Election of:

• Royal Mail Divisional Representative Northern Ireland -2022
• Royal Mail Divisional Representatives (Substitute) Northern Ireland – 2022
• Royal Mail Divisional Representative (Substitute) Scotland 2022
• Royal Mail Divisional Chair Northern Ireland – 2022

Royal Mail Divisional Representative & Royal Mail Divisional Representatives (Substitute)  

Following changes to the IR Framework Agreement in respect of the Scotland and Northern Ireland Division, it is necessary to elect representatives for the above revised divisional structure

Nominations are invited from Branches within the two divisions for the position of Royal Mail Divisional Representative for Northern Ireland Division and Royal Mail Divisional Representative Substitute for Northern Ireland Division and Scotland Division

Scotland                               (Substitute Division Representative)

Northern Ireland              (Divisional Representative & Substitute Divisional Representative)

The term of office for these positions is until March 2024 and the successful candidates will take up office at the conclusion of the election period.

Nomination forms are attached to this LTB and completed forms must be signed by the Branch Secretary and Branch Chair or accredited deputies and the nominee and should be returned by email to elections@cwu.org  to  be received by 21^st April (14:00).   

The timetable for the nominations are as follows:

Nominations Open:                                       07 April 2022

Nominations Close:                                        21 April 2022 (14:00)

If ballots are required for the positions of RM Divisional Representative and RM Divisional Representative (Substitute) they will be conducted on an individual member ballot basis and will take place following Annual Conference 2022.

These ballots will be run in accordance with the CWU guidelines for Senior Regional/Field Official elections, which are attached for your information.

Royal Mail Divisional Chair

Nominations are invited from Branches within the relevant division for the position of Divisional Chair:

Northern Ireland

The term of office for these positions is until March 2024 and the successful candidates will take up office at the conclusion of the election period.

Nomination forms are attached to this LTB and completed forms must be signed by the Branch Secretary and Branch Chair or accredited deputies and the nominee, and should be returned by email to elections@cwu.org  to be received by 21^st April 2022 (14:00).   

The timetable for the nomination is as follows:

Nominations Open:                                       07 April 2022

Nominations Close:                                        21 April 2022 (14:00)

If ballots are required for the position of RM Divisional Chair they will be conducted on a branch ballot basis and therefore paragraphs 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the attached Guidelines are not applicable on this occasion.

Should a ballot be required, this will take place following Annual Conference 2022.

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 0208 971 7237 or email address sdgs@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

22LTB166 – Royal Mail Divisional Representative & Royal Mail Divisional Representatives (Substitute)

Regulations 2022.doc

Div Rep – 2022- Nomination Form NI. doc

Div Chair – 2022- Nomination Form NI

Div Rep Sub – 2022 – Nomination Form NI

Div Rep Sub – 2022 – Nomination Form Scotland

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CWU CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS 2021

Please find attached the CWU Consolidated Accounts for 2021. These accounts are still to be formally signed off, however the numbers contained therein will not change.

Branches are now entitled to submit questions to these Accounts. Any questions should be sent, by email, to sdgs@cwu.org questions sent to any other email address will not be addressed.

In order to publish questions and answers prior to the commencement of General Conference 2022, Branches will need to submit their questions by no later than 12 noon on Wednesday the 20th April 2022. Questions received after that deadline will not be addressed.

Any enquires on this LTB please contact sdgs@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

22LTB164

2021 CWU consolidated Accounts (060422)

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CAPITA TVL: COST OF LIVING CRISIS – PAY NEGOTIATIONS

Further to LTB154/22 dated 31^stMarch.

Earlier today we met with Capita TVL management to see if progress could be made in relation to pay bargaining.  The meeting, whilst cordial, was unproductive with Capita saying they were unable to make an improved offer as they were at the limit of their mandate.

Evidently there is a significant gap between the two parties, with our strongly held belief that Capita can easily afford to improve the offer and that there needs to be due recognition of the prevailing economic environment our members are experiencing where inflation continues to rise.

