LIVE AT 5pm – ROYAL MAIL GROUP PENSIONS SPECIAL
Join us tonight at 5pm as Andy Furey and Lionel Sampson talk us through the vital issue of pensions and take your questions on this issue.
World Mental Health Day 2025 – Friday 10th October
World Mental Health Day 2025 – Friday 10th October
Dear Colleagues,
World Mental Health Day is coming up on Friday 10th October. The theme this year, set by the World Federation for Mental Health, is: “Access to Services – Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies.”
This year’s theme is especially important to consider from a workplace context.
Workplace incidents or traumatic events can occur on any work site, any road, or in any workplace and these impactful events can directly affect our mental health.
It is also important to raise awareness of the fact that trauma or distress doesn’t always show straight away, symptoms may appear weeks or months later.
Types of mental health problems | coping with trauma | Mind
Risk factors for trauma may include exposure to critical incidents and accidents, sudden loss, violence or overwhelming stress. Knowing the signs of trauma and what to do next is vital, as there are things we can do individually to protect ourselves and others from feeling overwhelmed.
Workplace posters shared with this LTB include tips to manage ‘Overwhelm’ and ‘Doomscrolling’.
‘Overwhelm’ is becoming overwhelmed by a feeling or event, which affects you very strongly, to a point where you do not know how to deal with it.
‘Doomscrolling’ doomscrolling is the habit of consuming negative news online repeatedly until it starts to significantly impact our emotional wellbeing.
The term doomscrolling itself became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The application of self-care can include switching off from social media. Mental Health First Aid England refer to this as a ‘digital detox’, which involves setting a time limit and establishing boundaries about the time you spend online to improve mental health and reduce feelings of anxiety and inadequacy.
For anyone who is struggling, CWU MHFAiders are trained to listen, support, and signpost.
In November the CWU will support the first MHFAider® Day in England. MHFAider Day 2025 · MHFA England
Our MHFAiders are never alone in their role. Through the Association of Mental Health First Aiders and CWU regional mental health support networks, they can remain part of a national community staying connected, supported, and confident in making a difference.
On MHFAider Day 2025, we will aim to shine a spotlight on their impact and celebrate the ripple effect they create.
Linking back to this year’s theme for World Mental Health Day 2025 World Mental Health Day – October 10th it is important to raise awareness of the fact that the 2-day CWU Mental Health First Aid course provides training to all learners to aid a better understanding of:
- What a traumatic event is
- What Crisis First Aid looks like for traumatic events
- What protective factors are available for supporting our Metal Health.
CWU Mental Health First Aid training will again be available in 2026. To further support branches, we can now also offer a Health & and Safety 1-day workshop in partnership with 5asideCHESS looking at trauma informed training, which can be delivered alongside our continued CWU Mental Health First Aid training. Work with us – 5asideCHESS
Please remember there is always hope, clicking on the following link can take you to your nearest support service.
Mental Health Support Network provided by Chasing the Stigma | Hub of hope
This LTB is shared on behalf of CWU Central Services.
If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact-
Jamie McGovern FRSPH MIIAI
CWU Health & Safety Policy Assistant at jmcgovern@cwu.org.
LTB 218/25 – WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2025 pdf
LAUNCH OF THE WORKING-CLASS UNITED FOOTBALL SHIRT
It is becoming increasingly clear that to address the rise of the far right in the UK the trade union movement must develop its own distinct and powerful anti-racism campaign and this must be focused in our workplaces and communities. The CWU is taking a lead on this work alongside other trade union and work is already underway by Kate Hudson and our Equality and Education Department.
We want to widen the debate on this as much as possible and will be reaching out to branches for input in the coming weeks. We want to create a strategy the whole union is bought into.
Ahead of this, we are launching a new initiative to counter the way that right-wing forces are looking to use football to reach working class people and sew division. This includes even Reform launch a football shirt that is being worn at grounds across the country.
In response to this we are launching a new football shirt under the banner of ‘The Working Class United’. The shirt will cost £30 with all profits split between the organisations Show Racism the Red Card and Fans Supporting Foodbanks.
We have also worked hard on the detail of the shirt design. In the 1970’s Coventry City wore an iconic two-tone shirt inspired by the band The Specials. We have produced our own version of this shirt with a modern and CWU flavour to it.
We are working with several high-profile figures to promote this initiative and we will host a launch event in the coming weeks.
For now, we wanted our branches to be the first to see the design and have the opportunity to purchase the shirt.
Photos of the design are attached and a link to buy the shirt is below.
