Ground-level Letterboxes – Campaign Update

Dear Colleagues,

Branches will be aware of attempts going back several years to make industry-standard recommended minimum letterbox heights mandatory under the law and of the tireless campaigning work of Dave Joyce on this issue, supported by the Outdoor Department and by my predecessors Mark Baulch and Bob Gibson.

This purpose of this LTB is to inform Branches that our new CWU Health & Safety Policy Assistant Jamie McGovern and myself, as Outdoor Secretary, are equally committed to this and to update you on our continuing campaign on behalf of circa 80,000 Royal Mail Delivery postmen and postwomen all around the UK.

While the personnel have changed, the key aim remains the same – a UK-wide ban on the installation of ground-level letterboxes in all new builds and front door replacements / renewals – by making the installation height dimensions in BSEN13724 legally mandatory in all such circumstances. The reasons why this is of importance to our Delivery members are, of course, due to the cumulative physical strain induced by constant bending right down to floor level while out on delivery and also the increased risk of dog bites through the letterbox when it is at ground level.

The industry standard, BSEN13724, referring to the letterbox as the ‘aperture’, states: ‘For ergonomic reasons the lower edge of the lowest aperture and the upper edge of the highest aperture should be at a height between 700mm (approx. 2ft 3½in) and 1700mm (approx. 5ft 7in) measured from the delivery floor level. In special cases such as groups of apertures or in historical buildings with limitations the range may be extended but should be between 400mm (approx. 1ft 4in) and 1800mm (approx. 5ft 11in).’ (P27 Annex B Installation Height of Aperture)

‘BS’ and ‘EN’

The acronym ‘BS’ stands for ‘British Standard’ and the acronym ‘EN’ stands for ‘European Norm’. BS standards are set by the British Standards Institution (BSI), which was founded in 1901 and was the first organisation of its type in the world. EN standards are set by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), which was founded in 1961 and to which EU member-nations as well as non-EU nations belong, including the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

Historically, the UK industry standards on this were set under BS2911:1960 and BS2911:1974. These were incorporated into BSEN13724:2002 and then BSEN13724:2013, which continues to be the industry standard today (the last four digits in each instance indicating year of publication / update).

Campaigning at Westminster and around the country

However, while being a recommended industry standard, the installation height dimensions in BSEN13724 are currently only advisory rather than mandatoryunder UK law. Most recently a CWU delegation consisting of the Outdoor Department, Jamie McGovern and Carl Webb, NW Regional Secretary, met with Matthew Pennycook, the current Minister of State for Housing and Planning, last month on this matter. It was a positive meeting and this conversation is currently ongoing.

Work continues at local level as well, with support growing among MPs and efforts being made to engage with local authorities on this matter. There have also been discussions with companies within the construction industry with regard to building projects at individual sites.

Please help with the campaign 

While we continue, and step up, our efforts to secure this crucial tightening up of the law, the Outdoor Department and our Health & Safety Policy Assistant are asking Area Delivery Reps and Area Safety Reps in all areas to prioritise this campaign and to undertake the following:

• Please monitor and note significant new build construction projects within your area;
• Please make contact with the respective local authority and the company concerned with regard to these projects, ensuring that they know about the recommended letterbox placement dimensions as advised by the relevant section of BSEN13724, the reasons why the CWU is prioritising this issue and request their compliance;
• Please note the details and report back to the Outdoor Department and / or Jamie McGovern.

The more progress we can make at local level, the fewer new ground-level letterboxes will be installed and the fewer postmen and postwomen will suffer from the associated risk and hazard. Also, the more information we gain, the stronger the case that can be made at national level in our ongoing efforts to secure a UK-wide ban on ground-level letterboxes in all new builds and replacements / renewals.

Your assistance in this is much appreciated and further updates will be circulated in due course.

Any enquiries to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, email address: Pharacz@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

LTB 084/25 – Ground-level Letterboxes – Campaign Update

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Nominations for Vacant Regional Representative Positions and Elections Guidelines and Nomination Form 

No  083/25

22^nd April 2025

TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH RMPFS ENGINEERING GRADE MEMBERS

 Dear Colleagues,

Further to LTB 047/25 dated 28^th February 2025, we are now readvertising nominations for the following vacant Regional Representative positions.

