Residential Courses in February 2022 & Education & Training Prospectus 2022

LTB 462/21 provided information to Branches on our planned education and training programme for 2022.

The ongoing pandemic is creating continued “work from home where possible” advice.

This fact, along with notice we have to give to providers and potential travel difficulties for people has led us to make the decision to switch our planned residential courses to the online model.

For clarity, the courses that were due to be held at The Elstead Hotel in Bournemouth and will now be delivered via Ruskin over Google Classroom are:

•  Equal Rights Part 1 (7th – 11th February 2022)
   Essential Skills Part 1 (14th – 18th February 2022)
   Postal Agreements & Procedures (21st – 25th February 2022)

We hope to be able to run the Introduction to Health & Safety Part 1 (28th February – 4th March) residentially and this continues to be reviewed.

Individual students and Branches who are enrolled on courses will be contacted to explain next steps.

Also, in line with the commitment to continue to provide high quality education and training, the attached prospectus has been produced to assist Branches and Activists to obtain an overview of courses available for the remainder of 2022.

Any queries on this LTB should be directed to equality&education@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

22LTB 015 – Residential Courses in February 2022 & Education & Training Prospectus 2022

06641 Education Prospectus 2022

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CWU Virtual Young Workers Conference 2022 – Agenda Pad

Branches would wish to know that the agenda for the CWU Young Workers Conference which is being held as a virtual event has now been published on the website and can be accessed by opening the attachment or pasting the link into your browser:

Young Workers Virtual Conference 2022

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by telephoning 020 8971 7256 or by post to head office or by email to conferences@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

A P Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 014/22 – CWU Virtual Young Workers Conference – Agenda Pad 2022

YOUNG WORKERS CONFERENCE AGENDA PAD

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CWU Virtual Retired Members Conference 2022 – Agenda Pad

Branches would wish to know that the agenda for the CWU Retired Members Conference which is being held as a virtual event has now been published on the website and can be accessed by opening the attachment or pasting the link into your browser:

Virtual Retired Members Conference 2022

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by telephoning 020 8971 7256 or by post to head office or by email to conferences@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

A P Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 013/22 – CWU Virtual Retired Members Conference – Agenda Pad 2022

Virtual Retired Agenda Pad

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FRANK BOLGER – CWU AREA PROCESSING REP – FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS

Further to LTB 574/21 Frank’s funeral will take place on Thursday 13th January 2022, at 13.30, at Gedling Crematorium, Catfoot Lane, Lambley, Nottingham NG4 4QH.

Following the funeral service there will be a wake at the Mellish Rugby Football Club, Mapperley Plains, Nottingham NG3 5RX. The club is 0.6 miles from the crematorium and is a 2 minute drive or a 12 minute walk away.

There are no current attendance restrictions at the Crematorium, but this is being constantly reviewed due to Omicron. It is a requirement to wear a face mask covering during the service. The family are arranging for the service to be streamed for those who will be unable to physically attend the service but who wish to observe it.

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary at jdunn@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

LTB 012/22 – Frank Bolger – CWU Area Processing Rep – Funeral Arrangements

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CWU Young Workers Conference 2022 – Online Registration

As detailed in LTB 573/21 the Young Workers Conference will now be an online event held on Friday 28^th January 2022.

Registration for the conference was detailed in LTB 535/21 dated 7^th December 2021.   Details were also sent to every Branch Secretary in December by email providing them with information on how to register along with the password for their branch.

Branches were asked to register their delegates/observers using the link below. However, now that the conference is an online event branches are asked to continue using the online registration but to register ONLY delegates using this link.

https://conference.cwu.org

Acknowledgement receipts have been sent to those applications already received.

Those branches that have registered Observers will be sent information at a later date with details on how the conference can be viewed online.

If you experience any problems or you have any enquiries regarding this LTB please contact Angela Niven by email to conferences@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

A P Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 010/22 – CWU Young Workers Conference online registration

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CWU NATIONAL WELFARE FUND

Please find below the branch breakdown of CWU National Welfare Fund donations that were made in 2021.BRANCHREASONAMOUNTBootle Financial ServicesBereavement£1,000Bootle Financial ServicesDomestic£500Croydon & Sutton AmalIllness£1,000Croydon & Sutton AmalDomestic£1,000Eastern No. 5Domestic£750Eastern No. 5Domestic£1,000Glasgow & District AmalIllness£1,000Highland AmalIllness£1,000Highland AmalBereavement£1,000Highland AmalIllness£1,000Highland AmalDomestic£1,000Kent InvictaIllness£500Kingston AreaBereavement£500Manchester CombinedDomestic£1,000Newcastle AmalBereavement£500Newcastle AmalIllness£1,000North Lancs & CumbriaIllness£1,000Plymouth & East CornwallIllness£1,000Preston, Brook & BuryDomestic£420Scotland No. 1Illness£750Scotland No. 5Illness£1,000South Central PostalIllness£1,000South WalesDomestic£1,000Total    £19,920

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

22LTB011

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NATIONAL GROW THE UNION CAMPAIGN – NEW TIMELINE AND NATIONAL BRIEFING ON THURSDAY 10^TH FEBRUARY 2022

All Branches will be aware that Motion 11 was agreed at our recent Special General Conference and this requires the whole union to come together in a National Campaign to prioritise and increase membership in our organised sectors.

