Errata to LTB 276/20 – Pay Increases and Pension Contributions for the Defined Benefit Scheme in Royal Mail Group
Further to LTB 276/20 circulated on 28th May 2020, Branches are advised that the second paragraph on page two of the aforementioned LTB should read as follows:
As a result of this calculation, pensionable pay contributions for RMPP members went up by 3.3% in April 2019 as this was the inflation figure as of 30 September 2018. However colleagues will recall that basic pay increased by 2% in April 2019, although this figure is still part of the current dispute on the funding formula for the second hour off the working week.
Please accept the Department’s apologies for any confusion/inconvenience this error may have caused.
Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.
UPDATE – Covid-19 Temporary transfer of Parcelforce Adidas Contract to Royal Mail
Further to LTB 282/20 both departments have engaged with Royal Mail and Parcelforce to seek clarification on the operational arrangements, forecast volumes and anticipated fall to earth relating to the temporary transfer of the delivery of the Adidas items by Royal Mail.
Customer Service
The contract and accountability for any customer enquiries remains with Parcelforce. Parcelforce Customer Service units will have access to the Royal Mail Tracked systems – including access to proof of delivery.
Discussions between Royal Mail and Parcelforce are currently taking place to establish a clear process for PFW Customer Service Advisors (CSA’s) to contact Royal Mail to resolve customer queries on deliveries undertaken by Royal Mail. A standard “script” is being concluded to enable Parcelforce CSA’s to notify customers that their item has been passed to Royal Mail for Delivery.
RDC/Mail Centre
It has been confirmed that the Adidas items will enter the Royal Mail operation through NDC and SWRDC. The items will be distributed and handled through existing Network services as Tracked 24 items, with all items handled in the Mail Centres rather than additional Covid-19 Outhouses.
The items will not be going through mech (PSM’s) at Mail Centres. They will be handled as the T24 product from the RDC to Mail Centres and scanned manually at the Inward Mail Centre, prior to onward circulation to the Delivery Office. Work is being finalised today to ensure that the scanning equipment in RDC/Mail Centres is compatible and able to read the Parcelforce Barcodes. Should this not be the case Parcelforce PDA’s will be used to scan the Adidas traffic.
Delivery
The PDAs in the Delivery function are able to scan the PFW barcodes and upload the information onto the IT systems.
The items are to be delivered in line with current arrangements for T24 products and the current SOP’s are to be followed including where delivery of an item is unsuccessful a RM “Something For You” card will be left and the item will be returned to the Royal Mail Delivery Office, for redelivery or collection.
Forecast – Fall to Earth
Royal Mail are planning on a forecast volume of around 40k items per day Nationally across a six day Monday to Saturday service as these items are predominately a business to individual customer service.
Attached for the information of Branches and representatives is the projected fall to earth based on the forecast volumes. The figures contain estimates on the percentage of the national volume, the number of items and the number of Yorks on a Mail Centre catchment area.
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to:
The CWU Young Workers Event will be held virtually via Zoom on Monday 22nd June 2020 from 10:30am – 3pm.
All CWU Young Workers (those under 30) are invited, with branches asked to do all they can to facilitate the attendance of their branches young workers officers or any other interested young worker within the branch.
With the events of the last few months meaning that physical meetings and events are out of the question for the foreseeable future, this is a great opportunity to get together (online!) with fellow young workers from across the union, to listen to some inspiring speakers and to take part in some discussions and Q&As.
Schedule
10:30am-12pm: Political session ‘Young Trade Unionists and the Future of Activism’ with introduction from General Secretary Dave Ward and speakers including Charlotte Nichols MP. Will finish with a Q&A.
12pm-1pm: Break for lunch.
1pm-3pm: Industrial sessions in online breakout rooms for Postal and T&FS. With speakers including DGSP Terry Pullinger, DGST Andy Kerr, and officers from each constituency. During this session you will be encouraged to engage, ask questions and feedback on your experiences as young workers in the workplace.
Register
To register for this event please email ltownsend@cwu.org with your full name, branch and email address.
Registrations must be submitted by no later than midnight on Thursday 18th June.
The Zoom link for the event will be sent out to all those who have registered closer to the date.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Lauren Townsend by email to ltownsend@cwu.org
CORONAVIRUS GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE MEASURES 01 JUNE 2020
Please see attached an update of the government assistance measures document to reflect the recent guidance on holiday entitlement and pay, for your information.
