CWU Annual Conference 2022 – Telecom and Financial Services Conference Agenda Pad

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

Click to access TFS-AGENDA-2022-c.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

22LTB128 – CWU Annual Conference 2022 – TFS Agenda Pad

Telecoms and Financial Services Agenda Pad

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TUCAN (Trade Union Clean Air Network) Newsletter, Spring 2022:

LTBs No. 035/19 and 436/19 reported on the launch of the Trade Union Clean Air Network (TUCAN), launched as part of the ‘Hazards Campaign’ and linked to the ‘Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA)’, working to generate worker/trade union awareness and for the trade union voice to be prominent in the public debate on the issue of air pollution, waste, the environment and climate change. TUCAN has joined the fight against air pollution and occupational health damage as concerns continue to grow. Much air pollution is caused by industry and work-related activities. Climate change and damage to the environment are direct consequences. There is rightly a public outcry about air pollution as a public health emergency. 36,000 deaths a year are caused by air pollution, according to a government report. Outdoor workers have been ignored for too long as the pollution crisis deepens. Government strategy however has been essentially to ‘kick the can down the road’ by delaying vital measures or passing it over to local authorities to sort out.

‘TUCAN developed a ‘Charter’ providing a set of demands for unions to prioritise in campaigns at local, regional, national and international level. TUCAN also developed – ‘Guidance on Air Pollution for Union Reps’, a pollution checklist for health, safety and environment reps and the ‘TUCAN Charter’ promoting best practice and to raise awareness.

The ‘TUCAN Charter’:

• Introduce a new Clean Air Act that enshrines the right to breathe clean air.
• Update Health and Safety Law (such as COSHH).
• Ensure effective enforcement.
• Involve the workforce.
• Protect jobs.
• Rapidly expand clean and inexpensive public transport systems alongside investment in active transport to increase levels of cycling and walking.

Please find attached a copy of the TUCAN Newsletter, Spring 2022 edition, which covers the following subjects:

• Transport Sector Workers on the front line
• Clean Cities Scorecard
• Toxic Use Reduction Conference
• Clean Air Campaigns (1. Silvertown Tunnel and 2.Edmonton and other UK Incinerators)
• Consultations (1. Environment Act Air Quality Standards and 2. ULEZ Expansion)

Further Information

If you would like further information about TUCAN then please contact Janet at Hazards (email: janet@gmhazards.org.uk) or Graham at the Greener Jobs Alliance (email: gjacoms@gmail.com).

Attachment: 

TUCAN Newsletter, Spring 2022

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB126 TUCAN (Trade Union Clean Air Network) Newsletter, Spring 2022

TUCAN-Newsletter-Spring-2022

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Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter No. 37 – March 2022:

Introduction

The Greener Jobs Alliance was launched to promote skills training and job creation to meet the needs of Britain’s rapidly growing low carbon sectors and to green the whole economy. The transition to a low carbon and resource efficient economy can drive sustainable economic recovery and job creation in every part of the country as well as making existing jobs more secure. But this requires a more strategic national and local approach to deliver the workforce skills needed and to stimulate demand for clean energy and energy efficiency services.

The Greener Jobs Alliance liaises at a national and local level to build the broadest possible support for the policies, investment, partnerships and commitments needed to drive the transition to a low carbon economy.

The Greener Jobs Alliance liaises with training bodies, colleges, universities, employers, local and national Government, trade unions, housing associations, campaign and community groups – to build the policies, investment and partnerships needed to drive the transition to a low carbon economy.

The GJA runs a number of ‘free’ courses on the environment for Trade Union Reps in different parts of the UK which have been attended by a number of CWU Reps. See details below.

The GJA came into existence as a result of funding from Battersea and Wandsworth TUC.

The founder GJA Secretary and Newsletter editor was Graham Petersen who is well known to the CWU and has a long standing working relationship with the Union. He is a former TUC tutor and course designer who created safety reps training courses and the successful TUC Occupational Health & Safety Diploma Course. He was the head of the Trade Union Studies Centre at South Thames College before retirement from the post and has been a visitor and guest speaker at CWU events and meetings. After 30 editions, Graham stood down at the GJA AGM last year and has handed over to Paul Atkin as newsletter editor and Tahir Latif as GJA Secretary. Graham remains a GJA Steering Group member and is now working part time for the Wales TUC having recently written a publication for them ‘Greener workplaces for a just transition – a Wales TUC toolkit for trade unionists’.