For ease of reference the relevant terms of the motion are reproduced below:

“There is an immediate requirement to stabilise and increase membership density in the Postal and T&FS constituencies. This work will now be supported through the launch of a high profile and co-ordinated national campaign throughout February 2022 with the objective of producing a significant immediate increase in membership, while also embedding an ongoing culture of recruitment and organising across all branches and structures within the CWU. The campaign will harness the overall strengths of the CWU and be supported by a full suite of branding and resources and Head Office funding to support major recruitment events and activity industrially, in regions and branches. All CWU reps will be asked to make this campaign a priority.”

The motion targeted the month of February 2022 for the main activities of the campaign. Additionally, a full campaign plan with timelines, actions and the necessary preparatory work to lead us into February 2022 was shared with the NEC and Regional Secretaries. This prompted Regional Briefings which have taken place for our Branches and Field Officials over the last 2 weeks and we were due to announce that a National Briefing would be held week commencing 17^thJanuary 2022.

However, the purpose of this LTB is to advise Branches that given the developments around the new Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus and the strong possibility of further restrictions being announced by the Government after Christmas, the Emergency Committee of the NEC has now agreed an alternative timeline for the campaign.  This

means the National Briefing will be held on the 10th February 2022 and the campaign activities will now take place throughout the month of March 2022.

The National Briefing is a priority commitment for all Branches, Senior Field Officials and Industrial Representatives from both constituencies.  This is the first time we have organised a one-union coordinated campaign on recruitment and organising and it’s crucial that all our representatives come together to ensure it is successful.  Furthermore, all our representatives need to hear the overall context to this campaign and discuss the significant challenges that face the CWU and our wider movement.

Our preference will be to hold a face to face National Briefing, although given Covid developments we will also plan for this to take place virtually.  A final decision will be made in early January 2022 and Branches will be advised accordingly.

Finally, we have attached to this LTB the original campaign plan that was shared with the NEC and our Regions, which was key to the Briefings that have recently taken place within the Regions.  Although timelines have now changed, the activities and actions of the original plan remain valid.  Therefore, it’s important that Branches and representatives continue to come together on the planning work that still needs to take place.

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary at jdunn@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward –  General Secretary

Ray Ellis –  Head of Recruitment and Organising

Tony Kearns – Senior Deputy General Secretary

National GROW the Union Campaign 

Go, Recruit, Organise, Win!

Introduction

This paper sets out the approach we will be taking to implement the National Grow the Union Campaign in February 2022.  Crucially, the paper focuses on the work that must now be undertaken in advance of February 2022 to ensure that everybody is working together and that the campaign is successful.

Nobody is underestimating the size of this task and it is one which will only be successful if we all agree to fully participate, to invest the time and resources needed to pull it off with a bang in February 2022, and then to use this campaign as a platform from which to sustain these efforts all year round moving forward.

 Key Objectives

1. A notable increase in membership, across all sectors and in all branches and workplaces, throughout February 2022.
2. Successful reversal of the current ongoing trend of net losses outpacing net gains.
3. Every Branch to have either completed, started to complete, or agreed when they will complete their ‘13 Measures’ workbook with the awareness that Branch ‘health checks’ will now happen biennially moving forward. These initial workbooks must be completed with direct support from Regional Secretaries and this work should start in February.

Structure

A National Group has been formed to ensure the campaign is co-ordinated across the whole union with consistent actions, timelines, messaging, branding and materials.

This group will consist of the following: General Secretary, Dave Ward; Head of Organising, Ray Ellis; Head of Communications, Chris Webb; Industrial Organisers from the Postal and T&FS Constituencies, Lynn Browne and Lesley-Anne Ure; a representative from the Central Organising Team, Lauren Townsend; a representative from the Communications Department, Amie Retallick; Project Lead for Redesign, Lucy Eyre-Tanner; a representative liaison for the Regional Secretaries, Kevin Beazer and two NEC representatives (one from each constituency, to be nominated by the committee itself).

In addition, each Region will be expected to form a group consisting of a representative from every single Branch in the lead up to February. This group should be communicated with regularly, to ensure every Branch feels supported to play an active role in this union-wide campaign. Communication platform choice will be down to each individual Region but it is suggested that these groups may benefit from at least a couple of face-to-face meetings, either virtually or in person, supported by continuous dialogue via email or via a WhatsApp group created for this purpose.