I attach a communication issued by Royal Mail on the launch of the new Test and Trace scheme in England and Scotland. Similar arrangements are already in place in Northern Ireland and Wales plans to go live on 1st June.
The attachment is self-explanatory and I would particularly draw attention to the bullet pointed key messages.
Any enquiries relating to this LTB should be directed to Ray Ellis (rellis@cwu.org).
COVID-19 and the ongoing lockdown has seen many Pride events being cancelled this year, however the health and safety of our members and representatives has to take priority. We have thought long and hard as to how we can enjoy and continue to celebrate Pride in 2020 and we are delighted to confirm that a first ever CWU Virtual Pride has been organised.
The Virtual Pride event will consist of a number of engaging, thought-provoking and fun elements.
These include:
A Eurovision style format linking into our regions across the UK:
A panel session involving Quinn Roache – TUC Policy Advisor, Helen Cooper – NEC LGBT+ Lead and Maria Exall – TUC General Council
The session will cover various issues such as what the CWU are developing in the workplace, the COVID-19 impact amongst the LGBT+ community and lastly, the reality of how homophobia/biphobia/transphobia still impacts on the LGBT+ community.
A competition for most colourful backdrop/participant.
To take part in Virtual Pride, you will need to register beforehand. RVSP by emailing us at: Equality&Education@cwu.org
A digital poster is attached and we would be grateful if you could share this extensively.
Annex to the Joint Statement for Inflight and Redelivery Phase 1 Enhancements for Royal Mail Tracked 24 & 48 and Special Delivery Guaranteed National Deployment
Dear Colleagues,
The National Joint Statement (attached for your reference) was previously endorsed by the Postal Executive and consisted of a pilot of the above service in some selected delivery units in the South Central and Anglia divisions (which is the Royal Mail Home Counties North area) and this was communicated via department Memo to the Divisional Representatives and Area Delivery Representatives on the 12th May 2020.
As previously advised, this initiative is fairly “light touch” with no indoor operational impact and no changes to current standard operational procedures, with simple prompts to delivery staff through the PDA on the doorstep for either Deliver to Preferred Neighbour or Safeplace and in line with the current and existing Standard Operating Procedures. The actual switch over on the PDA in order to enable the prompts is done remotely from the Delivery Office.
Following the pilots, we have agreed with Royal Mail to proceed with the national roll-out and the Phase 1 enhancement to launch Safeplace and Preferred Neighbour options from the 3rd June 2020 for Royal Mail Tracked products only. This can also benefit receiving customers who are self-isolating and support maintenance of social distancing principles. Royal Mail will also offer Safeplace and Preferred Neighbour as additional options on Redeliveries for Royal Mail Tracked. This limited number of outdoor enhancements can also help to maintain social distancing when the UK moves out of lockdown with specific industries resuming operations.
In order to take the above aspects into account along with the scale size of the pilot, we have jointly agreed through the attached annex to the Joint Statement that the following activities will need to be carried out in order to continue to Nationally and jointly monitor and resolve any issues that may arise as part of the Phase 1 national rollout from June.
Both parties have agreed to continue to monitor volumes, process compliance, along with monitoring and capturing any additional task times due to the increased activity along with any customer contact/complaints etc (whilst also taking account of the current pandemic and its impacts).
This ongoing review will be further supported by a wider IE study activity in relation to the possible workload impact of Deliver to Neighbour and Safeplace options. A timetable for this IE study activity will be jointly agreed as soon as possible and subject to the current COVID-19 crisis and the impacts of this.
Additionally, and as part of the national launch, regular meetings will be set up between the project team and CWU Representatives to review information (including number of items generated Inflight/Redelivery active and location data), monitor progress and resolve any issues arising from the field.
Selective sample locational data will continue to be collected for a period of time in order to capture DTN distances from DP’s.
In terms of the overall workload impact on deliveries, this aspect needs to remain under review in relation to the introduction of this service and as above, we will continue to monitor and review this impact along with resolving any further issues.
Any enquires as to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, reference 555, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org.