We discussed next steps and in particular the possibility of escalating pay negotiations to the next level of senior management.  We welcomed the potential for this but stressed there would be little point in meeting another manager if they were simply going to go through the motions and reiterate the same position.  We therefore urged Capita to seriously consider this matter further as it feels like an impasse has been reached.  This in turn makes the prospect of a ballot for strike action a step closer.

We are meeting with the Postal Executive tomorrow where this issue will be considered further and a meeting will also take place on Monday 11^th April with our TVL Reps.

Further developments will be reported.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

22LTB163 Capita TVL – Cost of Living Crisis – Pay Negotiations

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Royal Mail & CWU Terms of Reference Scan to Route (Tracked Parcels) Trial

Branches will be aware that Royal Mail faces an increasingly competitive landscape both in the letters and parcels market. It is recognised that customers may wish to have a more defined Estimated Delivery Window (EDW) than is currently offered by Royal Mail, to that which is offered by competitors.  Royal Mail and the CWU are committed to working at pace to undertake a trial of Scan to Route to support deployment of market leading EDW for Tracked items on Core routes.  Market leading EDW is an important enabler to improved customer satisfaction through increased First Time Delivery, which may create the opportunity for future commercial offerings i.e. live redirection validation, and enhanced in-flight redirections.

Additionally, there would also be a significant safety benefit of Scan to Route for delivery members, in the form of automatic hazard alerts on a PDA.  Where hazard data is contained within the HUE / WRAP system and the Scan to Route process has identified a delivery point (which correlates to this hazard), it will then be possible to alert the delivery colleague to the hazard before they attended the delivery point. This will also form part of the proof of concept trial and further learning.

This Proof of Concept trial therefore aims to gather further learning from Delivery OPG’s to understand the:

• Redesign required to standard operating procedures (SOPs) to enable Tracked parcel items to be scanned to route at the delivery preparation frame

Royal Mail and the CWU propose to trial this new process and modifications to PDA indoor and outdoor applications, at Cranleigh Delivery Office.

Trial Scope 

• The trial will take place at Cranleigh Delivery Office (Guildford area) – to undertake User Acceptance Testing (UAT) on the PDA application functionality, and measure the operational and workload impact of Scan to Route within the Delivery operation 
  • 18 Walks in total, mixture of shared pairs, singleton vans and HCT
  • Tracked Ready For Delivery scanning compliance +99.5%
• The trial will focus on: 
  • the identification of Tracked parcel items at delivery preparation frame
  • manually scanning the barcode label on the tracked parcel items at a delivery preparation frame, using the current PDA technology, with modified indoor and outdoor applications
• The trial is scheduled to commence 11^th April 2022 and will be completed no later than the end of May 2022
• The trial details: 
  • Up to 7 weeks with delivery colleagues undertaking the Scan to Route process i.e. identifying tracked parcel items at delivery preparation and scanning them with a PDA utilising modified indoor and outdoor applications on a PDA
  • Confirming PDA indoor and outdoor functionality is acceptable for trial
  • Confirming operational and workload impacts for the Scan to Route process in a Delivery Office

Health & Safety and Safe Systems of Work 

It is reaffirmed that Health & Safety and SSOW are of paramount importance to both Royal Mail and the CWU, as such, the Delivery SAC1 will be reviewed and updated in line with any required indoor floor plan changes. Any issues arising in this respect will be proper to the relevant RM safety experts and the CWU National Health Safety, and Environment Department.

Review/ Summary

Royal Mail and the CWU both understand the importance of being able to offer consumers a first-class digital experience to enhance the trust that already exists on the doorstep.

These Nationally agreed Terms of Reference will be formally reviewed at the end of the trial period by RM and the CWU Nationally, taking full account of all experiences and the feedback gathered in the trial site. The review will also jointly determine next steps along with any further expansion or rollout program of the concept beyond the trial site which will be subject to further discussions and joint National agreement

Any questions of interpretation, implementation or application of this Joint Statement shall be referred to the signatories as a matter of urgency for resolution and any local issues will be subject to the industrial relations framework.