Any enquires on this LTB should be directed to Marcia Murray mmurray@cwu.org
Yours Sincerely,
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Chris Webb
Head of Communications
Kate Hudson
Head of Equality and Education
LTB 217/25 – LAUNCH OF THE WORKING-CLASS UNITED FOOTBALL SHIRT
LAUNCH OF THE WORKING-CLASS UNITED FOOTBALL SHIRT
It is becoming increasingly clear that to address the rise of the far right in the UK the trade union movement must develop its own distinct and powerful anti-racism campaign and this must be focused in our workplaces and communities. The CWU is taking a lead on this work alongside other trade union and work is already underway by Kate Hudson and our Equality and Education Department.
We want to widen the debate on this as much as possible and will be reaching out to branches for input in the coming weeks. We want to create a strategy the whole union is bought into.
Ahead of this, we are launching a new initiative to counter the way that right-wing forces are looking to use football to reach working class people and sew division. This includes even Reform launch a football shirt that is being worn at grounds across the country.
In response to this we are launching a new football shirt under the banner of ‘The Working Class United’. The shirt will cost £30 with all profits split between the organisations Show Racism the Red Card and Fans Supporting Foodbanks.
We have also worked hard on the detail of the shirt design. In the 1970’s Coventry City wore an iconic two-tone shirt inspired by the band The Specials. We have produced our own version of this shirt with a modern and CWU flavour to it.
We are working with several high-profile figures to promote this initiative and we will host a launch event in the coming weeks.
For now, we wanted our branches to be the first to see the design and have the opportunity to purchase the shirt.
Photos of the design are attached and a link to buy the shirt is below.
Any enquires on this LTB should be directed to Marcia Murray mmurray@cwu.org
Yours Sincerely,
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Chris Webb
Head of Communications
Kate Hudson
Head of Equality and Education
LTB 217/25 – LAUNCH OF THE WORKING-CLASS UNITED FOOTBALL SHIRT
It is becoming increasingly clear that to address the rise of the far right in the UK the trade union movement must develop its own distinct and powerful anti-racism campaign and this must be focused in our workplaces and communities. The CWU is taking a lead on this work alongside other trade union and work is already underway by Kate Hudson and our Equality and Education Department.
We want to widen the debate on this as much as possible and will be reaching out to branches for input in the coming weeks. We want to create a strategy the whole union is bought into.
Ahead of this, we are launching a new initiative to counter the way that right-wing forces are looking to use football to reach working class people and sew division. This includes even Reform launch a football shirt that is being worn at grounds across the country.
In response to this we are launching a new football shirt under the banner of ‘The Working Class United’. The shirt will cost £30 with all profits split between the organisations Show Racism the Red Card and Fans Supporting Foodbanks.
We have also worked hard on the detail of the shirt design. In the 1970’s Coventry City wore an iconic two-tone shirt inspired by the band The Specials. We have produced our own version of this shirt with a modern and CWU flavour to it.
We are working with several high-profile figures to promote this initiative and we will host a launch event in the coming weeks.
For now, we wanted our branches to be the first to see the design and have the opportunity to purchase the shirt.
Photos of the design are attached and a link to buy the shirt is below.
Any enquires on this LTB should be directed to Marcia Murray mmurray@cwu.org
Yours Sincerely,
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Chris Webb
Head of Communications
Kate Hudson
Head of Equality and Education
LTB 217/25 – LAUNCH OF THE WORKING-CLASS UNITED FOOTBALL SHIRT
UPDATE ON REBUILDING ROYAL MAIL – OUTSTANDING SECTION 5 ISSUES
UPDATE ON REBUILDING ROYAL MAIL – OUTSTANDING SECTION 5 ISSUES
Over recent weeks and months negotiations have taken place with Royal Mail Group on all elements of section 5 of the Rebuilding Royal Mail part 1 agreement, including equalising new entrants’ terms and conditions and the future of the USO.
Given the complexity of the negotiations, they have taken longer than first anticipated. This is primarily due to both parties being unable to reach agreement on USO reform. Whilst we would have wanted to be able to move this issue forward, we have been clear to Royal Mail that there are serious problems in the pilot units, and we cannot agree to their Optimised Delivery Model.
We are pleased that Royal Mail / EP Group have taken a step back and have now fully confirmed there will be no further pilot units or roll out of the USO until the new year / a national agreement has been reached with the CWU. We welcome this approach as it is markedly different to what we saw under the previous senior management team who oversaw the destruction of the service through a relentless programme of executive action.
We have agreed with Royal Mail to ensure our immediate focus will also be to support all the current pilot units and ensure these units are fully resourced and achieving all quality-of-service targets. We want to thank our members in the pilot units for the support and understanding in recent months.
