ROYAL MAIL: WINDING UP THE RMDCP SCHEME – TRANSFER OF MEMBER ASSETS TO LEGAL AND GENERAL MASTERTRUST IN JULY 2026 

Further to LTB 195/26 dated 8^th July 2026.

RMDCP eligibility is – all people who commenced RMG employment from 1^st April 2008 until 6^thOctober 2024. Also, this LTB is in specific to the RMDCP only, meaning the RMPP and the Collective Plan are unaffected. 

Welcome to Legal & General Letters

Branches are advised that the “Welcome to L&G” letters (sample copy attached for information purposes) have started to arrive with some members of the RMDCP, and these are being delivered in three separate tranches, which tranches two and three being in August.  It should be noted that the Welcome letter is quick to point out that the RMDCP will now be referred to as the “Former Royal Mail Defined Contribution Plan”.

Crucially, the Welcome letters include details for each individual of the amount of pension money being transferred and invested into the new L&G Mastertrust.  Members are encouraged to use the App to verify their pension value, to view and update personal details, to manage pension investments and vitally to update beneficiaries.

Important – Update Your Nomination for Beneficiaries

It should be noted that any nominated beneficiaries previously made with Scottish Widows have notbeen transferred to L&G. Therefore, even if members have made a nomination previously, this will need to be renewed. RMDCP members should not contact L&G until they receive their Welcome letter, as the records will not yet be set up.

Your Pension in Your Pocket

The Welcome letter includes a QR code to enable members to download the L&G App, which is described as “Your pension in your pocket”. To access the App, members will need to use their customer reference number (on the Welcome letter) to register. When using a PC or laptop, access to the online account is via www.legalandgeneral.com/mya

Branches are urged to bring this LTB to the attention of our members in the former RMDCP, and in particular, highlight the need to re-nominate beneficiaries.

If you have any queries, please contact snicholas@cwu.org or hmaughan@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

LTB211.26 Royal Mail Winding up the RMDCP Scheme – Transfer of Member Assets to Legal and General Mastertrust in July 2026

D101377_Royal_Mail_welcome_letter-print

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UNIONLINE & UNIONLINE SCOTLAND 

The purpose of this LTB is to advise branches of developments within Unionline since the publication of LTB 53/26.

Branches will recall that following allegations of fraud committed against PM Law (the company that provided management services to Unionline), and against Unionline itself, PM Law collapsed in February 2026.

While regulatory and criminal investigations continue, Unionline have concentrated on continuing to provide legal services to our members including those with ongoing cases.

We can confirm that service provision continued as normal and Unionline remained and continues to be in a good position to continue supporting members across the country. We have also replaced all the infrastructure and services previously provided by PM Law with new internal capabilities at Unionline.

At the same time, Unionline have continued to liaise with the SRA (the regulator) and are nearing the end of the implementation of a “compliance plan”, which was agreed with the regulator in order to enhance Unionline’s capabilities to ensure conformity with all the relevant regulations. This plan was not triggered by the identification of any specific problems but was due to the regulator adopting a very cautious approach in the aftermath of the collapse of PM Law.

UNIONLINE SCOTLAND 

We need to inform you that there is going to be a change of service provider in Scotland.

Because Scotland is a separate jurisdiction, Unionline are not able to provide legal services directly to members in Scotland and, until now, we had an agreement with DJ Mackay & Partners LLP (DJMP) to provide legal services on our behalf.

Whilst they were a privately owned firm, they traded as Unionline Scotland when providing services to our members but remained a separate business from Unionline, in the same way as any other panel firm. DJMP were also owned by one of the partners in PM Law, although they were not part of the PM group.

However, the collapse of PM Law has impacted the plans that DJMP had for their firm and, following discussions about the impact on the relationship with Unionline, in June 2026 they gave notice to Unionline to terminate their agreement.

Unionline have been working with DJMP to ensure an orderly exit takes place and that all our members claims are protected during the transition process and we are currently completing agreements with new panel firms in Scotland who will take on new claims and existing cases from DJMP.