Any queries to the content of the above please contact the Outdoor Department reference 540, email address: njones@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

 Mark Baulch                                                                                              

CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 162-22 – Royal Mail CWU Terms of Reference Scan to Route – Tracked Parcel Trial

Scan to Route Trial_Terms of Reference v2_20220324 doc cmb (00000002) 01.04.22

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Trade Unions Stand with Ukraine – Demonstration on Saturday the 9th of April in London

Today we are advising branches and members of our support for the Unions Stand with Ukrainedemonstration on Saturday the 9th of April in London.  The rally will take place in Parliament Square at 12 noon before heading to Downing Street.

As you will be aware, the Russian government’s violence has caused thousands of Ukrainian deaths and forced millions to flee their homes.  The devastation of this appalling and reactionary invasion has only grown worse over the last month, from attacks on hospitals and essential services to chaos at the borders of neighbouring countries.  The CWU condemns this violence and has made a donation to the International Trade Union Confederation’s combined response for Humanitarian Aid. However, even with this horrific crisis, we can see that working people – though separated by borders, nationalities and backgrounds – are united in their condemnation of needless aggression, suffering and war.

As a trade union movement, we call for peace and for all governments to reach a negotiated solution.  We send solidarity to the trade unionists of Ukraine who have been engaged in humanitarian assistance and resistance to the invasion.  The CWU, alongside other unions, also calls on the UK government to welcome refugees seeking to come to the UK, without imposing restrictions.

We support the Unions Stand with Ukraine demonstration on Saturday and send our solidarity to the Ukrainian people and their trade unions.  More details about the demonstration are available in the attached documents (provided in both English and Ukrainian).

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
General Secretary

LTB 160/22 – Trade Unions Stand with Ukraine demonstration on Saturday the 9th of April in London

Unions Stand With Ukraine Poster – English 

Unions Stand with Ukraine Poster – Ukrainian

POST OFFICE: PAY DISPUTE 2021/22 – PAY OFFER RECEIVED & REJECTED

Following our members delivering the 97.3% Yes vote, Post Office has reaffirmed the pay freeze position for 2021/22; however, an “interim” offer has been made for 2022/23 as follows:

• From 1^st April 2022 – 2% consolidated pay increase flowing through to allowances
• One-off £250 lump sum payment (unconsolidated and non-pensionable)

Angela Williams, Group Chief People Officer, stated in her correspondence “I recognise that times are hard with the increasing cost of living and I want us to be able to support our people in an affordable way”.  This so-called “interim” offer is barely worth a quarter of the current rate of inflation with RPI currently standing at 8.2%.  If Post Office was genuinely concerned about our members they could easily resolve this dispute by offering a fair pay increase from 1^st April 2021, which would provide our members with 12 months of arrears.

The “interim” proposal was made on the basis the 2% pay increase would be included within April salaries.  Ironically, the justification for this is “to help our employees with the immediate cost of living challenges”.  Clearly, this is an appalling offer, particularly when viewed against the backdrop of an imposed pay freeze for 2021/22.  Following a meeting of our Reps earlier today the offer was rejected as ridiculous and we have invited Post Office to do better.  Basically, the offer is inflammatory and in reality, they can easily afford a significantly improved offer and evidently will need to do so if they wish to avoid strike action.

Branches are advised the Postal Executive is due to consider next steps at its meeting scheduled for Thursday 7^th April.  Further developments will be reported.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

22LTB159 Post Office – Pay Dispute 2021-22 – Pay Offer Received & Rejected

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CONSULTATION LAUNCH: FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN THE NON-RECOGNISED SECTOR TO SECURE THE FUTURE OF THE CWU AS A STANDALONE TRADE UNION

Consultation link: https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90445009/Securing-the-future-of-the-CWU

The entire union acknowledges that the future of the CWU as a strong, independent trade union ultimately depends not only on our ability to recruit and retain members in our core recognised areas like Royal Mail and BT, but that we must also prioritise efforts to identify areas for new membership growth and broader union expansion amongst non-recognised employers too.

