ELECTION OF: CWU REGIONAL SECRETARIES – 2017 
Nominations are invited for the positions of CWU Regional Secretary for the following regions:
Eastern

Midland

North East

Northern Ireland

North West

Scotland

South East

South West

Wales & the Marches 

London
The period of office for the above position will be from April 2017 until April 2019. 
Candidates must be nominated by their own branch at a properly constituted branch meeting. Where there is more than one candidate for each position there will be an individual member ballot of the whole membership of the respective region, and ballots will be conducted in accordance with the attached election guidelines.
Ballots will be run concurrent with the NEC/Industrial Executives elections scheduled to take place during March – April 2017.
Nomination Forms are attached to the electronic version of this LTB, or are available on request from the Senior Deputy General Secretary Department and should be returned to: Tony Kearns, Senior Deputy General Secretary by 14:00 on 28th February 2017.
The timetable for the elections is as follows:
Nominations Open: 7 February 2017
Nominations Close: 28 February 2017 (14:00)
Dispatch ballot material from: 16 March 2017
Close of ballot: 4 April 2017 (first post)  
Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237, or email address sdgs@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
 
TONY KEARNS
SENIOR DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 054/17 – Election of CWU Regional Secretaries 2017

Election Guidelines 2017

Regional Secretary Nomination Forms 2017

Pension Review
Further to LTB 28/17 and Royal Mail’s decision to consult on the future of the DB scheme from April 2018, I attach a briefing document which highlights the financial impact of the company’s pension proposals and a report on the feedback from the consultation to date.
The document is in two parts. The first part provides information on the average pension loss for people who are retiring at age 60 and 65, the numbers, ages and profiles of current DB members as well as specific examples for members in different sections of the scheme (at different salary levels and with different ages and length of service). It also includes information on current DC provision.
Part two reports on the feedback from Royal Mail’s consultation exercise with scheme members, detailing the most frequently asked questions and the key issues raised.
As the company have now provided individual illustrations for every DB member, we are encouraging those who still have questions about their future pension to contact Royal Mail directly by calling the pensions consultation helpline on: 0345 850 0081. Members can also visit the question and answer section at http://www.royalmail.com/pensions.
We would also suggest that CWU members in the current DB scheme write to Royal Mail as part of the consultation process to reject their proposals and request that the company seek a negotiated settlement with the CWU that secures a decent wage in retirement for all members (DB and DC) as one of our four key Pillars of Security. This can be done by post: Freepost MY PENSION, Pond Street, Sheffield, S98 6HR or by email: my.pension@royalmail.com (writing FEEDBACK in the subject header).
Finally, it is worth repeating that the CWU do not accept Royal Mail’s proposals. No agreement has yet been reached with the CWU and no final decision taken on future pension provision after April 2018. With your support, the CWU will continue in talks with Royal Mail to seek a pension solution that provides all members with security and dignity in retirement.
Further updates will be provided to Branches in due course.
Any enquiries relating to this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.
Yours sincerely
 
Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Email Attachments – Click to download
· LTB 048/17 – Pension Review

· Attachment 1 to LTB 048/17 – Pension Review

UNI ICTS Europa Conference – 2017
The UNI ICTS Europa Conference will take place in Zagreb, Croatia from 7 June 2017 to 9 June 2017.
Nominations are invited for the CWU delegation to the above named Conference. The delegation size and nomination entitlements are as follows:
All delegates to be elected by and from the Telecom and Financial Services Constituency
1 NEC Member
3 Lay Members
(at least 1 delegate must be a woman and at least 1 delegate must be under the age of 30 at the date of the conference)
The timetable for the election is as follows:
Nominations Open 31 January 2017  
Nominations Close 14 February 2017 (14:00)  
Ballot Opens 21 February 2017  
Ballot Close 7 March 2017 (14:00) 
Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237, or email address sdgs@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
 
TONY KEARNS
SENIOR DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 049/17 – UNI ICTS Europa Conference – 2017

UNI ICTS Europa 2017 – Regulations

UNI ICTS Europa 2017 Nomination Form

UNI ICTS Europa 2017 Candidate Consent & Biographical Details Forms

ELECTION OF NATIONAL DELEGATIONS – 2017
STUC  

The NEC has agreed the 2017 election arrangements for the National delegations listed above. Accordingly please find attached the regulations, nomination forms and candidates consent and biographical details form for these elections.
The details of the Conferences are as follows:
STUC / 24th – 26th April 2017

