Royal Mail Group: National Briefing – Friday 17^th February

A National Briefing will be held on Friday 17^th February 2023 to provide Branches with an update in regard to our negotiations with Royal Mail Group and the next steps in the dispute.

The Briefing will commence at 10:00 and conclude no later than 14:00 at:

International Suite
Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel
Portland Street
Manchester
M1 4PH

Tea and coffee will be available from 09.30.

All Branches are requested to make this a priority engagement and attendance arrangements should be in accordance with normal protocols for National Briefings whilst ensuring the importance of our proportionality requirements.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department – fkelk@cwu.org or acorbett@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,      

Dave Ward
General Secretary

Andy Furey
A/Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 035/23
 

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MODEL LETTER – OPPOSING RMG PLANS TO CLOSE CUSTOMER SERVICE POINTS

As part of the ongoing dispute with Royal Mail Group, branches will be aware that Royal Mail are planning to close an overwhelming number of Customer Service Points (CSPs) at local delivery offices and some Mail Centres, as well as reducing opening times for those that remain.

It is also clear that CWU members who work in Customer Service Points are being unfairly pressured to take voluntary redundancy. This is particularly concerning as some of these members’ rights may be affected under the Equality Act.

The CWU remains opposed to these closures and the impact on the affected members. Therefore, as well as pursuing this in national negotiations (LTB 033/23), we are now calling on members of the public and politicians to speak out against these closures.

We have attached a model letter that can be sent to MPs to lobby them to campaign against these closures. These plans will affect every constituency and should be of concern to every Member of Parliament.

We are now asking branches to share these letters widely, not just among CWU members but in the wider community and on social media to build opposition to Royal Mail’s plans.

You can send this letter through the link below, just add your name and address.

Have Your Say: CSP

If you have any queries, please contact jdunn@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Dave Ward                        
General Secretary

Andy Furey
Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Mark Baulch
Assistant Secretary

LTB 034/22 – MODEL LETTER- OPPOSING RMG PLANS TO CLOSE CUSTOMER SERVICE POINTS IN DELIVERY AF

Att: Model Individual Letter Text

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Dog Bites Put 9,000 People a Year in Hospital. Why is the Law Toothless? – Sunday Times 5 February 2023:

Following 14 fatal dog attacks in 14 months and two recent deaths in the last month highlighting an alarming rise in dog attacks, the Sunday Times ran an almost full-page article on the issue last Sunday with a heavy focus on dog attacks on postal workers amongst a broad ranging look society’s unawareness or denial about the dangers and national crisis in the UK.

The article featured interviews with the CWU National Health and Safety Officer and postwoman dog attack victim Sarah King.

Some facts and statistics covered were:

• The number of dogs has boomed since lockdown. There are about 13 million in the UK compared with 7.6 million in 2012.
• Non-fatal injuries from dog attacks have also risen steadily in the past 20 years.
• 9,000 people a year are admitted to hospital with severe dog bites — up from 7,500 in 2017.
• The cost to the NHS is an estimated £71 million.
• 60 people have died in dog attacks in the UK since 2000.
• There are 2,500-3,000 dog bites to postmen and women a year.
• In the past five years, 1,000 postmen and women have had fingers bitten off/amputated as a result of dog attacks through letterboxes.
• In 2007 Paul Coleman, Sheffield postman and father of two, was mauled for 15 minutes by two pitbull cross dogs while delivering the mail. He was in intensive care for weeks and needed extensive skin grafts, surgery and counselling and almost lost his right arm. This attack and 6,500 dog attacks on postal workers that year triggered the CWU’s launch of the ‘Bite-Back’ campaign which 7 years later ended in a major victory for the CWU with major changes and extensions of the Dangerous Dogs Act.
• The absence of mandatory ‘Third Party Liability Insurance’ for dog owners continues to be a major problem for injured victims who can only secure personal injury compensation if the dog owner is insured or has financial resources.