Regional Representatives – South East/South West (3 Positions)SOUTH EAST/SOUTH WEST513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524

613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624,

313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324

413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424CB, IP, NR, PE, AL, EN, HP, LU, SG, WD, CM, CO, E, IG, RM, SS, EC, N, W, WC, NW, HA, KT, TW, UB, SM, SW, BR, CR, DA, ME, SE, CF, HR, LD, NP, SA, BS, GL, OX, SN, GU, RG, SL, EX, PL, TA, TQ, TR, BA, BH, DT, PO, SO, SP, BN, CT, RH, TN

A nomination form is attached to this LTB and are available upon request from the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s department.  All candidates must have the nomination of their own branch which must be agreed at a branch meeting.  Completed nomination forms must be signed by the Branch Secretary and Branch Chair (or accredited deputies) and the nominee.

The timetable for the nominations is as follows:

Nominations open:          23^rd April 2025

Nominations Close:         7^th May 2025 (14.00)

Any ballots will be run in accordance with the CWU Guidelines for the Regional Engineering/Admin Representatives, which are attached for your information.  In the event that a ballot is required a timetable will be notified to branches in due course.

Any enquires in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Bobby Weatherall, Acting Assistant Secretary, email khay@cwu.org or hmaughan@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Bobby Weatherall

Acting Assistant Secretary

LTB 083/25 – Nomination LTB

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International Workers Memorial Day Monday 28th April 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Every year more people are killed at work than in wars.

International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) on 28th April commemorates those workers.

We are calling upon CWU Branches, Regions, Reps and Members to please support your local IWMD events and come together to remember those who have lost their lives to work, been injured or disabled and to further renew our trade union commitment to fight for the safety and health of the living and make workplaces and working methods safer.

TUC List of IWMD Local Events 

The TUC has published the details of a list of local events across England and Wales which are taking place on 26th,27th & 28th April, these can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

International workers memorial day events | TUC

Scottish TUC List of Local Events 

The STUC has published the details of a list of local events across Scotland from 25th April 2025 through to 28th April 2025

International Workers Memorial Day | STUC

Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) WMD Event 

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) will mark International Workers’ Memorial Day with a wreath laying ceremony IWMD Commemorative Tree in the grounds of Parliament Buildings on 29th April at 12:30pm, Stormont Estate, Stormont Ct, Belfast BT4 3LP For further details on this event email: info@ictuni.net

TUC Cymru have also organised a Wales’ National Workers’ Memorial Day event in Cardiff on Monday 28th April 2025 – 10:00 to 12:00

Wales’ National Workers’ Memorial Day event, Cardiff | TUC

Many more events will take place on International Workers Memorial Day 2025 which may not be officially listed. We therefore advise branches to make enquiries with local Trades Councils and other Trade Unions, Local Authorities, Hazards and other Campaign organisations for details of local IWMD events that Branches and Reps may further wish to support.

CWU 2025 International Workers Memorial Day Poster 

A CWU Workplace poster is embedded below which draws attention to this year’s them of; Occupational health and safety: A fundamental right at work. This year, there will be an explicit additional focus on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitisation of occupational health and safety. The HSE has indicated it wants to reach a point where AI risk is ‘no longer novel’ and is managed in the same way as any other risk.

The link below is to a recent report from the Labour Research Department (LRD) which has been produced especially in time for IWMD 2025.

Counter intelligence? Artificial intelligence and workers’ health and safety | LRD

‘Light up Purple’ CWU campaign for IWMD

The CWU Northwest Region started the ‘light up purple’ campaign in the name of the CWU in 2022 by asking for landmarks, buildings, bridges to ‘light up for IWMD’ to remember the estimated 2.7 million workers who die globally each year because of occupational accidents or work-related diseases. A few of the many landmarks, buildings, bridges that will be lighting up purple on the 28th April 2025 are listed below

Fairfield General Hospital Bury, BL9 7TD
The Christie Hospital, Manchester M20 3DA
Rochdale Infirmary OL12 0NB
Chorley Town Hall, PR7 1DP
Salford Royal Hospital M6 8HD
Royal Oldham Hospital, England, OL1 2JH
The Blackpool Tower England, FY1 4BJ
Greystone & Archway Road bridges, Knowsley, L14
The Mersey Gateway Bridge, WA7 9DW
Salford Civic Centre Manchester M27 5DA
Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital BB2 3HH

For more information on the ‘Light up Purple for IWMD’ campaign please click on QR code link below.