DJMP will be writing to Unionline Scotland clients shortly to seek confirmation that they are happy for their cases to be transferred to the new panel firm.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Taylor                                                                               Dave Ward
HEAD OF LEGAL SERVICES/                                               GENERAL SECRETARY
CWU CENTRAL SERVICES STRUCTURE

26LTB210 UNIONLINE AND UNIONLINE SCOTLAND

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Royal Mail Group: Hybrid Working Policy – Decision to Impose Four Day Working in the Workplace – Exceptions Process and Appeals

Further to LTB 200/26 dated 13^th July. Branches will be aware that Royal Mail, at the highest level of the company, recently introduced a policy to increase the number of office days from three to four for hybrid workers, with a targeted date of 1^st August.

As Branches and members would expect, we robustly challenged management and in doing so strongly objected to the changes, which we consider to be unnecessary, and also disruptive for our members.  Indeed, we have received reports that some members have additional costs to travel to work, which is putting more burden on them during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Royal Mail management have now formally advised us that they have initiated a centrally managed exceptions process.  In this regard, attached to this LTB is a detailed guidance document produced by management.  This process should be followed in all cases where members wish to make an application for either a long-term or short-term exception.  Crucially, the process will be taken out of the hands of line managers with a central review team to assess applications and “ensure fairness and consistency”.

In essence, the following descriptions (in no particular order) are when exceptions can be applied for and will warrant serious consideration by the central team:

• Where a reasonable adjustment has previously been agreed for an employee related to a disability.
• Where there are carer or childcare responsibilities, a flexible working request needs to be formally submitted.
• Field based roles, where the job can’t be performed in an office four days per week.
• An employee’s contract specifically outlines different working arrangements such as an employee having an agreement in writing that they can work in a different way when they took on the role.
• Where there is an agreed flexible working approach already in place.
• Where there are limitations due to office capacity levels or because the office building is deemed unsuitable or in need of significant repair.
• Unavailability or unsuitability of office equipment or DSE such as desks, screens, ergonomic screens.

Temporary Exemptions (up to Four Months) – Applications can also be made for temporary exceptions for childcare or carer responsibilities where the 1^st Augustdate cannot be met, but a later date can be, enabling the employee to put in place adequate measures in time. If the employee needs longer than four months they can complete a formal flexible working request.

We can now report that at the close of the application process for exceptions, around 230 requests had been formally lodged by CWU represented grades, and the largest categories were temporary and role-type exceptions.  This was followed by formal statutory requests for flexible working and workplace adjustments relating to disabilities and caring responsibilities.

As Branches and Reps will understand, the applications in the main will be based upon sensitive personal information and have been submitted in confidence, due to health, disability and caring circumstances.  This means the union in not directly involved in the assessment of applications for exceptions, as this sits within an HR Steering group, in accordance with the attachment.  There is, however, the ability for individuals to challenge an outcome via formal appeals route and where this occurs, members are full entitled to guidance and support from Reps in these circumstances.

The exceptions progress appears to be comprehensive, and provides members with the ability to submit applications for both short-term (up to four months) and long-term arrangements.  If any member has missed the deadline for making an application for an exception, they need to, as a matter of urgency, submit a late claim.  If any problems are encountered in this regard, please email snicholas@cwu.orgwith details.

Exception Outcomes – Management have undertaken to share with me an aggregate picture with anonymised data covering numbers, categories, distribution of function and site, and completion and outcome rates.  Also, management have committed to an ongoing engagement process whereby information relating to the temporary exceptions process will also be provided.

Summary – The union fully appreciates the upheaval associated with the move from three days to four days in the office which is challenging and potentially distressing for some members, who have worked in this fashion for many years now, since the pandemic.  Branches are urged to bring this LTB to the attention of all admin members that currently work part of their hours from home, so that they are aware of the terms of the exceptions process and the right to lodge an appeal, where an application has been refused by the central team.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

LTB209.26 – RM Group – Hybrid Working Policy – Four Day Working in the WorkplaceCentral Managing Exceptions Process v6

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Capita TVL: Pay Negotiations 2026/27 – Rejection of Pay Offer

Branches are advised that the Postal Executive has formally rejected a further pay offer from Capita TVL management.  Our view is that the BBC contract is extremely lucrative for the overall Capita Group and given that this contract was recently extended until 2030, in our view is that the offer, which we are unable to divulge at this stage, falls short of our aspirations on behalf of our TVL members.

Dawn Edkins, Head of HR – Central Government Services, wrote on 17th July confirming that following her discussions with Faris Gharib, Managing Director, Capita TVL, Capita was not prepared to improve the pay offer.  A formal response to this correspondence was sent following the Postal Executive meeting earlier today.

