: The session on Friday 23^rd May will run from 13:00 – 17:00 and take place at CWU Offices, 47, Summer Lane, Birmingham, B19 3TH. The afternoon will include interactive and informative sessions with group discussions and guest speakers.

Day 2: Will include attending Birmingham Pride. Further information will follow regarding a CWU meeting point and times.

A list of hotels is set out below for those that may need to stay due to travel:

• Holiday Inn Express, Snow Hill
• Hampton by Hilton, Jewellery Quarter
• Premier Inn, Station Exchange
• Premier Inn, Waterloo Street

Birmingham Pride is our designated National Pride this year and we encourage all our Branches to send a delegation to the event.      

To reserve a place at the Networking event on Friday 23^rd May or for any queries relating to this LTB please email equality&education@cwu.org

We look forward to seeing you in Birmingham!

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

25LTB 088 – Reminder CWU LGBT+ and Allies Networking Event

25LTB 088 – Att 1 Birmingham-Pride

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EP GROUP TAKEOVER CONFIRMED

The purpose of this LTB is to confirm the takeover of Royal Mail Group has been completed, with 80.06% of shareholders voting to accept the offer document. 

The CWU has responded with the attached press release/statement. We are asking branches to distribute this immediately to all representatives and workplaces.

We understand there is still likely to be a further four-week period before the current board resign and EP Group are in place to actually run the company.  We also understand this extended period is due to the current board fulfilling their final fiduciary responsibilities.

The next steps for the CWU will be to send to members home addresses an extensive communication explaining the terms of the CWU/EP Agreement and updating members on the USO.  This will be timed towards the end of May and will be part of a series of communications to launch the new agreement.  

Finally, we will also be issuing a rep’s brief within the next week on the terms of the agreement and the work we all need to do to ensure it is fully implemented.

Any enquiries on the above should be addressed to the GS Department dlynch@cwu.org. 

Yours sincerely,

DAVE WARD  

GENERAL SECRETARY                                                                           

MARTIN WALSH                   

DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY (POSTAL)

–

PRESS RELEASE 

CWU STATEMENT ON EP GROUP TAKEOVER OF ROYAL MAIL

Responding to the news that EP Group are the new owners of Royal Mail, CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “Today represents a pivotal moment in the history of Royal Mail – one of our country’s most iconic and important companies.

“We now have confirmation that EP Group, led by Daniel Kretinsky, will be the new owners. 

“This is a development that many will greet with scepticism and uncertainty. But the truth is that the biggest threat to the future of our postal services is the status quo. 

“The current Royal Mail Group Board have destroyed the service, turned on their own employees and grossly mismanaged the company from top to bottom. 

“The CWU have reached a groundbreaking agreement with EP Group that provides the platform for a fresh start and the rebuilding of Royal Mail. 

“We will use the coming weeks and months to put the commitments contained within the agreement fully to the test. 

“We will not hesitate to challenge EP Group if they do not fulfil their obligations to postal workers and customers. 

“We will also ensure the government are fully engaged in this immediate process and the future strategy of the company in line with the separate agreement they have reached with EP Group. 

“Royal Mail is a key part of the UK’s infrastructure and must be treated as such by politicians.”

ENDS

LTB 087/25 – EP GROUP TAKEOVER CONFIRMED

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Ground-level Letterboxes – Campaign Update

Dear Colleagues,

Branches will be aware of attempts going back several years to make industry-standard recommended minimum letterbox heights mandatory under the law and of the tireless campaigning work of Dave Joyce on this issue, supported by the Outdoor Department and by my predecessors Mark Baulch and Bob Gibson.

This purpose of this LTB is to inform Branches that our new CWU Health & Safety Policy Assistant Jamie McGovern and myself, as Outdoor Secretary, are equally committed to this and to update you on our continuing campaign on behalf of circa 80,000 Royal Mail Delivery postmen and postwomen all around the UK.

While the personnel have changed, the key aim remains the same – a UK-wide ban on the installation of ground-level letterboxes in all new builds and front door replacements / renewals – by making the installation height dimensions in BSEN13724 legally mandatory in all such circumstances. The reasons why this is of importance to our Delivery members are, of course, due to the cumulative physical strain induced by constant bending right down to floor level while out on delivery and also the increased risk of dog bites through the letterbox when it is at ground level.