Motion 11 at last year’s CWU Conference reaffirmed this position. The GROW campaign, which ran throughout March, has succeeded in refocusing the majority of branches attention onto the importance of weaving recruitment and organising into everything we do, as we emerge from the unique circumstances of the last couple of years. As a result, we have seen a welcome increase in membership density, with new joiners primarily coming from Royal Mail and BT.

Work will continue to ensure that an ongoing culture of recruitment and organising is embedded across all union structures and remains a high priority. Follow-ups to ensure the 13 Measures of Success workbooks are being completed as required by all branches will also provide the union centrally with a wealth of invaluable data and information to help us further shape what ‘future-proofing’ the CWU really needs to look like.

The formation of the United Tech and Allied Workers Branch in late 2020 saw us take solid steps in the right direction in regards to growing and future-proofing the CWU in an ever-changing world of work, and despite barriers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and an increased culture of remote working, the branch currently sits with an active membership of 604 members (correct as of 04/04/2022 and consisting of 674 joiners – 70 leavers over the branches lifetime).

As the department with direct responsibility for growth amongst the CWU’s non-recognised membership we are now launching a major listening and engagement exercise with every single region, branch, officer and rep, to kick-start this important conversation and get every level of the union thinking about the barriers we currently face when it comes to organising in newer areas and how we could best make changes to overcome these.

Please help us in this process by taking the time to complete the consultation using the link at the top of this LTB, and by sharing it with your branch members, encouraging them to complete it too. Our department will also have a presence at conference and be encouraging all attendees who haven’t already taken part in the consultation to do so. Please come and see us on our Recruitment and Organising stall if you’re planning to attend.

For any questions in relation to the contents of this LTB please email: rodept@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

RAY ELLIS
Head of Recruitment, Organising & Membership Growth Department

22LTB157 CONSULTATION LAUNCH

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Royal Mail & CWU Capture Photo on Delivery Joint Statement Addendum

As Branches will be aware the future success of Royal Mail is dependent upon the ability to offer customers products that meet current and future needs and increasingly Royal Mail’s large Account Customers are asking carriers to capture a photographic image as proof of delivery; their rationale for wanting this capability is that it helps to reduce ‘denial of receipts’. It is with this in mind and further to LTB 054/22 (dated 07/02/22), regarding Capture Photo on Delivery, that Royal Mail are now issuing an addendum to Phase 2 as a consequence of the expansion of the service offering and the impact that this is having on the operation and with customers.

Competitors already offer this capability as do Parcelforce, in order to retain and grow market share and we are committed to act quickly to enable this capability within the Royal Mail Core Network.

Phase 1 was deployed before peak 2021 enabling the Capture Photo on Delivery service for Boohoo Tracked items, initially and subsequently extended to M&S and the Very Group.  Phase 2 saw this capability extended to all Tracked Non-Signature Customers from the 10^thMarch 2022.

Background

Following the deployment of Phase 2, i.e. Capture Photo on Delivery for all Tracked Non-Signature Customers, many delivery colleagues have provided feedback, that they have existing agreed arrangements and understandings in place with the receiving customers to leave items in a safe place. The introduction of Capture Photo on Delivery has highlighted these arrangements, the cessation of which could impact on ‘Trust at the Doorstep’ relationships with receiving customers & delivery colleagues and could lead to an increase in customer complaints.

This Joint Statement seeks to make a change to the current Standard Operating Procedure recognising these existing agreed arrangements between the receiving customer and the delivery colleague. Both Parties have considered using a written physical document for customers to sign in order to confirm these arrangements, however, due to GDPR issues this is not possible. Accordingly, it has been confirmed that this is an interim change only until a digital solution is in place, which will enable customers to express their preference formally. This digital solution is expected to be in deployed pre-peak 2022.