In terms of next steps, we have already arranged a Senior TVL Reps Briefing on Monday 27^th July in Manchester, and at this meeting I will report on the decisions of the Postal Executive, and we will discuss how we take our policies forward.

Capita TVL has today published its own update to employees (attached).

Further developments will be reported.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

LTB207.26 Capita TVL Pay

Capita TVL Update to employees

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Remembering Our Colleague and Friend Jeremy Baugh 

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of our dear colleague and friend, Jeremy Baugh, following a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Jeremy served as the CWU’s Head of Research from 2001 until 2009 and later returned to the union as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Postal Department from 2015 until 2019.  Jeremy was an outstanding and lifelong trade unionist who made an enormous contribution to the CWU over many years.  He was an exceptionally capable, principled, and hugely respected figure in the union and across the wider labour movement.

Beyond his professional achievements, Jeremy will be fondly remembered for his friendship and his commitment to the values of trade unionism, and he will be sadly missed by us all.

On behalf of the CWU, we offer our sincere condolences to Jez’s loving wife and lifelong partner Dion, who he met when they worked together at the CPSA union when Jeremy was just 21 years old.  He also leaves his three wonderful children Rosa, Sean and Mica of whom he was immensely proud.

We send them all our deepest sympathies and very best wishes.

Rest in peace, Jeremy.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Ward
General Secretary

26LTB208 – LTB Remembering Our Colleague and Friend Jeremy Baugh_

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Royal Mail: Sports and Social Clubs – RM Decision to Stop Subscriptions from Payroll

Further to LTBs 074/26, 086/26, 107/26 and 177/26.  Branches will be aware that we escalated this matter to Kieran Judd, Chief People Officer.  A formal meeting was held with Kieran Judd, along with Andrew Smith, HR Director, Industrial Relations, on 23^rdJune, during which it was put to them that the wellbeing of the Sports & Socials Clubs was essential and that they had existed for many years and as such were an integral part of the fabric of Royal Mail.  Furthermore, I emphasised the genuine concerns received via our Branches and Reps that some clubs may potentially have to close their doors due to the financial impact of RM’s decision, with the potential loss of valued social and community support for our members.  As a consequence, Royal Mail agreed to reflect upon whether there was a more supportive way forward to facilitate a smoother transition, whilst retaining their plans to cease subscriptions via payroll.

We met again on 8th July, during which a “4 point plan” was proposed by RM, aimed at supporting the 11 largest Clubs which had not yet been contacted, with an effective migration to the new arrangements.  To facilitate this, Kieran Judd proposed to extend the deadline to the end of November to allow for the S&SCs to put in place robust plans to retain members and in turn protect their income.  The proposal was received formally yesterday, 20^th July and is attached to this LTB.

The 4 key components of the plan are as follows:

1. The Company will delay any further changes until end of November 2026, allowing more time for the Clubs to manage the transition with their members. 
2. The Company will identify a Point of Contact to work with the CWU and the Clubs leadership, facilitating this transition but also the below additional points. 
3. The Company will provide proactive support to the Clubs still to transition, enabling easier and more effective communications with their membership to facilitate a smooth transition. 
4. Furthermore, the Company will work with all the clubs to explore additional promotional options available to help them identify and encourage new membership, both from the current workforce but also from new joiners.

 Conclusion

The Postal Executive believes the 4 point plan above is the best outcome in the circumstances.  Obviously, it is disappointing that RM are still adamant that the new payroll system needs to be simplified, meaning the stoppage of subscriptions, and this is something we cannot agree to.  We have though gained a firm commitment from RM to support the growth of all the clubs through “promotion options“.  Clearly this is a positive commitment from RM which the Postal Executive hopes will be welcomed by the clubs, who in turn will need to be proactive in engaging with RM in terms of club membership recruitment campaigns.

The 11 largest clubs are as follows:

• Eastern Post S&S Club
• NDC Sport & Social
• Glasgow Area PO SOC & REC Club
• Harrow & Wembley PO S&S Club
• Romford PO Sports & Social Club
• RM Romford & Ilford Carers Society
• Mount Pleasant CWU Welfare Fund
• Wolverhampton PO S&S Club
• Mount Pleasant PO S&S Club
• London Post Office S&S Association
• Civil Service Sports Council

Mole Meade, Postal Executive member, will lead on this project and will liaise with RM’s “Point of Contact” to help facilitate the transition and also to draw up an action plan in terms of a marketing campaign to attract new club members.  Mole will also engage directly with the 11 S&SC’s who have not yet transitioned to the new direct debit arrangements to ensure they are supported throughout the process until the extended deadline of the end of November.