The industry standard, BSEN13724, referring to the letterbox as the ‘aperture’, states: ‘For ergonomic reasons the lower edge of the lowest aperture and the upper edge of the highest aperture should be at a height between 700mm (approx. 2ft 3½in) and 1700mm (approx. 5ft 7in) measured from the delivery floor level. In special cases such as groups of apertures or in historical buildings with limitations the range may be extended but should be between 400mm (approx. 1ft 4in) and 1800mm (approx. 5ft 11in).’ (P27 Annex B Installation Height of Aperture)

‘BS’ and ‘EN’

The acronym ‘BS’ stands for ‘British Standard’ and the acronym ‘EN’ stands for ‘European Norm’. BS standards are set by the British Standards Institution (BSI), which was founded in 1901 and was the first organisation of its type in the world. EN standards are set by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), which was founded in 1961 and to which EU member-nations as well as non-EU nations belong, including the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

Historically, the UK industry standards on this were set under BS2911:1960 and BS2911:1974. These were incorporated into BSEN13724:2002 and then BSEN13724:2013, which continues to be the industry standard today (the last four digits in each instance indicating year of publication / update).

Campaigning at Westminster and around the country

However, while being a recommended industry standard, the installation height dimensions in BSEN13724 are currently only advisory rather than mandatoryunder UK law. Most recently a CWU delegation consisting of the Outdoor Department, Jamie McGovern and Carl Webb, NW Regional Secretary, met with Matthew Pennycook, the current Minister of State for Housing and Planning, last month on this matter. It was a positive meeting and this conversation is currently ongoing.

Work continues at local level as well, with support growing among MPs and efforts being made to engage with local authorities on this matter. There have also been discussions with companies within the construction industry with regard to building projects at individual sites.

Please help with the campaign 

While we continue, and step up, our efforts to secure this crucial tightening up of the law, the Outdoor Department and our Health & Safety Policy Assistant are asking Area Delivery Reps and Area Safety Reps in all areas to prioritise this campaign and to undertake the following:

• Please monitor and note significant new build construction projects within your area;
• Please make contact with the respective local authority and the company concerned with regard to these projects, ensuring that they know about the recommended letterbox placement dimensions as advised by the relevant section of BSEN13724, the reasons why the CWU is prioritising this issue and request their compliance;
• Please note the details and report back to the Outdoor Department and / or Jamie McGovern.

The more progress we can make at local level, the fewer new ground-level letterboxes will be installed and the fewer postmen and postwomen will suffer from the associated risk and hazard. Also, the more information we gain, the stronger the case that can be made at national level in our ongoing efforts to secure a UK-wide ban on ground-level letterboxes in all new builds and replacements / renewals.

Your assistance in this is much appreciated and further updates will be circulated in due course.

Any enquiries to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, email address: Pharacz@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

LTB 084/25 – Ground-level Letterboxes – Campaign Update

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Nominations for Vacant Regional Representative Positions and Elections Guidelines and Nomination Form 

No  083/25

22^nd April 2025

TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH RMPFS ENGINEERING GRADE MEMBERS

 Dear Colleagues,

Further to LTB 047/25 dated 28^th February 2025, we are now readvertising nominations for the following vacant Regional Representative positions.

Regional Representatives – South East/South West (3 Positions)SOUTH EAST/SOUTH WEST513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524

613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624,

313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324

413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424CB, IP, NR, PE, AL, EN, HP, LU, SG, WD, CM, CO, E, IG, RM, SS, EC, N, W, WC, NW, HA, KT, TW, UB, SM, SW, BR, CR, DA, ME, SE, CF, HR, LD, NP, SA, BS, GL, OX, SN, GU, RG, SL, EX, PL, TA, TQ, TR, BA, BH, DT, PO, SO, SP, BN, CT, RH, TN

A nomination form is attached to this LTB and are available upon request from the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s department.  All candidates must have the nomination of their own branch which must be agreed at a branch meeting.  Completed nomination forms must be signed by the Branch Secretary and Branch Chair (or accredited deputies) and the nominee.

The timetable for the nominations is as follows:

Nominations open:          23^rd April 2025

Nominations Close:         7^th May 2025 (14.00)

Any ballots will be run in accordance with the CWU Guidelines for the Regional Engineering/Admin Representatives, which are attached for your information.  In the event that a ballot is required a timetable will be notified to branches in due course.