Proposed Change to the Standard Operating Procedure

Delivery colleagues are permitted to leave Tracked 24/48, Standard Barcoded Royal Mail 24/48 and 1C and 2C non signature items in a safe place where a pre-existing agreement or understanding is in place with the receiving customer. Delivery OPG’s will have sole responsibility and be free to use their initiative to decide where the item shall be left (based on their local knowledge and experience fully taking into account the security of the item/s and their own safety in line with below):

• For any avoidance of doubt delivery OPG’s are not permitted to ‘safeplace’ any signature product.
• Abide by the existing examples of permitted ‘safeplace’ locations i.e. enclosed porch, shed, greenhouse, garage or outbuilding. As a reminder the following examples are unacceptable ‘safeplace’ locations e.g. all bins, including recycle, front or back doorstep and underneath parked cars.
• Where available follow the ‘safeplace’ procedure on the PDA when leaving an item in a ‘safeplace’. This protects the delivery OPG should there be a complaint as Royal Mail will have photographic evidence and a GPS location for barcoded items only. For un-barcoded items or barcoded where the ‘Safeplace’ option is not available on the PDA leave the items in a ‘safeplace’.
• All items left in a ‘Safeplace’ must be recorded on either a ‘Something For You/P739 card’or for PM/Sunday deliveries on a ‘Sorry we missed you card/ P6737 card’.
• Where there is a customer dispute or complaint as to whether there is a pre-existing agreement in place, the delivery colleague will not face any repercussions or conduct action.

It is acknowledged that this change to the Standard Operating Procedure is based on a pre-existing agreement or understanding between the receiving customer and with the sole discretion of the delivery OPG, using their knowledge and experience. It is accepted that the possibility may exist for an incorrect assessment to be innocently made and the item delivered to a safeplace. It is therefore agreed that where genuine mistakes occur the delivery OPG will not be held responsible.

Involvement / Structures 

In order to ensure effective communication and deployment of this change to the Standard Operating Procedure, the Local Joint Working Groups (LJWG) will ensure consistent application across Delivery Offices with the full support and involvement of Workplace Coaches.

Safe Systems of Work and Standard Operating Procedures 

Health & Safety is of paramount importance to both Royal Mail and the CWU, therefore prior to any change to the current safeplace process it is agreed that a Safe System of Working, Standard Operating Procedures and all relevant safety compliance documentation will be fully developed and agreed between RM and the CWU National Health & Safety Department.

Review/ Summary

Royal Mail and the CWU both understand the importance of being able to offer consumers a first-class experience to enhance the trust that already exists on the doorstep. It is recognised that Royal Mail’s standards, integrity, brand image and focus on quality are of key importance and these must be maintained. Accordingly, RM will share key measures with CWU and the aspects contained within this Joint Addendum which will be regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure that the change will not lead to increased customer complaints or breaches of RM’s integrity or security and difficulties for front line delivery OPGs.

Any questions of interpretation, implementation or application of this addendum shall be referred to the signatories as a matter of urgency for resolution and any local issues will be subject to the industrial relations framework.

Any queries to the content of the above please contact the Outdoor Department reference 540 , email address: njones@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Mark Baulch
CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 156-22- RM CWU Capture Photo on Delivery Joint Statement Addendum FINAL

JS – Capture Photo on Delivery_admendent v0.1 FWCP.doc cwu final

SOP D22.7 Deliver To Safeplace – 04.04.22

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Links to the interviews with national officers at the forum yesterday.

Deliveries – Mark Baulch https://fb.watch/c6ppTNxinL/

Processing, Network, Distribution and Parcelforce – Davie Robertson https://fb.watch/c6pqT5LU4P/

Policies, Procedures, Fleet and Engineering – Carl Maden https://fb.watch/c6prUKTmGo/

Please share.