Extract

Dave Joyce said; “Dog attacks and dog control law and order is a national crisis in this country. It’s out of control. Every day I wake up and I think this is the day when I’m going to get that call to say that one of our members has been killed. I’m sick of the words of sympathy from police and politicians every time there is a dog attack death. It’s not enough. The victims are being denied justice. How much further is the government going to allow this to progress before something is done about it? When a dog bites one of our members we are too often faced with police forces who are reluctant to prosecute the owner. Perhaps due to the backlog of cases in the legal system, lack of police resources, other priorities etc. The police too often try to dispose of dog attack cases quickly and try to get the victim to drop the case and instead accept the police issuing a ‘police caution’ or a ‘community resolution order’, which are informal ways of dealing with what is actually a very serious offence. Enforcement of the law is woefully poor. The courts don’t hand down appropriate sentences. They don’t ban dog owners from owning dogs, they don’t issue compensation orders. It’s completely inconsistent.”

Read a copy of the full story attached.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

LTB 032/23 – Dog Bites Put 9000 People a Year in Hospital Why is the Law Toothless – Sunday Times 5 February 2023

Att: Why is the law toothless Sunday Times

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Royal Mail’s Customer Service Points (CSPs) Rationalisation Plan & Automatic Redelivery

Branches, Representatives, and members alike will recall that the Outdoor Department has issued a number of LTBs covering Royal Mail’s ongoing review of Customer Service Points (CSP) estate and opening times.  These have been supplemented via two ODMs (Outdoor Department Memos), 039/22 and 042/22, issued on the 12^th and 21^stDecember respectively, in order to update Branches and Representatives concerning ongoing developments on Royal Mail’s CSP plans and the further activity to introduce Automatic Redelivery, which is a separate initiative, but clearly linked to Royal Mail wider CSP rationalisation plans.

We have set out the union’s growing concerns around Royal Mail’s future plans for CSPs, and it was therefore not a surprise that this matter surfaced during our dispute and was included in Royal Mail’s ‘best and final offer’ presented to the union on 22^ndNovember as part the recent ACAS talks.  To recap, Royal Mail set out the following wording for the CWU to sign up to on future of CSPs in their ‘best and final offer’:

3.3 – Customer Service Point Rationalisation

Due to a significant increase in first time delivery rates, the purpose and scale of Customer Service Point operation requires urgent review. The CWU commits to work with Royal Mail on this review consultation concluding end of December 2022 with implementation commencing Feb 2023.

Since then we have engaged in numerous correspondence with Royal Mail on its CSPs plan which also include the national rollout and launch of Automatic Redelivery. Most recently, we have sought to use the last few weeks of refreshed negotiations and correspondence to push Royal Mail to rethink and halt these plans. Sadly, Royal Mail has seemingly rejected the union’s call and in the most recent set of discussions, it set out revised plans to increase the number of CSPs to close and further limited the scope of services offered in those which will continue to remain open, but also added that it was still reviewing and considering its overall position:

The summary of what we believe Royal Mail’s current plans is: –

• To cut the number of CSPs significantly, thereby only leaving a minority of units overall open, which although unconfirmed, we believe is an increase from the original number of closures outlined to us in November of last year. 

• Those that remain open will be “repurposed” and will only be open for specific workload activity and customer services.
   
• National rollout of Automatic Redelivery will take place during February.

Following our most recent meeting, we received a further letter from Royal Mail which highlighted what can only be described as a complete disregard for the real impact these plans will have on all CWU members that work in CSPs.

Subsequently, the union has written to Royal Mail further on the 3^rd February to challenge these plans for CSPs, but also more importantly, to directly contest these, and their direct impact on members who perform CSP work and roles. We have also requested that specific information is received detailing those units which are planned to close, along with clear details on what this will mean in terms of those individuals which undertake this work, and the possible number of headcount reductions associated with their plans.

As outlined above it would now appear that Royal Mail is seeking to push through with its CSP closure plans which could impact up to some 2,400 of its employees, a number of which perform these roles as a result of ‘adjusted duty needs’ due to a disability via the Equality Act or family-friendly needs.  Where there is any suggestion by Royal Mail of options for redeployment to other roles or work, our view is it is simply not realistic given the overall numbers involved with Royal Mail’s overall “rightsizing” programme.