Any enquires in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Bobby Weatherall, Acting Assistant Secretary, email khay@cwu.org or hmaughan@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Bobby Weatherall

Acting Assistant Secretary

LTB 083/25 – Nomination LTB

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International Workers Memorial Day Monday 28th April 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Every year more people are killed at work than in wars.

International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) on 28th April commemorates those workers.

We are calling upon CWU Branches, Regions, Reps and Members to please support your local IWMD events and come together to remember those who have lost their lives to work, been injured or disabled and to further renew our trade union commitment to fight for the safety and health of the living and make workplaces and working methods safer.

TUC List of IWMD Local Events 

The TUC has published the details of a list of local events across England and Wales which are taking place on 26th,27th & 28th April, these can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

International workers memorial day events | TUC

Scottish TUC List of Local Events 

The STUC has published the details of a list of local events across Scotland from 25th April 2025 through to 28th April 2025

International Workers Memorial Day | STUC

Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) WMD Event 

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) will mark International Workers’ Memorial Day with a wreath laying ceremony IWMD Commemorative Tree in the grounds of Parliament Buildings on 29th April at 12:30pm, Stormont Estate, Stormont Ct, Belfast BT4 3LP For further details on this event email: info@ictuni.net

TUC Cymru have also organised a Wales’ National Workers’ Memorial Day event in Cardiff on Monday 28th April 2025 – 10:00 to 12:00

Wales’ National Workers’ Memorial Day event, Cardiff | TUC

Many more events will take place on International Workers Memorial Day 2025 which may not be officially listed. We therefore advise branches to make enquiries with local Trades Councils and other Trade Unions, Local Authorities, Hazards and other Campaign organisations for details of local IWMD events that Branches and Reps may further wish to support.

CWU 2025 International Workers Memorial Day Poster 

A CWU Workplace poster is embedded below which draws attention to this year’s them of; Occupational health and safety: A fundamental right at work. This year, there will be an explicit additional focus on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitisation of occupational health and safety. The HSE has indicated it wants to reach a point where AI risk is ‘no longer novel’ and is managed in the same way as any other risk.

The link below is to a recent report from the Labour Research Department (LRD) which has been produced especially in time for IWMD 2025.

Counter intelligence? Artificial intelligence and workers’ health and safety | LRD

‘Light up Purple’ CWU campaign for IWMD

The CWU Northwest Region started the ‘light up purple’ campaign in the name of the CWU in 2022 by asking for landmarks, buildings, bridges to ‘light up for IWMD’ to remember the estimated 2.7 million workers who die globally each year because of occupational accidents or work-related diseases. A few of the many landmarks, buildings, bridges that will be lighting up purple on the 28th April 2025 are listed below

Fairfield General Hospital Bury, BL9 7TD
The Christie Hospital, Manchester M20 3DA
Rochdale Infirmary OL12 0NB
Chorley Town Hall, PR7 1DP
Salford Royal Hospital M6 8HD
Royal Oldham Hospital, England, OL1 2JH
The Blackpool Tower England, FY1 4BJ
Greystone & Archway Road bridges, Knowsley, L14
The Mersey Gateway Bridge, WA7 9DW
Salford Civic Centre Manchester M27 5DA
Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital BB2 3HH

For more information on the ‘Light up Purple for IWMD’ campaign please click on QR code link below.

If you are interested in more information on the Global IWMD events campaigns and further guides and news items, you can visit the 28April.org website which contains details of the hugely valuable work undertaken by Hazards magazine and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

28 April | Remember the dead, fight like hell for the living

Finally, we are raising awareness of TUC endorsed Big Zoom solidarity meeting & Memorial Call to action in memory of Zane Gbangbola on International Workers Memorial Day

28th April 6 pm to 6.20 pm

Eleven years ago, 7-year-old Zane Gbangbola tragically died when the basement of his home in Chertsey was flooded with water from the Thames. There is very strong evidence that this allowed hydrogen cyanide gas from a former landfill site nearby to seep into the house. Hydrogen Cyanide is a colorless gas, which has in the past been linked to historic landfill sites. Andy Burnham has been a high-profile supporter of the family campaign for several years and he will be speaking at this online event.

