JOINT STATEMENT – PARCELFORCE WORLDWIDE AND THE COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION

Pathway to Change Agreement – Deployment of the SWW in PFW Hubs and Processing Centres

Branches and representatives are advised that further to LTB 109/21 Joint Statement – Parcelforce Worldwide and the Communication Workers Union: Pathway to Change Agreement – Agreed National Change Agenda for the Technology Roadmap and Indoor and Admin Revision Activity in Depots and the Deployment of the SWW, discussions have been continuing with the business in relation to arrangements for the SWW in PFW Hubs and Processing Centres. 

Discussions have taken longer than anticipated and have focused on the Coventry Hub operations and centered on revision activity designed to improve efficiency and reduce agency resource. A Joint Statement has now been concluded, which confirms deployment of the SWW at all four sites. The Joint Statement, which has been endorsed by the Postal Executive, is attached for your information.

The Joint Statement confirms:

The approach applied to the completed Revision Activity

 Working practices. 

 Layout and equipment. 

 Mapping and aligning Day and Night shift coverage and attendance times to the workload profile to meet quality and efficiency targets. 

 Creative shift patterns across the 7-day working week. 

 Consideration to the introduction of reserves. 

Labour Model Review

Activity had taken place previously that led to an extensive recruitment campaign and significantly reduced agency utilisation. However, agency use had started to increase and the attached Joint Statement reaffirms the 2017 commitments and sets a process for agency reduction. The recruitment activity referenced has already commenced.

Reward and Productivity

Following extensive discussions an agreement has been reached to defer a final decision on a new bonus scheme whilst further activity continues, which will ensure both parties have further time to explore options for a viable scheme in both Hubs. This activity will form part of year 2 productivity improvement activity. The joint aspiration is to deliver new bonus scheme arrangements at the Hubs by August 2022.

Annual Leave Review

A review of Annual Leave Arrangements will take place to ensure that they are consistent with the National agreement.

Network Redesign

PFW proposed to retard the Network despatches in outlying depots to increase the processing window and reduce Network costs. The department believed that tangible gains could be made through the Hubs revision activity to ensure more volume connected with existing services. The business have now largely accepted that position and the Joint Statement confirms that there will be no further Network changes at this time.

Productivity Flightpath

Discussions have centred on the establishment of an agreed baseline based on a Parcels Per Hour (PPH) measure which PFW use at the Hubs. Progress against the base line measure will be jointly monitored along with the phased reduction in agency staff and will be jointly monitored locally and through the National parties on a monthly basis.

SWW

In line with the agreed commitments the SWW benefit will be released for all Hub Operative roles on the deployment date of the Hubs revision 4th October 2021. 

The above principles and same process will be applied to the deployment of the SWW benefit in the International Hub, NWPC and SEPC sites.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.orgquoting reference: 054.06.

Yours sincerely

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

LTB 411/21

Att: JS Deployment of SWW at PFW Hubs and Processing Centres – 28.09.21

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Average Pay on Annual Leave (Holiday Pay) in Royal Mail Group – Joint Statement for Back Pay Arrangements

Further to LTB 370/21 that was circulated on 6^th September 2021, Branches and Representatives will be aware of the ongoing talks to agree with Royal Mail Group the definitive dates for back pay for those members who are weekly paid as well as those who receive a monthly salary.

Branches will recall that back pay is dependent on individual members having withdrawn their Employment Tribunal cases and meeting the agreed qualifying criteria as contained in the national agreement.  To put this into context, there were over 6,000 Employment Tribunal cases in England and Wales alone as well as the additional claims in Scotland and Northern Ireland which related to average pay on annual leave.

Following the endorsement of the national agreement and in line with the Court order, every member who had submitted an Employment Tribunal claim was written to by the Legal Services Department.  The letter asked them to indicate whether they wish to withdraw their case and therefore be included in the back pay calculation or whether they would rather proceed with the case on their own.

Following the initial letter, circa 2,500 members agreed to withdraw their claims with a small minority indicating that they wished to continue.  There were around 2,400 that failed to respond plus approximately 1,200 people who could not be identified as they had been included in multiple claims by the Employment Tribunal in Bristol to help with administration.  The latter group did not receive this first communication.

As part of the dialogue with the business, the DGS(P) Department made it clear that we could not support a scenario where the overwhelming majority of members’ back pay was delayed due to a minority who had either not responded or could not be identified. Following further work with the Membership and Legal Services Departments as well as assistance from the North Lancs and Cumbria Branch and the Worcester and Hereford Branch, the number of unidentified Employment Tribunal claimants was vastly reduced. This undoubtedly helped in concluding the attached Joint Statement that was unanimously endorsed by the Postal Executive at a meeting on 27^th September 2021.

In advance of this agreement being reached, a further letter was sent from the Legal Services Department to those members who failed to respond to the first correspondence and those previously unidentified claimants.  This provided these members with a further chance to withdraw their individual Employment Tribunal cases and therefore be included in the arrangements for the payment dates as clarified in the Joint Statement.