If you are interested in more information on the Global IWMD events campaigns and further guides and news items, you can visit the 28April.org website which contains details of the hugely valuable work undertaken by Hazards magazine and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

28 April | Remember the dead, fight like hell for the living

Finally, we are raising awareness of TUC endorsed Big Zoom solidarity meeting & Memorial Call to action in memory of Zane Gbangbola on International Workers Memorial Day

28th April 6 pm to 6.20 pm

Eleven years ago, 7-year-old Zane Gbangbola tragically died when the basement of his home in Chertsey was flooded with water from the Thames. There is very strong evidence that this allowed hydrogen cyanide gas from a former landfill site nearby to seep into the house. Hydrogen Cyanide is a colorless gas, which has in the past been linked to historic landfill sites. Andy Burnham has been a high-profile supporter of the family campaign for several years and he will be speaking at this online event.

Big Zoom in solidarity with the family of Zane Gbangbola | TUC

If you have any questions or need any further information relating to this LTB, please contact Jamie McGovern on jmcgovern@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
General Secretary

LTB – IWMD 2025

IWMD CWU poster- Workers Memorial Day – A3

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Commencing Pay Negotiations and Section 5 of the EP Agreement

We can confirm that we will commence negotiations on 29^th April in accordance with the EP Agreement Rebuilding Royal Mail on Pay and resolving outstanding issues in Section 5.  Our negotiations will cover the following:

1. A pay agreement.
2. Equalising New entrants’ Pay, terms and conditions over an agreed period with the first step occurring within three months of the transaction.
3. A new career path.
4. A plan to reduce agency.
5. Addressing overtime and scheduled attendance rates.
6. Improving sick pay arrangements.
7. Reaching an improved voluntary redundancy package.
8. Agree on a new incentive scheme based on local/plant measures.
9. Introducing pilots on new ways of working, including mechanisms to allow postal workers to have more say over day-to-day operations and workload management. This will include, but is not limited to, piloting a more supportive way of utilising the “my performance app” application and any data.

Our aim is to reach an agreement covering the above by 14^th May, which would be subject to the endorsement of the Postal Executive.  We plan to present this at a Special Briefing of our Senior Feld Officials and Branch leaders on 21^st and 22^nd May.  Then, it will be subject to an individual member ballot.  Any agreement will not come into force until EP becomes the sole controlling shareholder and the company is delisted.

We will provide further updates in due course.

Any enquiries to this LTB should be referred to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 081/25 – Commencing Pay Negotiations and Section 5 of the EP Agreement

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Online National Briefing update on EP takeover, Pay and Section 5 negotiations, USO Pilot and Wider USO reform and how the Special National Briefing and Policy Forum will work

We will be holding an online National Briefing on:

Monday 28^th April at 10am.

The purpose of this meeting will be to update Divisions and Branches on the following:

• The takeover, as well as update you on our thinking regarding the overall agreement with EP titled Rebuilding Royal Mail. This includes the complete reset of industrial and employee relations in every workplace. 
• Pay and Section 5 negotiations will commence from 29^th We aim to conclude an agreement before 14^thMay which will be subject to Postal Executive approval and then will be presented to the Briefing on 21^stand 22^nd May.  It would then be subject to an individual member ballot.  Any agreement will depend on EP becoming the controlling or sole shareholder and once the company completes being delisted which is expected to be in late May/early June.

We want to take you through our thinking regarding Pay and Section 5 discussions.