We are further aware that individual members who perform CSP roles are now being directly approached as part of Royal Mail’s closure plans at a local level, therefore, we are issuing the following initial advice to members:

In response to any request to meet and engage with your line manager/COM on the local changes to CSPs arrangements and your current duty patterns (and any individual protected characteristics), members should first request ‘written and advance’ confirmation from their manager on the specific nature of such a meeting and the relevant Royal Mail procedure and process under which the meeting is being held; and whether attendance is purely voluntary or otherwise. 

Secondly and once a reply is received from the relevant manager, the member should then advise that they are now seeking further CWU clarification and advice on this matter, and before they are able to attend. The advice is needed as Royal Mail has not confirmed directly with the CWU at a national level the relevant Royal Mail procedure and process it is applying in terms of what could amount to a redundancy situation or an enforced individual severance package.

If members choose to attend, or feel compelled to attend, and request CWU representation accordingly, our Reps should as per normal, accompany and support members as necessary, but on a ‘without prejudice’ basis due to the union’s wider position and in absence of the manager concerned formally confirming the nature of the meeting and under which Royal Mail procedure and process the meeting is taking place.

Members should not feel pressurised or compelled to make knee-jerk reactions or decisions in terms of these Royal Mail plans. However, and as outlined in LTB 454/22 ERRATA, issued on the 17^th of Novemberentitled: Royal Mail Group: Unagreed Preference Exercise, we do need to confirm that:

It will always be the case that individual members are entitled to make their choice based on their own personal circumstances as to whether or not they are prepared to accept RMG’s redundancy terms.

The union fully understands the real anxiety and stress many members that work in CSP’s are now feeling in the face of what are unnecessary and belligerent actions by Royal Mail.  History has shown that the union has always been able via joint agreement and mitigation towards individual circumstances to deal with whole scale and difficult change. However, the current approach of Royal Mail on its CSP plans has been rarely seen and is based on what can only be described as an openly aggressive and inexcusable attitude towards its employees, again noting that many of our members who work in CSP’s have family-friendly needs, or are covered under the Equality Act.

The union’s focus has centred around what these plans will mean to members that perform CSP work. However, the union has also written direct to Ofcom, the Postal Regulator, via the General Secretary and Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal), to question these plans under the Royal Mail Group Licence conditions as well as a potential contravention of the DUSP (Designated Universal Service Provider) Condition 1 and the Communication Act, as it will remove the option for many customers to collect mail and access other postal services via CSPs. The initial reply from Ofcom to our initial representation on this matter was somewhat disappointing, but they did, however, extend an invitation to meet which the union is looking to pick up shortly.

We will issue further updates in due course and members should equally keep in direct touch with their relevant Representatives and Branches accordingly.

Any queries to the content of the above please contact the Outdoor Department reference 532, email address: njones@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Mark Baulch
CWU Assistant Secretary      

Andy Furey
A / Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 033-23 – Royal Mail’s Customer Service Points (CSPs) Rationalisation Plan & Automatic Redelivery

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Some video content we’ve put out in the last 24 hours.

Deliveries https://www.youtube.com/live/zFG-uYg5l2E?feature=share

Get the Vote Out Day LIVE https://www.youtube.com/live/lVII_ccvVqY?feature=share

Parcelforce https://www.youtube.com/live/IBwrTv4r79k?feature=share

Processing / Distribution https://www.youtube.com/live/Vfz0_O9eQa0?feature=share

Engineers https://www.youtube.com/live/zZ-lnnUVhgw?feature=share

Fleet https://www.youtube.com/live/aQy7QM6LMiE?feature=share

Update from GS https://www.youtube.com/live/-ZPUyeO_a4E?feature=share

WeAreStillHere

Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash FY23 004 – Peugeot Expert Side Door Detachment:

Introduction

A problem first reported in RMG GP SA 2018 005 and CWU LTB 570/2018 has again become a widespread problem with a growing number of incidents reported of Peugeot Expert van side doors detaching from the small panel vans whilst side doors are being operated whereby the top mounting arm comes out of the runner (see photographs in attached Safety Flash).