Branches and Representatives will recall that all back pay had to be calculated manually by Royal Mail Group. As a result, the cut-off date for information to be included in the PSP system in order to meet the 8^th October 2021 deadline for the weekly paid members was 9am on Friday 24^thSeptember 2021. Those who did not return confirmation of their Employment Tribunal withdrawal by this time will not be included in the pay run for 8^th October 2021. Those members who still respond positively to withdrawing their Employment Tribunal cases but return forms after this time will be included at a later payment date of 22^nd October 2021 and the deadline for meeting this date is 3pm on Friday 8^th October 2021. Monthly paid members will receive their payments as part of their October salaries on 30^thOctober 2021.

In the future, there are likely to be a number of additional agreed dates for back pay as it is obvious that the withdrawal of Employment Tribunal claims will not all be at once.  Branches will note that the proposed Joint Statement crucially contains a clause that individuals who do not meet the above mentioned deadlines will still receive a back payment after this time, once they have withdrawn their individual claim.  These future dates will need to be agreed but will depend to an extent on the volumes and Royal Mail Group being able to process these throughout the peak period.

The back pay has cost Royal Mail Group a significant amount of new money. Branches will appreciate that it has been a long journey to get to this point but at last many of our members will now see some real recompense for the additional hours of non-contractual overtime that they have performed. Coupled with this, Branches and Representatives will also see that the dates for the first interim payments for the 29^th March to 26^th September 2021 qualifying period have now also been confirmed as being 26^thNovember 2021 for the weekly paid and 30^th November 2021 for those on monthly salaries.  These interim payments apply to everyone who meets the qualifying threshold and are not dependent on the withdrawal of Employment Tribunal claims.

The back pay will be a new payment for many thousands of members and there are likely to be substantial enquiries regarding individual calculations.  The national agreement stated that these should be initially made to HR Services and the proposed Joint Statement builds upon this with other more defined options including the use of the People App and the My HR Help web form on PSP.  Branches receiving enquiries about back pay should direct members to these.

In closing, I would like to record my thanks to Tony Rupa and the Legal Services Department for their help in resolving what became an incredibly complicated matter.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 412/21 – Average Pay on Annual Leave (Holiday Pay) in Royal Mail Group – Joint Statement for Back Pay Arrangements

Attachment to LTB 412/21 – Joint Statement between the CWU and RMG – Update on Average Pay on Annual Leave (Holiday Pay) Back Pay Arrangements

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Royal Mail Road Traffic Accident/Collision Procedure

Branches will be aware we have been in negotiations with Royal Mail to introduce a new agreement for road traffic accidents / collisions which will replace the current agreement.

We have now concluded a negotiator’s agreement. For a number of reasons, the negotiations have taken longer than we expected, however we wanted to ensure we concluded the best agreement we could through negotiation and not allow frustrations to get in the way.

Our concerns over the current process have been well documented with our primary concern being Royal Mail moving to the Conduct Code too early in the accident investigation instead of the remedial/re-training approach.

This procedure is clearer and less ambiguous for those unfortunate occasions when our members are involved in an accident/collision.

The shared principles emphasise the joint commitment to:

• Keeping drivers driving
• Safety
• A detailed investigation
• Training
• Improving driving standards

This is a very welcome move away from the blame and punishment approach Royal Mail have adopted through the current process.

We believe our Branches and Representatives will welcome this new agreement. The new agreement simplifies the process and includes:

• The definition of a road traffic accident / collision
• Acceptance accidents can and will happen
• Full involvement of CWU Area Safety Representatives
• Explaining precautionary removal from driving is not a standard or punitive approach
• Ensuring vehicles involved in accidents / collisions will be presented to the Fleet workshop to be checked to see whether there was any contributing factor to the accident
• Clarity of when and at what point in the agreement the conduct code can be used
• A precise stepped approach to conclude the investigation into the road traffic accident / collision before moving to conduct, if appropriate
• A number of supportive interventions
• Our members being able to request temporary reassignment to non-driving duties after an accident

The agreement will now be the subject of a branch ballot. In advance of the ballot it will be our intention to hold a National Briefing on the agreement, further details of the briefings will be published to branches in due course.

Any enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to:

PTCS department quoting ref 320e-mail address khay@cwu.org or;
Outdoor department quoting ref 300 e-mail address outdoorsecretary@cwu.org
National & Area Distribution department quoting ref 202.11email address dwyatt@cwu.org

Yours sincerely                                               
Carl Maden                                                
Assistant Secretary  

Yours sincerely  
Mark Baulch
Assistant Secretary   

Yours sincerely 
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary

LTB 395/21

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ONLINE EVENT FOR CWU BRANCHES – NINA TURNER

We are pleased to announce that on Tuesday 28th September at 6:30pm, the CWU will be hosting an online discussion between General Secretary Dave Ward and the US politician Nina Turner. Branches and representatives will also have the chance to put questions directly to Nina.