See attached copy of the GJA Newsletter No.37 for March 2022

In this Newsletter the GJA editor Paul Atkin writes a piece entitled “The Price of Gas” talking about the violent upward twist in the cost of living from the spikes in oil and gas prices resulting from the recovery from the Covid recession overlaid by the impact of the Ukraine war is leading to other countries in Europe sharply accelerating plans to shift to renewables and – to some extent – nuclear: with Germany now setting 2035 as its target date for 100% fossil free energy generation. Ed Miliband’s 5-point plan for energy security is on similar lines and, given the failure of the current government’s market led approach to make the transition at the speed we need and generate the jobs that it could, this will require a significant increase in state investment and public ownership to make it happen. An issue that we need to address at the September conferences of the TUC and opposition parties. Paul also covers the Nigel Farage announcement that he is to front up a campaign for a referendum against what he calls ‘the ruinous net zero targets’ – arguing ‘if we are not careful, the only zero will be the amount in people’s bank accounts’; somehow not noticing that it is the increase in gas prices from £13.50 per Kilowatt Hour last January to as much as £290 per KWh now that is emptying people’s pockets. As Farage always has serious money behind his projects, be prepared
for an onslaught of misinformation and phoney populism directed at our movement – says Paul Atkin.

Contents GJA Newsletter 36:

1. Editorial – The Price of Gas
2. We need a windfall tax and public ownership
3. Great Homes Upgrade
4. Green Jobs boast falls flat
5. Lessons from GKN
6. Net Zero Schools. Unions tell DFE to go further
7. Putting the worker voice at the heart of recovery programmes
8. For a common program and solidarity for Africa at COP27
9. Sinn Fein on Just transition
10. Taking liberties
11. Union action on toxic air
12. Green bites

Attachment: 

• GJA-Newsletter-37-March 2022

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB125 Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter No. 37 – March 2022

GJA-Newsletter-37-March-2022

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Mobile Phone Law Change on 25 March – Drivers Can Face Six Penalty Points and a £200 Fixed Penalty Fine:

In a move to improve road safety, drivers are being warned that from 25 March 2022, new tougher mobile phone use rules come into force when it comes to using mobile phones and other devices when driving.

In 2020, the Department for Transport reported that 17 people were killed on British roads in crashes involving drivers distracted by mobile phones. A further 114 people were seriously injured and 385 were slightly injured in such collisions.

As a result, the Government is making rules on mobile phones in vehicles clearer, so you can more easily be prosecuted, fined and given penalty points if you break the law. To warn drivers of the new rules, a guide on what drivers need to know to avoid fines and points is set out below.

What is the new law coming into effect on 25 March? 

From 25 March it will be clarified that drivers in the UK will NOT be allowed to handle any mobile device when driving. This also includes being stationary in traffic, such as at traffic lights or motorway queues.

This means you cannot touch the device to check the time or notifications, take photos or videos, scroll through playlists, or access any apps or the internet.

Prior to this law, motorists could be penalised for ‘interactive communication’ using a hand-held device while driving, such as texting or phone calls (other than in an emergency). The law did not specifically cover other usages, although police could still prosecute drivers for dangerous or careless driving.

The new rules make it much easier for police to hand out fixed penalties or to send drivers to court.

What is the penalty?

Unless it is to make an emergency call, anyone caught using their hand-held device while driving will face a £200 fixed penalty notice and six points on their drivers’ licence.

Can I be fined for using my phone to pay at a drive-thru or toll road? 

No. Many have mistakenly believed they can be fined when using their phones to pay when at a drive-through restaurant or toll road. However, The Department for Transport has confirmed drivers are exempt from fines in these areas as long as their vehicle is stable.

The Department for Transport confirmed this loophole last year, in their statement: “There will be an exemption to the new law for drivers making a contactless payment using their mobile phone while stationary to ensure the law keeps pace with technology. This exemption will cover, for example, places like a drive-through restaurant or a road toll, and will only apply when payment is being made with a card reader. It will not allow motorists to make general online payments while driving.”

