Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains. Karl Marx.
The Postal Executive has agreed the following timetable for the forthcoming ballot on Royal Mail Group Pay:
Ballot Opens – 6th August
Ballot Closes – 26th August
The CWU recommends that members vote YES.
Samaritans Awareness Day – Thursday 24th July 2025
‘TALK TO US’ MONTH 24/7SAMARITANS AWARENESS DAY 2025
The above date is chosen because of the pledge to listen 24/7. The Samaritans have proven for many years that they are a lifeline for many, offering a listening ear and confidential support for anyone struggling to cope. Throughout July, the Talk to Us campaign highlights the importance of talking about mental health issues and encourages people to reach out for help whenever they need it. Follow this link for further information: Samaritans Awareness Day
The Samaritans is a charity that prevents suicide through human connection.
The British Standards Institution (BSI) recently opened a public consultation for a new British Standard on suicide awareness. The public consultation ran for 8 weeks, closing on 16th July 2025. The British Standards Institution is the UK’s National Standards Body who work with many different stakeholders to develop British, European and international standards. The BSI will be releasing the UK’s first standard in late 2025 (BS 30480) which will be dedicated to suicide awareness and education. It will provide comprehensive guidelines to help organisations plan for, respond to, and support people affected by suicide.
This landmark initiative is welcomed and comes amid growing recognition of the mental health crisis in the UK. There remains an urgent need, however, for structured and compassionate responses from employers.
The CWU has now responded to the BSI consultation after surveying over 100 CWU trained Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAiders). The findings of our CWU survey highlighted the following:
Today and every day, every 10 seconds, Samaritans answer a call for help.
In November 1953, the first ever call was answered to what was to become the Samaritans’ helpline. This single act of humanity became a service involving tens of thousands of Samaritans who together over the years have answered more than 134 million calls for help.
There are over 200 Samaritans branches and locations across the UK and Ireland.
The Samaritans regularly undertake work in prisons, schools, hospitals and on the rail network to support people going through difficult times and train others to do the same.
Recent Samaritans policy and research can be accessed by clicking on the link below:
Policy and Research | Samaritans
Samaritans Awareness Day – 24/7social media materials can be accessed by clicking on the link below:
Downloadable Materials | Talk To Us Campaign | Samaritans Campaigns
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 at jmcgovern@cwu.org.
LTB 150/25 – SAMARITANS TALK TO US AWARENESS DAY 24 7 pdf version
RMG (SHE) Integrated Audits – Involvement and Consultation with CWU Area & Field Safety Representatives
The purpose of this LTB is to remind all CWU Area Safety Reps (ASRs) and relevant Field Safety Representatives of the need to engage and be fully involved in the Royal Mail Group, Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Integrated Audits process.
As previously communicated to Branches and Safety Reps, most recently in LTB 066/24, the Integrated Audits are an annual activity which covers the majority of operational sites across Royal Mail Group including Parcelforce, Fleet, Customer Experience etc.
The agreed position with RMG is that every ASR and relevant Field Safety Rep covering specific business functions will be invited to every audit across their constituency and should be given notice of audit dates and afforded an invitation to participate.
Royal Mail Group and the CWU have agreed that involvement from our CWU ASRs and relevant Safety Reps can add value to the audits by way of information sharing from previous and separate workplace safety inspections and investigations, as they are likely to visit the workplace more often than the Auditor/SHE Technician.
ASRs and Field Safety Reps’ direct involvement in the Integrated Audits can:
The above is not an exhaustive list and the Integrated Audits offers a further opportunity to engage with WSR and the manager/PiC (Person in Charge) when onsite. Importantly, the audit can offer additional opportunities to discuss health and safety issues with staff and CWU members in the workplace/location to secure extra feedback from individuals on safety issues, risks, hazards and any need for follow up inspections including investigations at customers’ premises for members who work on delivery and collections.
The audits are delivered by the RMG SHE Team and the audits will assess the level of safety and health compliance with key instructions, policies and legal/regulatory requirements as detailed within the SHE MS (Safety, Health, Environment Management System), Security, Compliance and Ethics policies. The Integrated Audit will be conducted onsite and compliance will be assessed through a combination of:
All locations/workplaces will receive an audit notification email at least 2 weeks before the audit takes place but, in some cases, a longer notice period will be given. The average audit should require 1 or 2 days onsite. The relevant ASR and Field Safety Rep will receive the invite email at the same time as the location manager/PiC and if the audit can’t be accommodated, it will be rearranged, again, allowing 2 weeks’ notice.