The venue for the Conference is Aviemore, Scotland.
The Timetable for the elections is:
Nominations open: 31 January 2017
Nominations close: 14 February 2017 (14:00)
Despatch ballot papers: 20 February 2017
Ballot closes: 7 March 2017 (14:00)
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237 or email address sdgs@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
 
TONY KEARNS
SENIOR DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 047/17 – Election of National Delegations – STUC 2017

STUC 2017 Regulations

STUC 2017 Nomination Forms

STUC 2017 Candidate Consent & Biographical Details Form

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING THE ELECTION OF THE CWU NEC, INDUSTRIAL EXECUTIVES, SDGS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSTAL C&CH and ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSTAL OUTDOOR
Dear Colleague, 
ELECTION OF: CWU NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (NEC), INDUSTRIAL EXECUTIVE (PE & TFSE) & NATIONAL OFFICER ELECTIONS – 2017
Further to LTB 688/16 dated 22 November 2017 and LTB 027/17 dated 19 January 2017.
The NEC has agreed the election timetable and regulations for the 2017 NEC and Industrial Executive elections. Additionally the NEC has agreed that any National Officer positions scheduled to be elected in 2017 will be run concurrently with the 2017 NEC and Industrial Executive elections.  
Branches will therefore be aware (see LTB 688/1) of the arrangements for election of the CWU Senior Deputy General Secretary and the CWU Assistant Secretary – Postal (C&CH) however since the publication of LTB the General Secretary has received notification that Bob Gibson, CWU Assistant Secretary Postal (Outdoor) has decided to stand down from his current CWU National Officer position and will be leaving the union with effect from 31st January 2017.
Accordingly the NEC has agreed that the election for this vacancy will be held in line with the election timetable and regulations for the election of the 2017 NEC, Industrial Executives and National Officers – Senior Deputy General Secretary and Assistant Secretary Postal (C&CH) and a copy of the election regulations is therefore attached for your information. 
For ease of reference the responsibilities of all CWU Assistant Secretaries shall be to carry out and discharge under the direction of the GS such Union duties as they may be deemed required to perform and the current responsibilities of the CWU Assistant Secretary Postal (Outdoor) include; Royal Mail UK Delivery Staff, ROMEC Cleaners and Royal Mail Collection Drivers.
The timetable for the NEC/IE and National Officer elections is as follows:
Nominations Open: 7 February 2017
Nominations Close: 28 February 2017 (14:00)
Accept Nomination: 3 March 2017 (14:00) (TFSE positions only)  
Dispatch ballot material from: 16 March 2017 
Close of ballot: 4 April 2017 (first post)  
The Election Regulations stipulate that a copy of the regulations for these elections must be distributed to all branches in advance of the nomination process. A copy of the Election Regulations is therefore enclosed and I would be grateful if you could ensure that these are brought to the attention of the members of your branch.
The regulations will also be published on the CWU website and a copy will be issued to all candidates nominated to stand in the Election (s). 
Further information regarding the nomination arrangements will be sent to branches during w/c 30th January 2017. However branches are reminded that in order for nominations for the above positions to be valid then they will need to be submitted on the appropriate CWU HQ issued nomination form (s).  
Elections Prize Draws
Branches are reminded that in order to protect the integrity of these very important national elections and more importantly, ensure that the union is legally compliant with the relevant legislation covering such elections, that election prize draws should not be conducted under any circumstances unless written authorisation has been given by the Senior Deputy General Secretary.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Senior Deputy General Secretary Department, CWU HQ, for the attention of Peter Metcalfe.
Telephone: 0208 971 7368, or email: pmetcalfe@cwu.org
 
TONY KEARNS
SENIOR DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 045/17 – Election Of: CWU National Executive Council (NEC), Industrial Executive (PE & TFSE) & National Officer Elections – 2017