Emphasis on activity, rather than just words, will be encouraged. Big, bold ideas that go above and beyond normal Branch recruitment or organising activity will be welcomed, and additional funds will be available to bid for should they be needed.

Timeline

 w/c 29^th November: Meeting with all Regional Secretaries. Done by DW.

w/c 6^th December: All Regions to hold virtual meetings with their branches to ensure all are aware of the upcoming campaign and to draw up initial draft plans for Grow the Union Month.

w/c 13^th December: National Operational Group to meet virtually. All Regions to run through suggested plans. CWU HQ to liaise with each Region on any additional support required.

w/c 10^th January: National Operational Group to meet at CWU HQ. Regions will be required to bring forward fully developed plans to this meeting, including suggested date for activity so visits from senior union officials can be arranged. CWU HQ will lay out the full national communications plan at this meeting.

w/c 17^th January: National Briefing of all CWU Branches – key objectives of the campaign and an outline of participation expectations will be shared. The briefing will be outcome focused, and whilst the reality of the union’s current membership situation will be put across clearly, the emphasis will be on creating a positive and productive buzz across the union ahead of February. An LTB confirming a date for the National Briefing will be issued before Christmas.

w/c 24^th January: Virtual meetings of both National and Regional working groups to finalise arrangements and activities. Branch packs (including 13 Measures of Branch Success workbooks, GROW branded resources and updated organising and recruitment guides) to be sent out with advice on how best to utilise the contents, and our new online ‘one-stop-shop’ of updated and on-brand resources to be tested ahead of the campaign.

w/c 31^st January: GROW the Union Campaign launched on 1^st Februarywith a live online engagement session focused on the importance of GROWing our union and the premiere of a new CWU recruitment video. Activity happening across Regions. Visits to Regional GROW activity from senior union officials. Positive and lively social media content to be shared from across the union.

w/c 7^th February: Activity happening across Regions. Visits to Regional GROW activity from senior union officials. Positive and lively social media content to be shared from across the union.

w/c 14^th February: Live engagement sessions with Branches and members focused on the importance of GROWing our union and celebrating gains as they happen, clips of union-positive interviews with members from across the union shared. Activity happening across Regions. Visits to Regional GROW activity from senior union officials. Positive and lively social media content to be shared from across the union.

w/c 21^st February: Activity happening across Regions. Visits to Regional GROW activity from senior union officials. Positive and lively social media content to be shared from across the union.

w/c 28^th February: Last live online engagement session held to close the month. Wins celebrated, shout-outs to Branches and Regions for their individual achievements and efforts, the sharing of footage taken throughout the month, and a speech from the General Secretary about continuing this crucial work to GROW our union consistently moving forward.

w/c 29^th August: An update will be provided to all Regions and Branches to discuss success of recruitment and organising efforts in the 6 months since the GROW campaign was launched. A data analysis report of the completed 13 Measures workbooks will also be shared, as will up-to-date membership figures, to ensure ongoing transparency across the union.

 Actions

1. Every CWU Branch and Region will be asked to produce a plan of action for the month of February. Regional Secretaries will have responsibility to ensure Branches engage, and the National Operational Group will provide support where required.
2. Each Region will be expected to hold a minimum of two stand-out events or activities in their area, alongside actively pursuing membership growth in every single workplace and Branch, where possible.
3. All CWU reps will be asked to make this initiative a priority – the entire union must be visible during this campaign. For example, Field Officials and Senior Industrial Reps should sit on Regional or Branch working groups where appropriate and possible, and campaign information should be shared weekly with all members via email, workplace noticeboards and other available means.
4. All CWU members will be asked to become GROW ambassadors and to actively promote union membership to non-unionised colleagues. Resources will be produced to acknowledge those who support us.
5. CWU Headquarters will produce a suite of updated resources and branding, made easily accessible via the union website and with packs sent out to all Branches who produce plans for the GROW Campaign.
6. The Communications Department will produce a launch video and high-quality social media content to promote activity and GROW the Union Campaign progress.
7. Nationally, the union will tour every Region during GROW the Union month. The GS, SDGS, DGS P and DGS T&FS will support events across the UK.
8. Three live events will be held with the membership in February. One to set things off with a bang on 1^st February, an update on what’s been happening across the UK in the middle of the month, and a round-up event to celebrate our collective achievements at the end.
9. A smaller working group from the Central Organising Team will focus on supporting UTAW recruitment during February, expanding our efforts to grow membership in the Tech sector.