Big Zoom in solidarity with the family of Zane Gbangbola | TUC

If you have any questions or need any further information relating to this LTB, please contact Jamie McGovern on jmcgovern@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
General Secretary

LTB – IWMD 2025

IWMD CWU poster- Workers Memorial Day – A3

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Commencing Pay Negotiations and Section 5 of the EP Agreement

We can confirm that we will commence negotiations on 29^th April in accordance with the EP Agreement Rebuilding Royal Mail on Pay and resolving outstanding issues in Section 5.  Our negotiations will cover the following:

1. A pay agreement.
2. Equalising New entrants’ Pay, terms and conditions over an agreed period with the first step occurring within three months of the transaction.
3. A new career path.
4. A plan to reduce agency.
5. Addressing overtime and scheduled attendance rates.
6. Improving sick pay arrangements.
7. Reaching an improved voluntary redundancy package.
8. Agree on a new incentive scheme based on local/plant measures.
9. Introducing pilots on new ways of working, including mechanisms to allow postal workers to have more say over day-to-day operations and workload management. This will include, but is not limited to, piloting a more supportive way of utilising the “my performance app” application and any data.

Our aim is to reach an agreement covering the above by 14^th May, which would be subject to the endorsement of the Postal Executive.  We plan to present this at a Special Briefing of our Senior Feld Officials and Branch leaders on 21^st and 22^nd May.  Then, it will be subject to an individual member ballot.  Any agreement will not come into force until EP becomes the sole controlling shareholder and the company is delisted.

We will provide further updates in due course.

Any enquiries to this LTB should be referred to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 081/25 – Commencing Pay Negotiations and Section 5 of the EP Agreement

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Online National Briefing update on EP takeover, Pay and Section 5 negotiations, USO Pilot and Wider USO reform and how the Special National Briefing and Policy Forum will work

We will be holding an online National Briefing on:

Monday 28^th April at 10am.

The purpose of this meeting will be to update Divisions and Branches on the following:

• The takeover, as well as update you on our thinking regarding the overall agreement with EP titled Rebuilding Royal Mail. This includes the complete reset of industrial and employee relations in every workplace. 
• Pay and Section 5 negotiations will commence from 29^th We aim to conclude an agreement before 14^thMay which will be subject to Postal Executive approval and then will be presented to the Briefing on 21^stand 22^nd May.  It would then be subject to an individual member ballot.  Any agreement will depend on EP becoming the controlling or sole shareholder and once the company completes being delisted which is expected to be in late May/early June.

We want to take you through our thinking regarding Pay and Section 5 discussions.

This will include the following:

• What we are looking at covering on pay. 
• The plan to equalise New Entrants’ pay, terms and conditions over an agreed period, including the first step within 3 months of the transaction. 
• Introducing a new career path. 
• The strategy to reduce reliance on agency and create new Royal Mail job opportunities. 
• The plan is to address overtime and scheduled attendance rates and examine new ways to incentivise employees who need additional earnings. 
• Agreeing to and introducing a new performance incentive scheme for all employees based on local/plant-level measures. 
• To establish the parameters of this scheme there will be a joint review of existing efficiency and productivity measures and targets, with the aim of reaching an agreement on fair and equitable measures of evaluation. 
• In recognition of the significant reduction in absence levels and therefore the cost of sick pay, current sick pay arrangements will be reviewed with a view to reaching an improved agreement that reflects a more supportive approach for employees by no later than three months after the completion of the transaction. 
• Our aim is to reach an agreed and improved voluntary redundancy package and remove the tapering from the age of 64.5. 
• To agree and introduce pilots on new ways of working including mechanisms to allow postal workers to have more say over day-to-day operations and workload management. This will include but is not limited to piloting a more supportive way of utilising the “my performance” application and any performance data.  The terms of the pilot will be agreed no later than two months after the completion of the transaction.

3. We want to update all Branches on the USO pilots and our thinking regarding USO reform. Ofcom will likely confirm its proposals for USO reform in early summer, and therefore, USO change will become a reality from that point.

Our agreement with EP clearly states, “Following the outcome of the pilots, EP and CWU commit to reaching a full agreement on how any changes to the USO will be implemented in a mutually beneficial way.  EP Group accept that any final agreement with the CWU on USO reform is also conditional on progress and implementation within the agreed timelines set out in Section 5 of the agreement.”