This will include the following:

• What we are looking at covering on pay. 
• The plan to equalise New Entrants’ pay, terms and conditions over an agreed period, including the first step within 3 months of the transaction. 
• Introducing a new career path. 
• The strategy to reduce reliance on agency and create new Royal Mail job opportunities. 
• The plan is to address overtime and scheduled attendance rates and examine new ways to incentivise employees who need additional earnings. 
• Agreeing to and introducing a new performance incentive scheme for all employees based on local/plant-level measures. 
• To establish the parameters of this scheme there will be a joint review of existing efficiency and productivity measures and targets, with the aim of reaching an agreement on fair and equitable measures of evaluation. 
• In recognition of the significant reduction in absence levels and therefore the cost of sick pay, current sick pay arrangements will be reviewed with a view to reaching an improved agreement that reflects a more supportive approach for employees by no later than three months after the completion of the transaction. 
• Our aim is to reach an agreed and improved voluntary redundancy package and remove the tapering from the age of 64.5. 
• To agree and introduce pilots on new ways of working including mechanisms to allow postal workers to have more say over day-to-day operations and workload management. This will include but is not limited to piloting a more supportive way of utilising the “my performance” application and any performance data.  The terms of the pilot will be agreed no later than two months after the completion of the transaction.

3. We want to update all Branches on the USO pilots and our thinking regarding USO reform. Ofcom will likely confirm its proposals for USO reform in early summer, and therefore, USO change will become a reality from that point.

Our agreement with EP clearly states, “Following the outcome of the pilots, EP and CWU commit to reaching a full agreement on how any changes to the USO will be implemented in a mutually beneficial way.  EP Group accept that any final agreement with the CWU on USO reform is also conditional on progress and implementation within the agreed timelines set out in Section 5 of the agreement.”

The delay in the takeover and in introducing the pilots has narrowed the window on when USO reform will likely be announced, leading us to the situation where we may want to have a national agreement on the USO earlier than previously planned.

We will explain our thinking in full regarding how we plan to tackle the USO reform now.

4. When we booked and planned the Policy Forum, we were unaware of the Romanian transaction delay, which has meant that we have not yet commenced negotiations on Pay or Section 5.

Normally, producing reports 28 days before the Policy Forum would be the usual process.  This will not be possible.  So, we intend to reach an agreement on pay and the key principles of Section 5 and present this to the Briefing in Manchester.

On the USO, we will either present a framework agreement at the Briefing or send out a policy document ahead of it.

The chair and I are discussing the best way to give all Branches the best information, answer questions, and hear points of view.

This is an unprecedented situation, and clearly the potential new owners will not be in charge until they have over 75%, and if they achieve this, it will not be until the company has been delisted from the stock exchange, which takes up to five weeks.

We look forward to seeing you at the online National Briefing.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Andy Furey

Assistant Secretary

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

Bobby Weatherall

A/Assistant Secretary

LTB 079/25 – Online National Briefing

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Transfer of Post Office Limited Collection Work from Parcelforce to Royal Mail – National Deployment

Branches will recall that during 2024 trials took place on the concept of utilising, the synergies between Royal Mail and Parcelforce in relation to collection activity (LTB 147/24 refers).   The initial trial took place in the Stoke area to ascertain if Royal Mail could perform Parcelforce collections, consolidate the items at the Collection Hub or Outward Mail Centre and repatriate the traffic into the Parcelforce Network to meet service.

This activity was viewed as a success and a further trial took place in the PFW Exeter Depot area later in the year. This was a far more complex trial as the geography covered by the depot spanned two Mail Centre catchment areas. That trial was again successful from a Royal Mail perspective and showed that the model could work.

Royal Mail & PFW have since been modelling what a national deployment could look like, and discussions have been taking place with both departments to review options. While it is noted PFW would like to move all collection work from PFW to Royal Mail in areas where the traffic can onward connect through the network, they have agreed to adopt a phased approach addressing POL Collections first, followed by a review of Ad-Hoc and the Scheduled Collections.

As part of an organised project known as First Mile Integration (FMI) and supported by dedicated collection planning support, RM Plant catchment areas will migrate over to the full collection of all available PFW items from POL. Some interim exemptions will remain where current connectivity does not allow for the PFW items to meet the cut off times, these will be reviewed to understand the potential changes which may be required.