21LTB575 – NATIONAL GROW THE UNION CAMPAIGN

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Member-Nominated Trustee Director – Royal Mail Pension Plan

The Trustee of the Royal Mail Pension Plan (RMPP) is a company called ‘Royal Mail Pensions Trustees Limited’. This company is legally responsible for ensuring that the RMPP is run properly. The board of directors of this company comprises nine trustee directors, of whom

• one is an independent Chair appointed by Royal Mail Group and Post Office Limited with the agreement of the unions,
• four are nominated by or on behalf of the membership (three through the CWU process and one through the Unite/CMA process), and
• four are nominated by Royal Mail Group and Post Office Limited.

One of the member-nominated positions through the CWU process is due for selection with effect from 1 April 2022 and so nominations are now being sought. The position is currently held by Paul Kennedy and we understand that he will be seeking re-selection for a new term of office. Nominations can be from any individual who is a current, retired or deferred member of the RMPP, irrespective of Union membership.

A self-nomination form is attached to this LTB. The completed form should be returned by email to pmetcalfe@cwu.org and must be received by 24 January 2022.

All Candidates will also be required to submit a 200-word (maximum) statement supporting their candidature for election to the position when returning their nomination form.

Individuals wishing to understand the role of a trustee can visit the Pensions Regulator’s website and read the section: ‘An Introduction to Trusteeship’ which is in the ‘Trustees’ tab and then by clicking ‘Understanding Your Role’.

Upon receipt of a nomination, an information pack will be dispatched by email to the individual who has submitted the nomination.  The pack will contain information on the role and responsibilities of a Trustee, a detailed job description and a personal specification for a potential Trustee.

Prior to a ballot taking place all candidates who have submitted a fully completed nomination form will be required to attend a half-day pre-election familiarisation seminar in London on 7 February 2022, which will be organised by the RMPP Trustee. At this stage, candidates will be asked to re-confirm that their names should be added to the ballot paper and will also be given the opportunity to make any textual changes to their supporting statement.

If there is more than one valid nomination, a ballot will be held of all individuals who are employee members of RMPP and who are employed in CWU represented grades, irrespective of Union Membership.  The ballot will be conducted by the distribution of ballot papers direct to individual home addresses.

Completed Postal ballot papers must then be returned in the envelope that will accompany the ballot paper to Popularis, who have been appointed as Independent Scrutineer for the purposes of this election.

There will also be an option included in the ballot pack for eligible members of the RMPP to cast their vote electronically via an online secure portal. The details for this will be included with the ballot paper. Eligible RMPP members will only be entitled to cast one vote in the ballot.

The candidate who receives the most votes in the ballot will be selected as the CWU MND. In the event that there is only one nomination forthcoming then that nominee will be deemed to be selected without the need for a ballot and should there be no nominations at all, the nomination and selection process will be re-run no more than three years later.

Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary department for the attention of Peter Metcalfe or you can email to pmetcalfe@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 008/21

CWU Nomination Form 2022

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CWU CANDIDATES PROGRAMME

Following the passage of Motion 4 at the Special Annual General Conference held in November 2021, the union is launching the CWU Candidates programme as part of our new building collectivism strategy designed to connect the industrial and political spheres. The objective of the programme is to identify talented members to prepare them to run as Labour Party Parliamentary candidates at the next election and to put working people back in Westminster.

On Thursday we will launch the call for applications across our social media platforms and we encourage applications from all of our members, no matter how politically experienced. We are looking for candidates with a strong industrial background, strong links to their local community and a desire to better our society. Branches should encourage applicants with these qualities to visit https://www.cwu.org/candidates for more information and support them with their application.

If selected, candidates will access first-class broadcast and social media training, detailed guidance on Parliamentary procedure and hear from speakers across the labour movement, including Ian Lavery MP, Preston Council Leader Matthew Brown, Zarah Sultana MP and Laura Smith.  As part of the CWU’s new political strategy, the programme will also run sessions on Community Wealth Building, alternative economies, antiracism and building collectivism in local communities. At the end of this programme, candidates will be ready to fight for working class people in Parliament, whilst keeping CWU values at the heart of their politics.

Other candidate schemes have prioritised Westminster-focused training and resources for electoral candidates. The CWU will deliver a programme that ensures candidates will be focused on improving the links between trade unions and their local communities, rather than solely on Parliament and internal Labour Party politics.

CWU Candidates will run from early March 2022 to mid-June 2022 and will require applicants to attend three in-person residential events (COVID-19 permitting), as well as some virtual learning events. Branches should encourage members to apply, and we welcome applications that reflect the diverse nature of our membership. The CWU will support candidates with accessibility requirements and will cover the cost of travel and board.

Details on the programme, how to apply and eligibility requirements will be available at https://www.cwu.org/candidates from 11am on 6/1/2022. All applications and queries must be sent to candidates@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary                                                

LTB 007/22 – CWU Candidates Programme

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