We will use this period to reach a comprehensive agreement on the USO that delivers on quality of service and improves the work / life balance for our members.
The protracted nature of these negotiations has also impacted on other areas of the agreement including agreeing the first step in equalising new entrants’ terms and conditions.
Following discussions last week, we can confirm that EP Group will now be taking the lead on these talks, and they will intensify from next week. The CWU position is that any settlement we reach will have to be backdated to September to ensure we deliver on the terms of the Rebuilding Royal Mail Part 1 agreement.
We are fully aware that the true test of our agreement and of the new owners of Royal Mail is whether you are seeing and feeling change in the workplace. We know that is not currently the case. However, in the coming weeks, a number of initiatives and communications will be shared which we believe will begin a full re-set of employee and industrial relations. We want to see real and meaningful actions from Royal Mail and EP Group and through the negotiations we are determined to ensure this is what will be delivered.
Finally, we will keep you updated with any developments from the negotiations.
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
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Dave Ward
General Secretary
LTB 216/25 – UPDATE ON REBUILDING ROYAL MAIL – OUTSTANDING SECTION 5 ISSUES
Royal Mail – Peak / Christmas Arrangements 2025
Royal Mail – Peak / Christmas Arrangements 2025
Branches are advised that discussions have been ongoing with Royal Mail for some time with regards to a Peak/Christmas Arrangements document for 2025. In recent years discussions have become protracted and delayed a resolution and given the business has stated that 2025 will potentially see traffic volumes during peak break RM records, we have pressed the business to ensure that agreed arrangements were concluded earlier this year, to help ensure that better strategic involvement takes place at the local / area levels.
Attached for the information of Branches and Representatives are the agreed Peak/ Christmas arrangements for 2025. The document follows the tried and tested format of previous years and largely mirrors the arrangements from last year, with only minor updates, which do not change the substance of the content.
Regarding the Attendance and Resourcing arrangements, there are no additional Non/USO days this year so section 3 mirrors last year’s arrangements and retains all of the established principles and protections.
The document confirms the Christmas Supplement and the additional £100 ex Colleague Share payment will be made as usual and are unaffected by the Peak Incentive Scheme. The traditional paragraphs on Scheduled Attendance, SA Holiday Pay and Temporary Variation to Contract have been retained unaltered in the final draft.
Further talks will take place with the business regarding the 35 USO pilot offices, covering what guidance is needed to support them during Peak. In addition, discussions continue on the 2025 Peak and Bank Holiday Resourcing arrangements for Network Professional Drivers. Further updates on both issues will be provided as talks develop.
Whilst those discussions continue, we believe that the publication of the attached arrangements much earlier than in previous years will be welcomed and will provide guidance to Reps and Branches.
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to:
Processing/Distribution: Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org; quoting reference LTB 214/25.
Deliveries/Collections: Tony Bouch, Assistant Secretary, email: pharacz@cwu.org; quoting reference LTB 214/25.
Yours sincerely,
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary
Tony Bouch
Assistant Secretary
LTB 214/25 – Royal Mail – Peak-Christmas Arrangement 2025
Parcelforce Back Pay
Parcelforce Back Pay
The department have been contacted concerning queries on behalf of Parcelforce members in relation to incorrect backpay calculations on their September payslips from the 2025 Pay deal ratified in August.
The business has shared that HR Services have advised Parcelforce of a technical error affecting the implementation of the 2025 CWU pay award in the September payroll. As far as we have been made aware, this error only affected PFW grades.
This has resulted in underpayments across a range of intermittent allowance payment types, with payment values remaining at 2024 rates rather than uplifting to 2025 values. The main payment types affected are Night Duty Allowance, Saturday Premium, Saturday Scheduled Attendance and Driving allowances.
We are informed that over four thousand employees may be affected with underpayments ranging from £25 to £104. It has been confirmed that the backpay due on the basic pay rates has been applied correctly across all grades.
The business has apologised for this error and are correcting PSP for the October payroll when all underpayments, with arrears back to April 2025, will be paid. Affected members may request an advance of up to 65% of the total underpayment and a direct contact number for HR Services can be provided by their line manager.
Obviously, this is an unwelcome development, however we are assured by Parcelforce that the problem has been identified and rectified and all members will receive their full entitlement with regard to back pay.
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org quoting reference LTB 212/25.
Yours sincerely,
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary
CWU Annual Pay Claim 2025/26 – RM Property and Facilities Solutions LTD (PFSL)
CWU Annual Pay Claim 2025/26 – RM Property and Facilities Solutions LTD (PFSL)
We are pleased to inform Branches that we have reached an in-principle agreement with the company in order to settle the 2025/26 pay claim.