Can I still use a hands-free device or a Sat-Nav?

Drivers are still allowed to use a device if it is ‘hands-free’ when driving. This includes ‘hands-free’ calls and the use of your phone as a sat-nav, as long as it is secured in a holder.

Safe Driving Advice 

The changes to mobile phone driving laws are being introduced to improve safety on UK roads. Drivers must take these rules seriously to help reduce the number of tragic deaths caused by violations.

These adaptations to driving laws are being made in order to keep up-to-date with how technology is used by drivers. The tough penalties are designed to be a strong deterrent to drivers who use their mobile phones behind the wheel.

It is not just mobile devices that drivers should be cautious of. Despite no new rules being enforced on the use of internal infotainment systems, they can be a potential distraction for drivers. Touchscreens have become a common addition to modern vehicles, and the more complex they become, the more distracting they can be. If a driver is found to be not properly in control of their vehicle as a result of using dashboard gadgets or hands-free devices, they can still be prosecuted for careless or dangerous driving.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB124 Mobile Phone Law Change on 25 March – Drivers Can Face Six Penalty Points and a £200 Fixed Penalty Fine

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UK COST OF LIVING CRISIS

The purpose of this LTB is to provide Branches, Reps and members with a detailed analysis of the current cost of living crisis.

The attached document, prepared by our Research Department, is an excellent and comprehensive breakdown on the reality of the situation now facing CWU members and UK society.

It is also important to recognise that whereas some analysts were originally claiming this would have a short term impact, there is now growing evidence, including the additional impact of the war in Ukraine, that this will be a sustained and very damaging crisis.

As the CWU gears up for crucial pay negotiations across the Union, the document will assist our Representatives in putting across factual information to our members.  Given the seriousness of the situation, the union is clear that there can be no excuses from any employer for not giving our members a very significant and well deserved pay rise.

Furthermore, the document also sets the context for the whole of the trade union movement to build support for the New Deal for Workers campaign.  In this regard we can now confirm that there will be a National Rally in June and all unions will be undertaking work to mobilise our members and our communities in support of this campaign.  Further information on this will be issued in due course.

Any enquiries on the above should be addressed to the General Secretary at jdunn@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
General Secretary 

22LTB123 UK COST OF LIVING CRISIS

Cost of living crisis update 15th March 2022

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UN ANTI-RACISM DAY – SATURDAY, 19^TH MARCH

Further to previous LTBs, Branches will be aware that UN Anti-Racism rallies, supported by the TUC, will be taking place across the UK on the weekend of the 19^th March in London, Glasgow and Cardiff.

Furthermore, in keeping with previous years this will be part of a global show of solidarity with similar rallies planned across the world.

We strongly encourage branches to attend one of the UK planned rallies and to ensure CWU banners are on show. We also want to see a strong CWU presence on social media with lots of photos using #MarchAgainstRacism.

Full details of the UK rallies can be found: here

Any enquiries on the content of this LTB please contact Kate Hudson on equalityand education@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Ward
General Secretary       

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

22LTB 122 – UN ANTI-RACISM DAY SATURDAY 19TH MARCH

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Specsavers’ Radio Advert – Portraying a Dog Attack on a Postal Worker:

The Health, Safety and Environment Department has received a number of enquiries and complaints from CWU Reps and members regarding a ‘Specsavers’ radio advert portraying a dog attack on a postal worker.

Representations were made to the Joint CEOs of Specsavers about the advert in which we also requested that the advert be withdrawn and taken off the air.

I’m pleased to report that a very prompt reply was received from Specsavers’ Director of Public Relations in which the company agreed to withdraw the offending advert from Monday.

See attached exchange of correspondence with Specsavers for your information.

Specsavers tried to play it down somewhat, as have other companies in the past that have sadly produced adverts with dog attacks on postmen featured such as ‘Plusnet’ and ‘Southern Trains’.

However, the main thing is that Specsavers are stopping the advert and withdrawing it.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

22LTB121 ‘Specsavers’ Radio Advert – Portraying a Dog Attack on a Postal Worker

Specsavers

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CAPITA TVL: PAY 1^STJANUARY 2022 – REJECTED OFFER

Further to LTB115/22 dated 11^thMarch.