Initial onsite feedback will be given to the location managers and then an ‘Action Plan’ will be issued via email to the unit. Location/workplace managers/PiCs will be required to monitor and close down actions. Actions must be completed by the required date as set out in the Action Plan. Update reports on the audit actions will be given to the joint health and safety committee relevant to the location, where there can be a discussion on progress.
The audit will be transparent and shared with the relevant ASR and Safety Reps by email. The audit file will remain with the manager onsite to ensure that the correct version of the file is maintained. Any issues and Audit Action Plan progress can be discussed at joint health and safety committee meetings at the workplace/location or at Regional level.
Attached below is the link to 11.1 SHE Management System Audit:
11.1 SHE Management System Audit
Also attached is the Integrated Audit (version 7.1) and guidance in Excel File format.
ASR/Relevant Safety Reps Action:
In setting out the above, Royal Mail have confirmed that Safety Technicians will and do share the workplace safety audit dates with both the CWU and Unite/CMA Safety Reps so they can be in attendance and engaged. However, if any issues or concerns arise in terms of providing such audit dates at least 2 weeks in advance or the ability to be fully involved in line with the agreed and joint position between RMG and the CWU, these should, in the first instance, be raised directly with the relevant SHE Technician or the Field Safety Team. Where issues remain, these should be referred to the DGS(P) Department directly.
Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Ballot Timetable / USO update
We wanted to update representatives and members on both the Royal Mail Group Pay Ballot and USO Negotiations.
We are meeting with the independent scrutineers who will run the ballot on Monday and will publish a timetable next week. We will also announce a range of membership communication plans.
On the USO, negotiations have continued this week as we aim to reach a National Agreement.
These meetings have covered a range of important issues, including the priority of ensuring the pilots are evaluated and where necessary fixed ahead of any further deployment. This is absolutely crucial if we are to build confidence in both the pilot units and the wider membership.
These negotiations were never going to be easy. There are issues which have led to some of the pilot units not achieving either quality of service or a fair and achievable workload. We will not reach an agreement until these issues are resolved.
Talks will continue next week and we are meeting with our Postal Executive and Divisional Reps on Monday to give them a full update. They will then be charged with ensuring meetings are taking place across the UK to update members.
Whilst OFCOM have made a decision on the change to the USO, it does not alter the fact that any USO change can only be deployed through a National Agreement between Royal Mail and the CWU. It is vital every CWU Branch is making this clear to our members in the workplace.
Any agreement on the USO will be voted on by the CWU membership.
We will give you a further update later next week.
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary Postal
EUREST (EX QUADRANT) PAY SETTLEMENT 2025
The annual Pay Review Date for our Ex-Quadrant members in Eurest was 1st April and the department has been in discussions with Compass Group/ Eurest on achieving a settlement for some months.
It was anticipated the discussions this year could prove extremely difficult, especially against the backdrop of another significant rise to the National Living Wage (NLW), which is relevant with regard to our National C Grade members. The rise in the NLW this year (6.7%) far outstripped all inflation measures and again, made reaching a uniform agreement for all grades extremely challenging.
After a number of meetings with Compass Group/Eurest between 8thMarch and 78th July 2025 a negotiators agreement has now been reached with the employer on pay for all CWU grades in Compass Group/Eurest, which has been endorsed by the Postal Executive.
On basic pay the above process is in line with 2024’s pay agreement and does apply a uniform monetary pay uplift for all Grades across the three Pay Ranges. It also ensures that the previous commitment to maintain the Premium overtime hourly rate at £1 above basic pay rate.
The uniform uplift in pay rates results in varying percentage pay rises depending on the starting point but all are well in excess of inflation. Rises range between 4.4% for Inner London A Grade and 6.7% for National C Grade employees. In the latter case although the full 6.7% increase would not have been required to honour the NLW, we have been successful in ensuring that the full uplift was achieved to ensure that we maintain the buffer between C Grade pay and the NLW. C Grade employees are by far the majority grade within the Eurest structure.