All PFW items collected from POL will be returned to the RM Collection Hub or passed to the RM Outward Mail Centre depending on the workplan. These will then be conveyed to the Parcelforce LD to then enter the PFW outward network ready for dispatch. Where sufficient volume allows, direct runs between RM Outward Mail Centres to the PFW National Processing Centres (e.g. Coventry Hub) will be considered.

This activity will be monitored through the Table of Success National Working Group in PFW and the Collections Joint Working Group in Royal Mail.

We have secured with Parcelforce commitments that all workloads will be balanced to ensure that the time saved by removing collections is fully utilised with delivery traffic. The expectation is that the traffic will migrate from External resource and PFW have agreed that all headcount reduction will come from External resource.

A National launch call with the business took place today with the Parcelforce Regional Organisers and Royal Mail Divisional Representatives to ensure they are fully aware of the change and are able to cascade the information down to the impacted Parcelforce Depot and Delivery Offices.

Attached to this LTB for your information are the SOP’s and SSOW for this activity along with the slides used on the launch call. These will be used to ensure that the criteria is fully understood and deployed consistently, ensuring that connectivity and quality of service is maintained.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org or Tony Bouch, Assistant Secretary, email: Pharacz@cwu.org quoting reference LTB 076/25. 

Yours sincerely, 

Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary                                                                                             

Mick Kavanagh
A/Assistant Secretary

LTB 076.25 – Transfer of PFW POL Collections to RM

PFW POL Collections Transfer – National Deployment

PFW Collections – POL National Launch16 Apr2025 Final

FMI FAQ master 20250327

Manual handling SSoW 1.10

Collections (Royal Mail Operations) SSOW v1.7

SOP A2.1.1 Collect From Customer (PFW Items)

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ROYAL MAIL: DRUGS & ALCOHOL – FOR-CAUSE TESTING PILOT – FURTHER EXTENSION 

Further to LTB’s 001/25 dated 2nd Januaryand 035/25 dated 19th February.   

The Drugs & Alcohol For-Cause Testing Pilot originally commenced in Wales on Monday 13th January, then was extended to include Anglia and the South West, along with the English units in the Wales ROD area from Monday 11th March and was due to finish on Friday 2nd May.  As it currently stands, there has only been one For-Cause Test initiated and this was a negative result.   

The Postal Executive has now agreed to extend the duration of the For-Cause testing Pilot (for drivers only) until Friday 5th September and has also agreed to extend the geographical boundaries so that the Terms of Reference (ToR) previously agreed will be extended to include South Central, South East and Northern Ireland ROD areas from the following dates: 

      •   Monday 9th June – South East 

• Monday 16th June – South Central 
• Monday 23rd June – Northern Ireland 

The ToR in full is applicable into the extended Pilot, and this includes the safeguards surrounding the Support and Rehabilitation programme rather than Conduct.  There are two caveats to this – a positive drug/alcohol test on the roadside following an accident/incident where the police are involved, or an individual being found in the possession of illegal drugs in the workplace. 

It should also be noted that the extended Pilot does not include Parcelforce. 

Briefings for South Central, South East and Northern Ireland Representatives 

We will be holding three briefings for our Divisional Reps, Branch Secretaries, Area Reps and Area Safety Reps in the South Central, South East and Northern Ireland ROD Areas as follows: 

South East ROD Area 

Tuesday 27th May – 11.30am – 2.30pm
CWU Headquarters
150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 1RX 

South Central ROD Area 

Wednesday 28th May – 11.30am – 2.30pm
CWU Headquarters
150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 1RX 

Northern Ireland 

Thursday 29th May – 11.00am – 2.00pm
TBC (Provisionally The Innovation Centre, Queens Road, Belfast BT3 9DT) 

We will be presenting the full details of the ToR for the extended Pilot and the protections and safeguards we have secured for our members in both the ToR and the Colleague Framework document.  Obviously, there will be an opportunity for a Q&A session at the Briefings.  In this regard, Royal Mail and Abbotts Laboratories have been invited to attend a session of the Briefings to demonstrate the equipment and to answer any technical questions.  This is in keeping with the arrangements we undertook for the Wales and Anglia Briefings.   