NEC & IE Election Regulations 2017

National Officer Election Regulations 2017

Young Workers Action Week 2017 
Last year the Telecoms and Financial Services Executive secured some major recruitment and organising successes thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of our branches during our periods of focussed call centre action. In October alone we recruited an extra 600 new members during our action week and these improved levels of membership can only assist in strengthening the UNION and also leading to new activists coming forward.
With this success in mind and to maintain and build on this good branch work the T&FS constituency will be running a number of action weeks throughout 2017 and will be highlighting particular priorities not only in call centres but across the entire T&FS constituency.
The first week of action in 2017 will focus on youth recruitment and will run from:
20th – 24th March. Due to the focus on young workers we are asking all T&FS branches to participate, not just branches which cover call centres. 
It is imperative that the Union brings forward young workers as activists in the future as they are the Union’s life blood. All T&FS branches have young workers in them and all T&FS branches have the potential to recruit and organise more young workers. No one could disagree that the future of our union sits with recruitment of new members and furthermore with recruitment of young people in our workplaces.
Regional Organising Committees, Field Organisers and Headquarters staff will be available to assist branches with plans, literature and membership information.
Action weeks are for the benefit of the whole of the Union and as such we really should be in the position now where we have 100% branch engagement during these weeks, it is vital that we build on the momentum of our Action weeks and hopefully if we all pull together we can again see some major successes in 2017. 
Membership forms, literature and merchandise are obtainable from the T&FS Organising Department and if you want to discuss this more the Department can be contacted at: Ray Walsh: rwalsh@cwu.org or Lesley-Anne Ure: laure@cwu.org
 
Yours sincerely
 
Andy Kerr  
Deputy General Secretary (T&FS)  
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 042/17 – Young Workers Action Week 2017

Education & Training Data on the Online Services
In order to better coordinate education, training and lifelong learning information, a new layer has been created on the Online Services database. This enables the Education & Training Department to add course information from activist training records and CWU Left Click. It also enables branch ULRs to add lifelong learning activity from learning centres and other sign-posted courses.
We are running a series of workshops to introduce ULRs to the database. These will be held on the following dates:
22nd February 2017: 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon

28th February 2017: Moss Building, Mill St, Newport

2nd March 2017: Mowbray House, Mowbray St, Stockport

14th March 2017: 46-48 Summer Lane, Birmingham
All workshops will start at 11.00hrs and conclude no later than 15.00hrs.
We would be grateful if Branch Secretaries could nominate as soon as possible the individual(s) who they would like to access the database and the workshop they wish them to attend.
These details should be sent to learn@cwu.org

Please direct any queries regarding this LTB to Paul Dovey in the Education & Training Department at learn@cwu.org in the first instance.
Many thanks for your assistance with this initiative.
Yours sincerely,

Trish Lavelle

Head of Education & Training
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 037/17 – Education & Training Data on the Online Services

TRADE UNION ADMINISTRATION ACT – ASSURERS REPORT
Branches will be aware that the Trade Union Admin Act became legislation in April 2015. Part of the Act and in accordance with Section 24ZB of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) we had to appoint an Assurer to independently assess our membership records in order to receive our Members Audit Certificate (MAC) due in May 2017. The NEC at its meeting held on 28th January 2016 appointed ERS as our Assurer following endorsement of FOS document 02/16.
As part of the contractual needed to carry out what is called a “pre audit assessment” before the actual inspection takes place at the end of February this year. That assessment took place during June, July and August 2016. It included visits to 2 branches to assess their membership records as the Act requires that Branch records are kept to an acceptable standard.
We received the results and recommendations of the audit which forms part of a 55 page report. The findings were presented in order of severity (i.e in order of risk) listed as follows, Weakness, Opportunity for Improvement, Observation and/or audit enhancement and evidence not provided.
There are 2 key issues within the report that were identified as “opportunity for improvement” within Branches these were as follows;
Length of time new application forms remain in branch offices

To help keep accurate records, additional training for Branch officials whose role includes membership changes within the OLS or online joining system.

