IMPORTANT UPDATE ON USO REFORM AND THE EP GROUP/CWU AGREEMENT – REBUILDING ROYAL MAIL 

IMPORTANT UPDATE ON USO REFORM AND THE EP GROUP/CWU AGREEMENT – REBUILDING ROYAL MAIL 

Further to LTB 186/25 which set out our concerns over Royal Mail management’s position on USO Reform and their failure to communicate to managers and employees on the substance of the EP Group/CWU agreement, this LTB provides branches, reps and members with an update on all these issues following recent meetings with both EP Group and Senior Royal Mail management.

USO Reform 

 We met with EP Group last Thursday and they confirmed that given the differences that remain between Royal Mail and CWU on the approach to deploying USO Reform, alongside the need for all parties to now focus on preparing properly for the pending peak period, there will be no further deployment of the USO this year, beyond the existing 35 pilot sites.

The Union believes this is the right decision and represents a pragmatic response from the company to resolving these crucial issues, allowing for further talks to prioritise the need to reach an agreement that deploys a workable and sustainable solution, rather than one that is based on pre-determined and unrealistic savings.

EP Group/CWU Agreement 

The decision not to deploy any further USO reform this year also reflects the correct sequencing of the commitments made in section 5 of the EP Group/CWU agreement.

Both parties have now agreed to intensify discussions from next week to resolve all the outstanding section 5 issues.

In LTB 186/25 we explained that we had sent a letter to the CEO of IDS and Interim CEO of Royal Mail questioning the company’s commitment to the EP Group agreement. This letter included a comprehensive audit of the agreement and laid out compelling evidence that demonstrated Royal Mail management had not changed their managerial approach and had not implemented many aspects of the agreement.

We subsequently met the Interim CEO and his senior team and both parties agreed that we will also prioritise in discussions next week the reset of employee and industrial relations with specific actions that would be visible to our reps and members at local level.

Summary 

Whilst we recognise some progress has been made in national discussions, there is still much more work to do and until our representatives and members see a difference in the attitude of Royal Mail at local level, we will continue to press EP Group and Royal Mail on all these issues.

A further update will be issued in due course including our approach going forward with the pilot sites.

Any enquiries on the content of this LTB should be addressed to the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) department, Hayley Ford on hford@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Martin Walsh                                                              Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)                     General Secretary

25LTB204 IMPORTANT UPDATE ON USO REFORM AND THE EP GROUPCWU AGREEMENT – REBUILDING ROYAL MAIL

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