Andy Furey, Assistant Secretary, continues to lead on this matter on behalf of the Postal Executive, supported by Rob Wotherspoon, PE member.  

The Postal Executive will be closely monitoring the Pilot and all Branches will be kept informed of any key developments as the extended Pilot progresses.  

Yours sincerely, 

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary 

Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary

Tony Bouch
Assistant Secretary

LTB078.25 Royal Mail Drugs Alcohol Pilot – Further Extension

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USO Update on Pilot Sites

The purpose of this LTB is to bring Branches and members up to date with what has been happening within the USO pilot sites and with the wider USO reform.

On 30^th January Ofcom proposed a package of reform measures to the Universal Service Obligation.

These were:

• We propose to remove the requirement on Royal Mail to deliver second class letters six days per week and allow it to deliver such letters on alternate weekdays (Monday – Friday).
• We will maintain the requirement for delivery of first-class letters which will continue to be delivered next day, six days per week.
• We will maintain the current parcels USO specification.
• We propose to change the headline target for first class mail from 93% to 90% delivered next day, and to change the headline target for second class mail from 98.5% to 95%.

The Ofcom consultation closed on 10^th April 2025. They are due to make their formal decision in early summer 2025.

In December 2024, with the expectation of what Ofcom was likely to announce, the CWU agreed to pilot the Optimised Delivery Model in 37 units across the UK. Most of the pilots were selected by the union as we wanted a range of units, including rurals, firms, town, cities and hybrids across all four nations.

USO reform will be the biggest change to deliveries since the introduction of first class and second class mail in 1968, and so it would be incredibly irresponsible of the CWU and Royal Mail not to pilot this in order to fully understand whether the Optimised Delivery Model is fit for purpose.

Royal Mail and the CWU agreed four overarching principles on which we will review whether the USO pilots are a success:

1. That it achieves a 90% quality of service target for first class letters, any commercial targets and Ofcom’s targets.
2. That workload is fair, manageable and achievable and there are opportunities to reduce fatigue.
3. That there are opportunities to improve attendance patterns with more Saturdays off.
4. It must improve morale and confidence in the workplace.

Royal Mail want to deploy the USO change via a method change approach rather than conduct a planner led revision which would take considerably longer to deploy.  In addition, Geo Route has not yet been adapted to plan combined van routes.

There is an extensive 12-week lead in prior to the deployment of the pilot.  This includes a data validation exercise which reviews whether the unit needs more walks, planning the indoor operation, changing the lay out, understanding if there will be a surplus situation with staffing and having a change in attendance patterns and an optional, if preferred, temporary resign of duties.  All pilot sites will have a full resign if Ofcom confirms the USO reform.

In processing, non 1^st Class letters should be deferred and held at the Mail Centre/MPU until due for delivery.  This requires the strict segregation of 1c and 2c letters on both mech and manual streams and the extension of the Delivery to Specification (DTS) algorithm to defer all non 1c letters to the appropriate days. In addition, sequencing and Wave 2 Walksort can no longer be processed on the large machines (Imps/iLSM) and can only take place on the CSS machines with deferral switched on.

For example, on second class it means the following:DAY OF POSTINGCURRENT DUE DELIVERYFUTURE DELIVERY DAYMondayThursdayThursdayTuesdayFridayFridayWednesdaySaturdayMondayThursdayMondayTuesdayFridayTuesdayWednesdaySaturdayWednesdayThursdaySundayThursdayThursday

In the early days of the pilot DTS was releasing some items when it should have deferred them, so all mail routes had too high a call rate.

Both issues have now been fixed and further upgrades are in development, however it is critical to the plan that only the mail due for delivery that day is released.

LAUNCH OF THE PILOTS

To help provide clarity to what is referenced in this LTB as core and combined routes, please note that the core is all mail routes and combined is the first class and parcel routes. The core route is based on two duties being performed by two OPGs who deliver all the mail Monday to Friday. The combined routes cover two duties Monday to Saturday and deliver first class which represents 12% of Royal Mail’s overall traffic mix and parcels Monday to Saturday.

Newton Mearns 

Newton Mearns was the first pilot site and went live on 24^th February 2025.  It is a relatively small delivery unit with 20 routes, predominantly town with good industrial relations and employee relations.