The delay in the takeover and in introducing the pilots has narrowed the window on when USO reform will likely be announced, leading us to the situation where we may want to have a national agreement on the USO earlier than previously planned.

We will explain our thinking in full regarding how we plan to tackle the USO reform now.

4. When we booked and planned the Policy Forum, we were unaware of the Romanian transaction delay, which has meant that we have not yet commenced negotiations on Pay or Section 5.

Normally, producing reports 28 days before the Policy Forum would be the usual process.  This will not be possible.  So, we intend to reach an agreement on pay and the key principles of Section 5 and present this to the Briefing in Manchester.

On the USO, we will either present a framework agreement at the Briefing or send out a policy document ahead of it.

The chair and I are discussing the best way to give all Branches the best information, answer questions, and hear points of view.

This is an unprecedented situation, and clearly the potential new owners will not be in charge until they have over 75%, and if they achieve this, it will not be until the company has been delisted from the stock exchange, which takes up to five weeks.

We look forward to seeing you at the online National Briefing.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Andy Furey

Assistant Secretary

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

Bobby Weatherall

A/Assistant Secretary

LTB 079/25 – Online National Briefing

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Transfer of Post Office Limited Collection Work from Parcelforce to Royal Mail – National Deployment

Branches will recall that during 2024 trials took place on the concept of utilising, the synergies between Royal Mail and Parcelforce in relation to collection activity (LTB 147/24 refers).   The initial trial took place in the Stoke area to ascertain if Royal Mail could perform Parcelforce collections, consolidate the items at the Collection Hub or Outward Mail Centre and repatriate the traffic into the Parcelforce Network to meet service.

This activity was viewed as a success and a further trial took place in the PFW Exeter Depot area later in the year. This was a far more complex trial as the geography covered by the depot spanned two Mail Centre catchment areas. That trial was again successful from a Royal Mail perspective and showed that the model could work.

Royal Mail & PFW have since been modelling what a national deployment could look like, and discussions have been taking place with both departments to review options. While it is noted PFW would like to move all collection work from PFW to Royal Mail in areas where the traffic can onward connect through the network, they have agreed to adopt a phased approach addressing POL Collections first, followed by a review of Ad-Hoc and the Scheduled Collections.

As part of an organised project known as First Mile Integration (FMI) and supported by dedicated collection planning support, RM Plant catchment areas will migrate over to the full collection of all available PFW items from POL. Some interim exemptions will remain where current connectivity does not allow for the PFW items to meet the cut off times, these will be reviewed to understand the potential changes which may be required.

All PFW items collected from POL will be returned to the RM Collection Hub or passed to the RM Outward Mail Centre depending on the workplan. These will then be conveyed to the Parcelforce LD to then enter the PFW outward network ready for dispatch. Where sufficient volume allows, direct runs between RM Outward Mail Centres to the PFW National Processing Centres (e.g. Coventry Hub) will be considered.

This activity will be monitored through the Table of Success National Working Group in PFW and the Collections Joint Working Group in Royal Mail.

We have secured with Parcelforce commitments that all workloads will be balanced to ensure that the time saved by removing collections is fully utilised with delivery traffic. The expectation is that the traffic will migrate from External resource and PFW have agreed that all headcount reduction will come from External resource.

A National launch call with the business took place today with the Parcelforce Regional Organisers and Royal Mail Divisional Representatives to ensure they are fully aware of the change and are able to cascade the information down to the impacted Parcelforce Depot and Delivery Offices.

Attached to this LTB for your information are the SOP’s and SSOW for this activity along with the slides used on the launch call. These will be used to ensure that the criteria is fully understood and deployed consistently, ensuring that connectivity and quality of service is maintained.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org or Tony Bouch, Assistant Secretary, email: Pharacz@cwu.org quoting reference LTB 076/25. 

Yours sincerely, 

Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary                                                                                             

Mick Kavanagh
A/Assistant Secretary

LTB 076.25 – Transfer of PFW POL Collections to RM

PFW POL Collections Transfer – National Deployment

PFW Collections – POL National Launch16 Apr2025 Final

FMI FAQ master 20250327

Manual handling SSoW 1.10

Collections (Royal Mail Operations) SSOW v1.7

SOP A2.1.1 Collect From Customer (PFW Items)

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