Given the timescales, we were unable to complete a ballot in time to affect any rises in August Salaries. As such, for our National C Grade members their basic pay was increased to meet the National Living Wage in April Salaries. Remaining increases for the National C Grade and all increases for all other Grades will be applied following the outcome of the ballot and backdated in full to 1st April 2025.
The ballot timetable will be:
Papers Dispatched: Monday 21st July 2025
Closing Date and result: Monday 11thAugust 2025
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org quoting reference LTB 148/25.
Yours sincerely,
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary
Crown Office Network – Preference Exercise, TUPE, Bumping & Redeployment Plus Enhanced Financial Terms for Leaving PO Employment
Branches with PO members are advised that the Preference Exercise undertaken amongst the members in the 72 Crowns previously announced with Franchise partners closed last night. The headlines are as follows; the vast majority of our members have indicated they wish to take a financial package via a Settlement Agreement with only 9 members interested in transferring to the new franchise partners via TUPE.
Running in parallel to the Crown Preference Exercise described above, was a further one specifically for our Admin & Supply Chain members for the purposes of “Bumping”. I am able to report that over 60 Crown Office members responded to the Preference Exercise stating they wished to retain PO employment by redeploying into these functions. Thankfully we also had a similar number of Admin & Supply Chain members returning Preference forms saying they wish to leave PO employment which could enable a bump to take place. Accordingly, Mole Meade Postal Executive member and myself are meeting management tomorrow with the purpose of identifying suitable matches for bumping so that job offers can be made to our Crown members seeking to retain employment in the PO. This is an important activity as it will help Crown members move into new roles within Post Office whilst enabling some of our members in Admin & Supply Chain to leave the PO with a financial package.
In line with the Joint Statement as contained in LTB 105/25 of the 27thMay 2025, we have also been in negotiations to enhance the financial terms for Crown members (known as Special Severance terms) for those not wanting to TUPE. The starting point for this is the MTSF terms with a minimum of 6 months’ pay and a maximum of 2 years as laid out in the Ready Reckoner.
The following enhancements have been secured and confirmed:
In closing, Branches will see at Appendix A the provisional dates for the closure of 76 Crowns where a Franchise partner has been announced. These dates have been shared with our members today. In this regard the Territorial Reps are fully supporting all members and are regularly visiting the Crowns to ensure a good presence and profile at this important time. The Reps will of course answer all questions from members and provide necessary support. In this regard, Mole Meade and myself are meeting regularly with the Reps to discuss developments as they occur and any issues of concern that arise from members.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
CWU Reps Hi-Vis Vests – Join the Union
Following on from the success of our CWU reps’ polo shirts, we are pleased to offer Branches the opportunity to purchase CWU reps hi-vis vests.
The vests, which can be seen in the attached images clearly identify our reps in the workplace and the design includes a QR code which will take perspective members directly to the join CWU page.
The vests cost £9 each and can be printed in a wide variation of sizes.
Branches wishing to order should email Marcia Murray mmurray@cwu.org by no later than Friday 8th August with:
Once we have the full UK wide numbers in place we will contact Branches to organise payment and delivery.
Increasing the unions visibility in every workplace is a key part of our new recruitment strategy and we encourage all Branches to place an order.
Kind regards
Chris Webb
Head of Communications
Dave Ward
General Secretary
LTB 146/25 – CWU Reps Hi-Vis Vests – Join the Union
Attachment – Image 1 – CWU Reps Hi-Vis Vests
Royal Mail Group Members – WhatsApp Channel
In recent months we have been trialling a new WhatsApp channel to share information with our Royal Mail Group members. Even with limited promotion we already have over 4,000 subscribers to the channel, which is excellent.
We are now moving to formally launch the channel as a long-term communications platform and we ask all Branches to undertake the following actions:
The link to our new channel is below and it takes you directly to where you need to be to subscribe:
This channel is for Royal Mail Group members only. The Communications Department will launch new channels for other areas of the union in due course.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Chris Webb
Head of Communications
WRITTEN BRIEFING ON USO CHANGES
As you will be aware from LTB 141/25, this morning Ofcom announced changes to the specification of the postal Universal Service Obligation (USO). Alongside continuing negotiations on a separate USO national agreement, we are also engaging with MPs and other politicians across the country to ensure they support our call for Ofcom and the Government to fairly regulate the postal and logistics sector. Please see the attached briefing which we have distributed to all MPs.