Background and Description: 

Royal Mail Group’s Safety Team have issued RMG SHE Safety Flash FY23 004 following a number of reports of side doors detaching from Peugeot Expert small panel vans whilst the doors are being operated. This is due to the door’s top mounting arm coming out of the runner which in turn has the potential to cause injury to the driver and passenger with the door falling off the vehicle as well as damage to the vehicle (see photographs in attached Safety Flash).

Impact/Injuries: 

• Potential to cause injury to the driver and passenger with the door falling off the vehicle and damage to the vehicle (see photographs in attached Safety Flash).

Key Messages, Learning Points and Actions: 

1. When opening and closing the side load door on the Peugeot Expert vans, drivers should ensure that the side door is opened and closed without using excessive force which can otherwise cause door failure.
2. Drivers must not use a ‘throwing’ action when opening and closing the door as it will damage the door. Instead, the door should be held by the handle throughout its operation which prevents the door being ‘thrown’ against its stop.
3. If excessive force is used, the door can detach from the top runner channel during use (see photographs in attached Safety Flash). The door components have already been modified and strengthened following the same problem occurring on these vans in 2018.
4. In summary, drivers must not use a ‘throwing’ or ‘slamming’ action to open and close the door with force. This can break the support arm and runner channel after repeated heavy use leading to door detachment.
5. Drivers instead should ensure the door is opened and closed without using excessive force as damage can occur. Drivers should remain holding the handle throughout the entire sliding travel ensuring the door is opened fully to engage the end of travel catch.
6. Drivers must not use the upper door arm as a grab handle.
7. Drivers and PiCs must ensure that a vehicle ‘defect report (PMT1)’ form is submitted should this fault develop on a van. Vans should never be used with an insecure door as it may detach when the vehicle is driven and in use.
8. Please ensure the message gets to all drivers operating this LCV type small van.

PiCs Actions:

• PiCs to brief all staff on this SHE Flash and deploy the above Key Messages, Learning Points and Actions.
• PiCs to ensure PMT1 Defect Reports are submitted for Peugeot Expert vans with faulty side doors and are referred to RM Fleet Workshops for attention.
• PiCs to ensure that vans are not used with an insecure, defective door which can detach whilst in use. (e.g., the door should not be ‘taped up’ and left in use).

CWU ASR/WSR Action:

• WSRs/ASRs please ensure that this Safety Flash is communicated and brought to the attention of all appropriate members/drivers and that actions above are deployed.
• WSRs/ASRs to ensure any van with a faulty side door has a PMT1 Defect Report submitted and is not used with an insecure door which can detach whilst in use.
• ASRs to concentrate attention to this matter during Workplace Safety Inspections.

Attachment: 

• Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash FY23 004 – Peugeot Expert Side Door Detachment.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

LTB 031/23 – Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash FY23 004 – Peugeot Expert Side Door Detachment

Att: SHE Flash FY23 004- Peugeot Expert Side Door Detachment

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ROYAL MAIL GROUP: LEGAL CHALLENGE – STRIKE ACTION – 16^TH / 17^TH FEBRUARY

On Saturday 4^th February we received correspondence from RMG legal representatives challenging the strike notice issued on Thursday 2^nd February.  This challenge centres around technical issues relating to the Dispute Resolution Process and the lifespan of the existing Change ballot.  Having discussed this with our own lawyers, they have said we have an arguable case that we could defend our position in Court.