If Branches, Representatives or S&SC Chairs/officials have any questions in relation to this matter, please contact mmeade@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary 

Attachment 1: LTB206.26 RM Sports and Social Clubs – Decision to Stop Subscriptions

Attachment 2: Att. to LTB206.26 – Email from Kieran Judd

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Royal Mail Group – Updated Health and Safety Policy Statement 2026 

Dear Colleagues,

For the information and reference of CWU Health and Safety Reps, Branches, and members, attached is a copy of the revised Royal Mail Group Health and Safety Policy, issued on 20^th July 2026.

This revised policy, in the name of Alistair Cochrane, CEO Royal Mail Group, outlines an overview of Royal Mail Group’s commitment to the management of Health and Safety across the group and is reflective of previous years’ statements issued.

In circulating this Royal Mail Group Health and Safety Policy Statement, it is necessary to confirm that the CWU is not consulted on the details of the policy.

Amongst other commitments set out, the policy includes the line: ‘Engage and consult with our employees and their representatives, ensuring their voice helps shape how work is done safely.’

Any enquiries to this LTB should be referred to the DGS(P) Department email address: Hford@cwu.org/ACorbett@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 205-26 – Royal Mail Group – Updated Health and Safety Policy Statement 2026

Health and Safety Policy June 2026

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NEW PRIME MINISTER – ANDY BURNHAM 

Last week, the CWU’s National Executive Committee agreed to nominate Andy Burnham for the position of Labour Party Leader. Today, following his election, he has become Prime Minister.

The CWU was proud to give our endorsement to Andy Burnham. Political endorsements should always be guided by who best advances the interests of our members and the wider working class. Andy’s long-standing commitment to public investment, stronger public services, reducing inequality, and a more interventionist economic approach closely aligns with the union’s political objectives.

For CWU members across postal, telecoms and other sectors, the future of work depends on decisions about ownership, regulation, investment and industrial strategy. Burnham has consistently argued for an economy that gives greater power to working people rather than leaving these decisions solely to the market. This provides opportunities to advance our priorities, including stronger employment rights, greater trade union influence, investment in industry and public services, and protection for workers as technology reshapes the economy.

The CWU’s nomination reflected a strategic decision to support a political programme that seeks to rebalance economic power in favour of working people. With Andy Burnham now Prime Minister, the union will continue to work constructively with the new government to advance the interests of our members and the wider trade union movement.

I have written an article on the opportunities under a Burnham government, which you can read here: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2026/07/an-agenda-worth-defending

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Department, Dawn Lynch on dlynch@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

GENERAL SECRETARY

LTB 204/26 – NEW PRIME MINISTER ANDY BURNHAM

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UPDATE ON DM26

It is now just over six weeks since the membership ratified the USO reform agreement. The attached report is designed to give reps and members a full update on the 120 Delivery units that were deployed up to Monday 13^th July.

This is without a doubt the biggest-ever change to deliveries, and the full terms and safeguards of our agreement must be applied to every single delivery unit.

The agreement is crystal clear; no units should deploy until they have completed the following processes (details are explained in the report) and have received approval from the Regional Steering Group.

• Rapid Base Data Validation
• Unit Health Check
• Scoping Exercise
• Go/No Go Process

Even once a unit has navigated through this process no unit should deploy unless the delivery unit is clear on deployment and each duty is resourced to and the reserve level is fully staffed. Depending on the size of your units, the above is a lengthy process which all units must complete in advance of deployment.

The agreement is designed to allow for local input, recognising that each delivery unit is different and therefore you are best placed to influence what will work in your unit. The agreement clearly allows for bespoke/non-standard solutions to be cleared by the Regional Steering Working Groups, which will ensure that DM26 lands better in the unit and achieves the quality targets.

The agreement has been planned on the basis that your unit will have the full support of all reps – local, area, divisional and national, to ensure that your unit is in the best possible position to deploy DM26, which includes ensuring on deployment that you have a clear office and full resources, including, as a minimum, a one in six reserve level.