Royal Mail & CWU National Joint Statement GPS Delivery Coordinates for Track & Trace
Dear Colleagues,
On the 21st May, the Outdoor Department was advised by Royal Mail of the development of ‘GPS Delivery Coordinates for Track & Trace’ and informed that this initiative would go-live on the 26th May.
In light of this, immediate representation was made to Royal Mail on this matter and the view of the department is that the initiative needs to be covered by a Joint Statement which has now been concluded and is attached.
GPS location recording has been a feature of the PDA from inception and records the GPS location at the point at which an item is scanned (within 3 metres square). This information is retained centrally and is used primarily by Customer Experience in relation to customer enquiries or complaints.
The ‘GPS Delivery Coordinates for Track & Trace’ development now seeks to make this information directly available to both customers and managers, with the aim of this feature being to reduce the volume of “Find My Item” and “Denial of Receipt” enquiries into Customer Experience.
This development also reflects a further commercial offering by Royal Mail to customers which is seen in the parcel market as standard practice for ‘Track & Trace’ items.
Whilst the attached Joint Statement is self-explanatory the following are key points:
The GPS information can only be viewed against each singular item and requires the relevant item barcode to access this data.
The GPS information will only be available the next working day from the item being scanned (no real-time data reporting).
The ‘GPS Delivery Coordinates for Track & Trace’ may increase levels of individual visibility and it is agreed that the new development is not being deployed for, or will be used as, a disciplinary tool. As such it will not be used to enhance the ability of managers, or the evidence available used for conduct purposes.
The rollout of GPS Delivery track and trace will not change the current Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in relation to the doorstep “delivered” scan.
The rollout of ‘GPS Delivery Coordinates for Track & Trace’ will be subject to a National joint review in August 2020.
For the purpose of competence, also attached is a copy of the Operational Briefing provided by Royal Mail on the 21st May.
The attached Joint Statement reflects wider National agreements between the CWU and Royal Mail on growing the parcel market and customer demands around extra features and greater information on how those items are handled. However, it does this against clear safeguards in place in terms of this increased level of visibility and ensures that this data cannot be used for disciplinary purposes.
Any enquires as to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, reference 230.03, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org.
Pay Increases and Pension Contributions for the Defined Benefit Scheme in Royal Mail Group
A number of enquiries have been received in the DGS(P) department regarding information published on an individual’s pay slip which confirmed that their particular pension contribution had increased to a greater degree than that of their actual pay. Whilst the department has dealt with these individual enquiries, after discussions with the CWU Pensions Working Group it was considered appropriate to publish an LTB to remind Branches of the agreed process for calculating pensionable pay contributions.
Branches may recall that under the terms of the pension agreement that formed part of the 2013 Agenda for Growth national agreement, actual pay and pensionable basic pay were decoupled, meaning that in future they would increase independently of each other. For ease of reference the relevant section of the 2013 pension agreement is reproduced below:
THE RMPP: AGREED CHANGES.
2. Both parties note that the rules of the RMPP have been amended to the effect that from 1 April 2014:
2.1 Members’ basic pensionable pay (after the deduction of the LED for Section C members) will increase by the higher of RPI (up to 5%) each year, or any promotion or increment that is a greater amount within members’ current pay grade group as at 31 March 2014.
2.2 The current pay grades of CWU represented members will be combined into two groups for pension purposes as follows:
Group 1: Postal, Administration and Fleet
Group 2: Engineering
Following the endorsement of this agreement pensionable pay for RMPP members would increase by the RPI inflation figure as of 30th September each year and the revised contribution rate implemented the following April.
To clarify, this recalculation only applies to RMPP members which means that it now only applies to those in the interim Cash Balance scheme that was introduced in April 2018 as part of the Four Pillars agreement. The RPI increase will not apply to any members of the RMDC Plan.
As a result of this calculation, pensionable pay contributions for RMPP members went up by 3.3% in April 2020 as this was the inflation figure as of 30thSeptember 2019. However colleagues will recall that basic pay increased by 2% in April 2019, although this figure is still part of the current dispute on the funding formula for the second hour off the working week.
Therefore for members of the RMPP scheme their pension contributions for this year did increase more than their April 2019 pay award. However, colleagues are further reminded that the union has submitted a pay claim for a one year deal to be applied for April 2020 and further updates on this claim will be circulated in due course.
Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