However, our lawyers have also advised that the risks associated with losing in court may potentially impact on the re-ballot – something which we cannot allow to happen.  Therefore, on the basis of the advice given, the Postal Executive do not believe it is worth risking the status of the new ballot to defend a ballot mandate that expires on the 17^th February.  Instead, we have agreed the following steps:

• We will cancel the strike action on 16^th / 17^th February
• The focus of the whole union must remain on winning the ballot
• We will re-enter negotiations with Royal Mail Group this week
• If talks fail, we will significantly step up the programme of strike action
• The union will shortly announce details of a formal strike fund

The Postal Executive are crystal clear that the single most important issue at the moment is that the whole union focuses its efforts on maximising the Yes vote and turnout in the live re-ballot.  We cannot allow RMG’s blatant efforts to demoralise our members and discredit the union to distract from the reality that the resolution to this long-running dispute will be determined and settled by the outcome of the current national ballot.

This simple message must be strongly conveyed to all members throughout the remainder of the balloting period, including in preparation for tomorrow’s Get the Vote Out Day and ongoing Branch meetings.

To support this approach, we have attached a members’ communication, which we are asking all CWU reps to read out to our members during national Get the Vote Out Day.  The overriding message in the members’ communication will be the focus of our own live broadcast tomorrow morning at 08.00.

Finally, given the content of this LTB, it is now incumbent on the whole union to also recognise that it really is not worth risking the status of the new ballot – instead our task is to do everything possible to get the vote out.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward – General Secretary               

Andy Furey – Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

23LTB030 ROYAL MAIL GROUP LEGAL CHALLENGE – STRIKE ACTION – 16TH 17TH FEBRUARY

NATIONAL GET THE VOTE OUT DAY – A Message to all CWU Members

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Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash FY23 003 – Reporting Hazardous Corrosion Damage:

Background and Description: 

Royal Mail Group’s Safety Team have issued RMG SHE Safety Flash FY23 003 following a number of accidents and near misses on Royal Mail Group sites, in recent months, caused by the failure of seriously corroded, and unsafe items and components which should have been reported for remedial action, repair or replacement. Instead the various items were left to corrode and disintegrate, becoming a danger, leading to failure or collapse.

If evidence of corrosion is identified early enough, this can be repaired, preventing accidents and injuries to the workforce and third parties. Waiting until the structure of an item has decomposed and failed has the potential to cause serious injury and operational disruption. Complete failures may lead to prolonged disruption and temporary working arrangements whilst replacements are procured and repairs undertaken.

Two recent examples and photographs are detailed in the SHE Safety Flash FY23 003 (attached). These are;

• A Delivery Office entrance doorcollapsed, falling onto a person who was standing nearby. The door hinge was extremely badly corroded which caused its failure due to it becoming weakened and no longer able to support the door.
• A ‘Safety Barrier’ was extremely badly corroded, breaking away from the fixing point and so undermining its structure and the physical protection it offered. When the barrier was leaned on by a person it moved away instead of holding firm. Safety barriers are fundamental when it comes to keeping sites safe and complying with health and safety regulations and are designed to prevent and control accidents and events by maintaining safe routes, providing warnings of hazards, protecting workers and directing groups of people etc., and providing a visible warning for employees and the public.

Impact/Injuries: 

• Employees injured by failed items and components plus near misses.

Key Messages, Learning Points and Actions: 

• Any evidence of corrosion on a site should be documented in the PiCs routine workplace daily inspections and bi-monthly inspections (as per SHEMS 11.2) and raised to the RMP&FS National Service Centre immediately (0333 005 0312.)

PiCs Actions:

• PiCs to record and report all corrosion for attention.
• PiCs to brief all staff on this SHE Flash and deploy the above Key Messages, Learning Points and Actions.

CWU ASR/WSR Action:

• Please ensure that this Safety Flash is communicated and brought to the attention of all appropriate members and that actions above are deployed.
• WSRs/ASRs to report all incidents of hazardous corrosion.
• ASRs to concentrate attention to this matter during Workplace Safety Inspections.

Attachment: 

• Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash FY23 003 – Reporting Hazardous Corrosion Damage.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

LTB 029/23 – Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Flash FY23 003 – Reporting Hazardous Corrosion Damage

Att: SHE Flash FY23 003 – Corrosion

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