We have asked the Divisional Reps to work with their Area Delivery Reps to complete proformas on how delivery units are working under DM26 and how the Regional Steering Groups are working.  This information will be used to provide you with further updates.

The reports and data demonstrate that most of the deployed units are working, and delivery point coverage has improved. However, it is very much early days, with only small and medium units deployed thus far.

The feedback from members in some of the units has been good, especially in units that were previously failing every day, with members coming into frames of mail that did not go out.

There are also reports that a minority of the units have not landed well and need to be fixed, including, if necessary, by introducing extra hours, duties or equipment. The most common theme for those not working is they did not follow all the pre deployment checks in full.  The agreement also states that there must be a mandatory review, and no surplus employees will be removed unless the unit is achieving all its quality targets.

We can also report that 338 part-timers have either got a permanent or temporary full-time job, and a further 134 have got an increase in contracted hours in the first 85 delivery units deployed (RM systems run 2 weeks behind which is why this is not for the 120 units deployed). There are a further 1,165 Delivery units to deploy, so this will significantly increase with further deployment.

One point of clarification which will be a clear benefit for some units is delivery units that currently start later on one or more days than the current Wednesday start time can, on deployment, start at the Wednesday start time across the week and we are sharing as much information with CWU Divisional Reps to help support this activity. For example, the DDS (Delivery Duty Scheduler) is showing that:

Glasgow Rutherglen starts 15 minutes later on a Monday compared to Wednesday, 45 minutes later on a Tuesday, 15 minutes later on a Friday and 15 minutes later on a Saturday. They will now be able to start earlier on those days, at the same time as Wednesday start times.

 Leyland is starting 50 minutes later on Monday and Tuesday than on Wednesday, and 20 minutes later on Friday and 36 minutes later on Saturday. They will now be able to start earlier on those days, commencing at the same time as on Wednesday.

We realise change is always difficult; our commitment is that we will support you through this process. The agreement is designed to ensure that USO change is successfully delivered across all units and fixed if issues arise.

The CWU at all levels are committed to ensuring that your delivery unit is not only in the best position to deploy but also sees the benefits of extra Saturdays or days off, and that your unit is clearing daily.

We will provide further updates on how units are progressing, including which units have completed their review.

Any enquiries relating to the content of this LTB should be referred to the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) department hford@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh

Deputy General Secretary (Postal) 

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

LTB 203.26 Update on DM26

LTB 203.26 Att 1

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ROYAL MAIL: CHANGE FOR GOOD – JOINT STATEMENT 

Further to LTB 126/26 dated 29^th April 2026.  Branches are advised that there have been a number of changes in the Change for Good (CFG) management team at Royal Mail, and of particular note the HR Director, Performance & Capability, left Royal Mail at the end of June.  This has meant slower progress than we originally anticipated in establishing the Shadow National Steering Committee (SNSC) along with our wider agenda on CFG.

From a positive perspective, we have now agreed the attached Joint Statement under the signatures of Kieran Judd, Chief People Officer and Martin Walsh, DGS(P).  Crucially, the JS contains a strong reference to the ER/IR Reset programme and this is in keeping with the following paragraph from Emergency Motion E1 at this year’s Postal Conference:

“Ensuring that at the heart of the CFG programme is the recognition that the Reset of ER/IR is of paramount importance to improving relationships in the workplace.”

The Joint Statement recognises that people’s behaviour must improve where it is inappropriate and to do this requires coaching, training and of course time, and along with the wider key messages associated with CFG, this will help to ensure that the principles enshrined within the JS are followed by all.  The JS acknowledges that bad behaviour is a factor within some workplaces, but that together we will strive, through educational means, to address legitimate concerns that might have been normalised in times gone by to create workplaces across Royal Mail that are inclusive, welcoming, and safe.

The first meeting of the SNSC is on Thursday 23^rd July and further developments on the wider CFG programme will be communicated as we move forward together with Royal Mail on this important activity, which complements the ER/IR Reset programme.  Branches and Reps are urged to ensure the attached JS is shared widely amongst our members.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh      

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)                                                                   

Andy Furey                    

Assistant Secretary

LTB 202/26 – RM Change for Good – Joint Statement

LTB 202/26 – Change for Good_TRIPARTY STATEMENT_July 2026

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