The draft agreement was today unanimously endorsed by the Postal Executive with a recommendation to our members to vote ‘YES’ in the forthcoming ballot.
Attached to this LTB is the pay offer along with the draft agreement.
The main points of the agreement are:
Cleaners and Warehouse Operatives
A total 5% uplift in the hourly rate to the Real Living Wage Foundation recommendation of £12.60 for all cleaners and warehouse operatives and £13.85 for our London based cleaners.
Maintenance of the 50p differential for mobile cleaners meaning an uplift for this group to £13.10 National and £14.35 for London.
Engineering and Generic Admin Grades:
A 4.2% increase in basic pay. This matches the increase achieved in the rest of the Royal Mail Group.
The increase will flow through to overtime and non-cash allowances and is effective from 1st April 2025 for all grades.
- A target date of 31st October to conclude and finalise an agreement on progression in the Technical Grade Structure review.
- Harmonisation onto RMG Attendance Procedure once agreement is reached in the negotiations currently being conducted.
- A trial on SISO
- Further Engineering Scheduling improvement.
We would like to invite Representatives to a special briefing in order to discuss further details.
This will take place via Teams on Thursday 2nd October @ 11am and the following Reps are invited:
- RMPFS National Reps (Engineering and Cleaners)
- RMPFS Regional Reps (Engineering and Cleaners)
- Royal Mail Territorial Engineering Reps
- Divisional Rep (one per division)
- Branch Secretaries
We hope to have further details on the ballot timetable on Thursday, but if we have not finalised these then we will obviously issue a further LTB to this effect.
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Bobby Weatherall, Acting Assistant Secretary, email: hmaughan@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
Bobby Weatherall
Acting Assistant Secretary
LTB 213/25 – CWU Annual Pay Claim 2025.26 RMPFSL
Attachment: Draft Negotiators Agreement on Pay PFSL CWU 25-26
POLITICAL FORUM – 6TH OF NOVEMBER 2025
POLITICAL FORUM – 6TH OF NOVEMBER 2025
As branches may be aware, the CWU is planning to hold a Political Forum this year, to debate the future political strategy of the CWU. The briefing also represents an opportunity to reflect on our views on the first period of a Labour Government, the challenge posed from Reform and the far-right and the changes in our wider political environment.
We will also be discussing the merits of a new electoral voting system (proportional representation), in line with policy agreed at our last General Conference. The NEC will take a view from this debate and then prepare a policy paper to go forward to the next General Conference on this issue.
The political forum will be held in London on Thursday the 6th of November. The address is as follows:
Mahatma Gandhi Hall
YMCA Indian Student Hostel
41 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 6AQ
The forum is a single day-event. Branches are entitled to send a maximum of two delegates, one of which should be the Political Officer. In light of the need to engage young trade unionists, any young member who wishes to attend, in addition to their delegation from their branch, should email politics@cwu.org to express their interest.
An agenda and full details of the event will be shared with branches closer to the time. In the meantime, please email politics@cwu.org to confirm your branch’s attendance and the names of your delegates as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please contact the General Secretary’s Office at dlynch@cwu.org.
Yours Sincerely,
Dave Ward
General Secretary
CWU DEATH BENEFIT
CWU DEATH BENEFIT
In accordance with the terms expressed in CWU Rule 4.1.11 Branches are advised that from the
1st October 2025 the CWU Death Benefit payment will be increased to £1,133.
This information will also be published on the CWU website, as well as in the next copy of the ‘Your Voice in the Workplace’ and ‘The Veteran’ magazines.
Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to dwilshire@cwu.org or telephone number 020 8971 7368.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Ward
General Secretary
CWU Poppy Pin Badge – Orders by 1st October
CWU Poppy Pin Badge – Orders by 1st October
We have produced a metal CWU / poppy pin badge this year. A copy of the design is attached.
We are pleased to be able to offer these to branches for bulk purchase at the price of £2 per pin. All profits made will go straight to the Royal British Legion.
To turn the deliveries around in time for the remembrance period we ask that Branches email Marcia Murray mmurray@cwu.orgwith the quantities you wish to order by no later than 12 noon on Wednesday 1st October.
The cost of any orders can be deducted from Branch rebates to make the process as simple as possible.
We believe many of our reps and members would want the change to wear the pin badge and therefore would encourage Branches to place an order with this in mind.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Webb
Head of Communications, Engagement and Media.
25LTB 206 CWU Poppy Pin Badge – Orders by 1st October
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 