This briefing should be distributed to all local reps and can be used when briefing members.
If you have any questions or need any further information please contact the General Secretary’s Office, Dawn Lynch on dlynch@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
TUC HEALTH & SAFETY UPDATES & HEAT GUIDANCETUC Health & Safety updates & heat guidance
TUC week of action
Next week: 14th – 20th July, the TUC are inviting union health and safety reps to inspect their workplace temperatures during a week of action. The TUC have been providing free thermometers to trade union safety representatives. A total of 65 CWU Health and Safety Reps have received these free TUC thermometers so far. It is currently predicted that the UK could be hit with another heatwave starting as soon as 12th July.
Heatwaves are defined by the Met Office as periods of at least three consecutive days in which a temperature threshold is met or exceeded.
What is a heatwave? – Met Office
Heat periods are defined by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as at least one day with an amber heat-health alert in at least one region and/or the mean central England temperature being at least 20°C.
The CWU have recently been fully supporting the TUC’s call for a specific legal maximum temperature for indoor work of 30°C, or 27°C for strenuous work, and have been attending meetings with the TUC, HSE and other trade unions to discuss much needed changes to the Workplace Health Safety & Welfare Regulations of 1992 regarding working temperature and HSE risk guidance.
New and updated working temperature risk guidance is urgently needed, especially given that the Health and Safety Executive say 4,500 people are diagnosed with skin cancer every year because of outdoor work. Heat illness is a risk that many workers are not fully aware of.
The CWU guide attached to this LTB explains heat illness in more detail and includes embedded QR codes which directly link to NHS and World Health Organisation hot weather guidance.
While red and amber weather alerts naturally grab attention due to increased media coverage, yellow alerts are still significant. They signal that the weather could have a real impact, especially on those who are more vulnerable and may be at increased risk in extreme heat due to age, or underlying health conditions. Colleagues who are pregnant or colleagues taking certain medications will also be at increased risk. For example, tricyclic antidepressants (e.g. Amitriptyline, Nortriptyline), and SSRIs (e.g. Sertraline, Fluoxetine), can interfere with the body’s thermoregulation, they can reduce a person’s ability to sweat, which is essential for cooling down in hot weather.
Colleagues are reminded that workers are protected under Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, allowing them to remove themselves from situations where they reasonably believe there is a serious and imminent danger. This protection is limited to specific immediate risks to safety however and not general discomfort. If prevailing circumstances do represent a real risk of “serious and imminent danger” colleagues should aim to seek immediate advice from their local CWU representatives before using rights under Section 44 and speak urgently to your line manager/employer. Protection under Section 44 is an individual choice and not a collective choice, although representations can be made for whole groups of workers where higher UK temperatures and specific hot weather risks are more prevalent.
For pregnant workers specific health and safety requirements relating to new and expectant mothers at work are mainly contained in Regulations 16 to 18 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work (MHSW) Regulations 1999. If any risk cannot be removed employers must take the following actions:
TUC new resource books
An updated version of the Safety Reps ‘brown book’ which contains the regulations, codes of practice and guidance from the Safety Reps and Safety Committees’ Regulations 1977 is now available to pre-order from the TUC. This new book has been redesigned for easier navigation and comprehension, making it a more practical resource for trade union safety representatives. The new edition incorporates both the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees’ Regulations 1977 and the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996, ensuring comprehensive guidance on worker consultation. Single copies cost £7 and are available from tuceducation@tuc.org.uk.
The brown book provides the legal backing that union safety representatives need to confidently address health and safety issues in the workplace. It is indeed the essential tool for Safety Reps and the updated version is designed to equip every representative with the knowledge and evidence necessary to effectively perform their role.
The TUC hazards book version 7 is now also available to pre order from the TUC, the book is currently in print and will be a popular and valuable book for branches and regions to order, this book is the 5-year updated version and available as a single copy for £25 or with discounts for larger orders above 6 copies: Hazards at Work 7th Edition – Coming Soon!/ Pre order | TUC
Both TUC publications detailed above are seen as valuable resources for CWU Reps and branches.
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 at jmcgovern@cwu.org.
LTB 142/25 – TUC week of action and Heat illness guide
Attachment: CWU Heat Illness Guide
Attachment: Checklist For Safety Reps – Heat Inspections (Word document download)
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 