Branches are advised we met with our Capita TVL Reps yesterday.  A good discussion was held around Capita’s current position on pay 2022 along with our aspirations and we reached a consensus view that the current pay offer is inadequate, especially in today’s economic climate.

As a consequence, we have written to Paul Johnston, Managing Director again today, inviting him to improve the offer.  We also indicated we are willing to meet again to see if there is any possibility of closing the gap between the two respective positions.

 Next Steps

A further report will be provided to the Postal Executive in due course and we will then determine next steps.  In the meantime, we hope for a positive response from Paul Johnston as it is vital to receive an improved offer to avoid the possibility of conflict.

Further developments will be reported.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey

Assistant Secretary

LTB 120/22 – Capita TVL Pay – 1st January 2022 – Rejected Offer

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Royal Mail/CWU Joint Statement on Indoor Workload Tool – Planning Value & Version 8 Update

Discussions have been taking place with Royal Mail over many months regarding the Indoor Workload Tool (IWT) and the change from version v7.5 to v8.0 to better reflect current processes and ways of working in Delivery Offices.

Many of the PV’s in the current version of IWT (v7.5) no longer reflect how the operation works and the system needs to be more agile so that as Royal Mail introduces new products and services.  The tool can then be updated quicker without having to make costly code changes. In addition, within IWT there is currently a limited amount of data analysis of what happened in previous weeks and some traffic data isn’t available until after the WRM is scheduled to happen. This means offices are making decisions without the most recent data and having to use excel for more detailed analysis.

Furthermore, as part of the Productivity Joint Working Group activity it was identified that there was an historic error in the calculation of workload for unloading Parcels which was recently identified during a joint RM & CWU audit as part of the productivity deep dives. This error has meant that offices have been credited too many hours for Receiving, Handling and Sorting Parcels, resulting in RM potentially planning their resource incorrectly. The release of version 8 of IWT will correct this.

Both parties recognise that the move to version 8 of the IWT is one of the biggest changes for many years to the system and its core planning and further believe that the update will assist in improving local unit’s ability to resource correctly, efficiently and with a greater level of transparency in line with mandatory Weekly Resourcing Meetings.

Therefore, we have agreed the attached Joint Statement which includes all of the background information, fully explains what IWT is, the rationale for the changes, what is not included at this time and is subject to ongoing discussions and finally the next steps and future reviews.

We have been clear in the Joint Statement that the use of IWT v8 will not change the total target work hours for a unit and that Unit managers and reps should continue to work together to determine the resource level required, to cover their forecast workload and achieve the unit’s overall WIPWH target.

In addition, to help give us further confidence that units base data and recording of hours is accurate, we have agreed that through each Weekly Resource Meeting managers and reps should use it to process and validate the Configuration data in IWT to ensure it is up to date and accurate and where errors are identified update this data.

Included in the Joint Statement at Annex A, is a full list of all values that are affected by this version release. In addition, we have also ensured at Annex B that a ‘joint checklist’ has been established to assist local DOMs and CWU Reps to ensure that the local AutoIWT (Indoor Workload Tool) data for their unit is accurate and up to date.

We have also agreed that the validation exercise will form part of discussions at all relevant Strategic Involvement meetings to ensure it has been completed.

In respect to all the above we have identified circa 40 units that have the greatest associated impact as a result of the changes linked to IWT v8. As such it has been agreed that for a 4-week period that they will be subject to reviews as part of the RM/CWU Systems JWG to ensure that all aspects of the Joint Statement are reviewed and outputs from the release of v8 are accurate. The key point is that it will not change the total target work hours for a unit.

We have also agreed that we will jointly be monitoring the changes to ensure the impact is fully understood and will provide ongoing support and guidance, ensuring that any feedback is captured and reviewed. Going forward, any changes required to IWT through ongoing maintenance and future version controls will form part of the continuing discussions via the National Systems JWG and subsequent updates will be issued as and when developments occur.

Any queries to the content of the above please contact the Outdoor Department reference 540 , email address: njones@cwu.org

Yours sincerely, 

Mark Baulch                                                                                       

CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 119/22 – RM CWU JS on Indoor Workload Tool – Planning Value Version 8 Update

Att: RM_CWU IWT v8 Joint Statement_7th March – Final

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