Prior to the introduction of the pilot, one extra walk was introduced and the members voted to opt for two Saturdays off in every five, alongside their normal day off every week.

The early learnings are:

• Employees are happy with the attendance patterns.
• Unit has overachieved target quality of service levels.
• Route spans and combined ratios working in line with assumptions.
• DTS still not working at the right level in terms of deferring letters, resulting in higher than expected call rate. This has now been fixed.
• Fatigue needs to be addressed on all mail routes.

Newton Mearns have also found a further solution to fatigue where the combined route takes 50% of the core route and the core route takes 50% of the combined route. Feedback received from the Rep suggests this option seems be well received within the unit. Further work needs to be carried out to see if this is an option that can work in other units as Newton Mearns have singleton driving routes.

Cumbernauld

Cumbernauld went live on Monday 24^th March 2025.

Prior to it being introduced it put back two walks.  There were issues with resourcing on the day of deployment.

Cumbernauld members chose to select two Saturdays off in every five weeks alongside their normal rest day during the week.

In Cumbernauld the drivers rotate every other day between an all-mail route and a combined route to reduce fatigue.

There are six non-drivers within the unit and we will need to find solutions to reduce fatigue as Monday to Friday they will be performing all-mail routes.

There are issues when D2D is not prepped in advance of Monday.

Some all-mail core routes are not clearing every day which will need to be addressed and the indoor operation requires some additional time to be built into duties.

The combined routes are clearing.

The non-drivers on a Saturday are currently prepping D2D but the plan is to scope giving non-drivers outdoor workload to support the Saturday combined routes.

Girvan

Girvan went live on 24^th March 2025.

Girvan was introduced and two duties put back into the unit. One rural walk and a parcel duty. They opted for two Saturdays off every five weeks, in addition to a day off in the week.  It is a small unit, the workload is unbalanced and unfair between core/combined and rurals.

There are a variety issues which need resolving within the unit including prep plan and the belief that one extra town duty is needed and one extra rural.

Ballymena

Ballymena went live week commencing 31^st March 2025.

They put back four walks into the operation. They chose the duty option of two Saturdays off in every six alongside a day off every week.

Initial feedback is that there are issues with the presentation of mail from the mail centre.  In addition, there are D2D issues with cold calling.

Ayr

Ayr was introduced week commencing 7^thApril 2025.

Two duties were added and this will be reviewed within 3 weeks to see if more is needed.

Ayr opted for the two Saturdays in every five-attendance pattern.

Antrim

Antrim was introduced week commencing 7^thApril and four duties were put back into the operation.

They voted to have two Saturday’s off in every five alongside a day off during the week.

In all pilot offices we need to ensure after the bedding in period that planned events like WTLL and important operational briefs are being delivered.

The next 31 pilot units are scheduled to deploy during April and the end of May.

For complete clarity it is important to note that whilst the CWU have agreed to pilot the proposed USO reform, we have not agreed as yet to full USO reform.

However, we recognise that there are only two real options for USO reform:

1. A reduction to either 3 or 4 days USO to reduce costs. Reducing just a Saturday does not reduce enough costs.
2. A speed of delivery option which is Royal Mail’s proposed Optimised Delivery Model.

It is unusual for a regulator to come out and state that the current Universal Service is financially unsustainable.  Ofcom also state “our view is that in its current form the USO imposes substantial unnecessary costs on Royal Mail because it requires provision of a service which is greater than generally required by postal users”.

When a regulator makes this type of statement and then puts a proposal for USO reform it is important that the CWU engages to ensure any change to the USO secures long term job security and provides benefits to our members.