In respect of bullet point one, the Assurer observed a timeframe in excess of 2 weeks in some cases. We accept at Headquarters that to assist Branches in ensuring forms are either sent in immediately or for the branch to input the forms via the online joining process we at CWU HQ should offer assistance in the form of training. 
We fully understand and appreciate that if branches are out on recruitment drives, it may be impractical to post new membership application forms to CWU HQ on a daily basis. However in order to ensure we have taken action to respond to the issues highlighted in the report, something the Assurer will want to see, membership application forms should not be left in your branch office for any longer than a maximum of 5 working days.
Finally, if branch officials with responsibility for maintaining membership records would like some additional training to support their work of ensuring that the register of members is up to date and accurate then we can provide such training here at CWU HQ. Anyone requiring training of this nature should email makerman@cwu.org with names, we can then discuss and adapt training to suit different needs and requirements.
The Trade Union Admin Act came into force as part of further attempts by Government to tie up trade union activity in more unnecessary administration, Unfortunately it is now law and as such we have to take such measures as are require and pointed out to us by the Assurer to ensure we comply with the law and to ensure that we are issued with the necessary Member Audit Certificate. Failure to receive a MAC will mean that we are not allowed to use/access our membership data base for Trade Union purposes. Clearly it is important that we all ensure we do what is required to avoid such a situation, hence the necessity to produce this LTB and the actions contained therein.
Any further enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to sdgs@cwu.org
Yours Sincerely,
 
 
Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 038/17 – Trade Union Administration Act – Assurers Report

ERNIE PURKIS – FORMER NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBER AND MEMBER OF THE RETIRED MEMBERS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
I am sorry to have to inform branches that our dear long serving Retired Member and former NEC Member, Ernie Purkis passed away peacefully at home last Thursday, 19th January 2017. He was nearly 93 years old.
Ernie was born in Manchester in 1925. He served as a gunner in the Royal Navy during WW2. His working life started in Birmingham in 1947 when he commenced employment on the railway – and immediately joined the National Union of Railwaymen. In 1950 Ernie commenced work for the General Post Office and joined the Post Office Engineering Union Birmingham External Branch. He became involved in the union in 1956 when he joined the Branch Committee. Four years later he became an officer of the branch when he was elected branch Treasurer. 
In 1965 he was elected branch secretary a position he held for eight years. At that time the Birmingham External Branch was the largest External Branch in the POEU. Ernie was released from his role as an External Planning Officer to fulfill his union activities. Those who worked with Ernie during this time have said that he never lost touch with his members because he would make daily visits to the depots and work areas to talk to members about their work problems and any other issues they wanted to raise with him. He very much enjoyed talking to his members.
In 1973 Ernie stood for national office and was successfully elected to serve on the POEU National Executive Council. Ernie also became a union Trustee. He served as a member of the NEC until his retirement in 1986 – the year after the union merged with the CPSA (P&T Group) to form the National Communications Union (NCU).
Ernie Purkis was a lifelong socialist and member of the Labour Party for very nearly 70 years. He attended many Labour Party Conferences as a union and constituency delegate. He also was elected on numerous occasions to represent the union at various TUC Conferences and events.
In 1986 Ernie became a retired member and from 1989 to the present day was a leading member of the Retired Members Advisory Committee. He had attended virtually every single union conference over the many decades of his involvement. Those regularly attending CWU conference will recall his contributions from the rostrum, describing the struggles facing many of our retired members and his wish to see pensions, heath care and pensioners’ standards of living improved and protected.
Ernie was awarded the union’s Gold Badge a number of years ago and in 2016 CWU conference agreed to bestow upon him, National Honorary Membership – the union’s highest award. The personal presentation was due to take place at this year’s conference and we are very saddened that Ernie’s passing will now prevent this. We will ensure that the enormous contribution that Ernie made to the CWU and its predecessor unions – and the wider trade union and Labour movement will be properly and formally recognised.
As a trade unionist Ernie dedicated much of his working life to helping other people – and he has inspired and encouraged others in the branch and in the wider trade union to do likewise. I know there are many people across the whole union who are fond of Ernie and who will miss him very much indeed. He will be particularly missed by all his close friends and colleagues in the Midland No 1 Branch and of course, by those on the Retired Members Advisory Committee.
Our heartfelt thoughts are with Ernie’s wife, Ella – and other close family members and friends and I will on behalf of the union convey our deepest condolences and sympathies to them. 
We have yet to be advised of the funeral arrangements however when these are known we will contact branches again. Midland No 1 Branch Secretary, Ali Moosa can be contact directly if any further information is required – 07802 768527.
Any further enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office at gsoffice@cwu.org quoting the reference GS1.1
 
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 036/17 – ERNIE PURKIS – FORMER NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBER AND MEMBER OF THE RETIRED MEMBERS ADVISORY COMMITTEE