Our initial thinking after just six weeks into the pilots and with only six units currently introduced is:

• The data validation exercise which happens before deployment is critical to the overall success.  There is a clear difference in DDS to what is happening within units. As a result of this there are circa 3000 routes going back into DDS.  In addition, from the feedback we are receiving there are a number of additional walks being put back into the pilot sites.
• That the DTS must be working correctly and the presentation of mail from the mail centre must be accurate.
• That resourcing must be correct within the units with reserve levels being at the correct level. Reserves should be employed on full time contracts if they are covering full time.  We will need to consider how we cover first day failures moving forward.
• The increase in call rates on all-mail routes adds outdoor time to the all-mail routes. We must ensure that these routes are manageable and achievable. The design is to remove indoor work to allow for more outdoor time. The indoor time would be covered through increasing part time to full time opportunities and the improved attendance patterns which require slightly longer days.
• The early reports are that the combined van routes are lighter on a Monday and Tuesday and then increase Wednesday to Saturday, especially in terms of parcels. There may need to be additional resource from Wednesday to Saturdaydue to the level of parcels across those days.
• For drivers there is a clear opportunity to reduce fatigue which is to limit a driver to performing a maximum of 3 core routes Monday – Friday. Due to the fall of rest days, it may be less than 3.
• For non-drivers there is no such opportunity. At present the only fatigue solution for non-drivers is when they are scheduled in on a Saturday and perform indoor work, including prepping D2D for the next week. Further work is being carried out to see whether we can better support non drivers on delivery including looking at electric trikes, bikes and HCTs.
• We are also reviewing whether a non-driver could support the combined routes on Saturday, so they have an indoor and outdoor element to their duty on Saturday.
• There is estimated to be circa 8,400 non-drivers in delivery out of over 83,000 delivery staff. 60% of that number do not have a driving license.  The level of non-drivers in certain areas, particularly London, will need careful consideration over what can be deployed and we are working with Royal Mail and reviewing options.

The remaining 31 pilot units are due to go live by the end of May and we will have a far better understanding of the impact of the USO change at the end of May.

In terms of job losses, we have yet to start the formal consultation process, and the pilot sites are clearly important in determining whether the original level of target savings were realistic. It is initially estimated there will be 400 units where it is expected that there will not be a surplus at the point of deployment.

Where there are potential job reductions these will be resolved through a combination of not filling vacancies ahead of deployment and voluntary redundancies. The first pilot sites have either no surplus or a very small surplus.

In line with the EP agreement if Ofcom authorises the USO change, then there will be a full national agreement covering how any changes will be implemented in a mutually beneficial way and alongside the commitment that there will be no compulsory redundancies.

We want to place on record our thanks and appreciation to the members of the pilot sites, the local Reps, Area Reps, Safety Reps, Divisional Reps and PE leads for the support and hard work they have provided thus far.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be referred to the DGS(P) department.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)                         

Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary  

Tony Bouch
Assistant Secretary

LTB 75.25 Update on USO Pilot Sites

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BRT&G Agreement – Seasonal Variation 2025 Update

Dear Colleagues,

Further to the publication of LTB 400/24 dated 20^th December 2024 outlining outcomes of discussions with the business regarding the Seasonal Variation design for 2025, which had agreed to reduce this to two 5-week periods (from the initial two 15-week cycles) as follows:

• Low Season – 5 weeks: Week 17 to 21 (21^st July to 24^th August 2025)
• High Season – 5 weeks: Week 34 to 38 (17^th November to 21^stDecember 2025)

In publishing the above dates, it was also made clear that, subject to discussions regarding USO reform, both parties would continue to review the agreement for 2025 to ensure it remains fit for purpose in respect of any future ways of working.

Both parties have discussed the merits of continuing with the 2025 plan as outlined above, given the significant unknowns in relation to USO pilot activity taking place.

As a result, it has been agreed to suspend all activity related to Seasonal Variation for 2025.

The decision has been taken now to ensure all colleagues have advance notice and can effectively make any subsequent changes to their own personal arrangements. The business will ensure that any pre-planned annual leave that was due to be taken in the planned periods will revert to the contracted hours in the coming weeks, once upgrades to PSP have been concluded.

If any colleagues believe that as a result of the changes outlined above there have been errors made with their allocated Annual Leave entitlement and / or the changes create additional problems, the business have confirmed that in the first instance line managers should be able to assist, as per the attached WTLL brief that will be issued.

Any enquiries to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, email address: Pharacz@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

LTB 074-25 – BRTG Agreement – Seasonal Variation 2025 Update

WTLL Seasonal Variation 2025

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