The CWU has been instrumental in organising Nina’s first official visit to Britain, where she will visit Labour Party conference and speak at the Tribune Rally on Monday 27th. Nina has agreed to undertake a number of CWU engagements and we felt it was important for Branches to have the opportunity to engage directly with such a high profile figure.

Nina has served as a City Councillor and a State Senator in her home state of Ohio and was a senior national figure in both of the Bernie Sanders presidential nomination campaigns.

She is also the leader of Our Revolution, a grassroots organisation campaigning to overturn corporate influence in American politics and to put more trade unionists and progressives into national political positions.

As a union, we are very happy that as a result of our work with Tribune, members will have an exclusive opportunity to engage with one of America’s most important progressive figures. 

We hope it will be a unique and inspiring opportunity for members and branches to engage with someone who has been vital in fighting for a pro-working class agenda in America.

You can see an example of her powerful speaking here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXF5lb_2Tj4&t=50s&ab_channel=wwwMOXNEWScom

You can register for the session via this link https://cwu-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqduypqTItG9enjCqkaGsoHyf0DTWENIi-

We urge all Branches to be represented on the call and look forward to seeing you on the 28^th.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Ward

General Secretary

LTB 409/21 – ONLINE EVENT FOR CWU BRANCHES – NINA TURNER

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Royal Mail Fleet Vehicle Replacement Plan Update

Branches will recall LTB 509/19 advising the Joint Statement on Optimise Prime – Road to Zero Emissions.  The whole issue of pollution and the impact on health, the environment and global warming have been increasingly coming into focus and continues to hold the international centre of attention.

As previously reported, Royal Mail Fleet have secured increased funding for new vehicles in their 5-year plan which is higher than normally provided. The clear intention of Fleet will be to address the rise in Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and increased costs of vehicle access across the UK. Royal Mail continues to be involved in what is considered the world’s biggest trial of commercial EVs that brings together leading companies in Hitachi technology giants, UK electricity distribution partners and key household operators Centrica, Uber and Royal Mail.

The purpose of the trial in 2019 was to understand what impact a mass migration of EVs will have on the grid infrastructure and its capacity, including software management utilising a smart charging interface and management tool. The consortium-led trial covers the following streams; Public Charging, Home Based Charging and Depot Based Charging. Royal Mail will participate in the Depot Based Charging.  The key data that Royal Mail requires to be provided daily from the Electric vehicles is the battery state of charge and fluctuations in the current draw along with distance travelled for the route to build the smart charging depot optimisation tool. A number of various EVs are now deployed into the fleet which include Mercedes eVitos, Peugeot Experts & Partners, Renault Kangoo’s and Nissan. Royal Mail will obtain the daily battery life status and current draw profile to enable Hitachi to build the smart charging depot tool.

For this project, the data from these vehicles will be recorded and shared with drivers if required, for coaching purposes only. As such, the Joint Statement reaffirms driver performance data will continue to remain confidential to the individual and will not be displayed on notice boards or in league tables, nor will it form part of performance management. It is also reaffirmed that this technology is not being deployed for use as a disciplinary tool or a source of information to be used in conduct cases.

The key benefits to Royal Mail include fuel savings, reduction in vehicle maintenance costs, avoidance of Congestion Zone and Clean Air Zone Charge as well as road tax and first registration fees. Such benefits may lead to increased opportunities for final mile consolidation in Clean Air Zones to secure additional revenues from parcels. The garage network in Fleet will become the first UK network of scale to offer EV services which will include full exposure to the technical learning and the potential for further commercial opportunities.

Branches are reminded that as further EVs are deployed, they will be part of the yearly activity associated with the vehicle replacement plan alongside diesel and petrol vehicles.  Whilst the ongoing EV replacement is considered as Business As Usual (BAU) there remains an absolute need for full CWU IR and ASR involvement to determine and agree safe installation of charging posts in all new sites including all relevant documentation, Risk Assessments and subsequent Safe System of Works. There is an additional 3,000 new EVs to be deployed into the Light Commercial Vehicle fleet (LCV) across 29 sites, of which 11 are considered as a priority.  Branches within these localities will of course be invited to attend scoping sessions to address any such concern in advance of the new EV arrival which is scheduled to be completed by March 2022.

Any queries to the content of the above please contact the Outdoor Department reference 300, email address: njones@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Mark Baulch 

CWU Assistant Secretary

LTB 407/21 – Royal Mail Fleet Vehicle Replacement Plan Update

Att: Copy of Phase 1a prepeak EV sites with reserves

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Election of: Capita Territorial and Substitute Territorial Representatives (TVL Contract) – 2021

Further to LTB 362/21 dated 1^stSeptember 2021, please find detailed below the results of the ballot.

NORTHERN TERRITORYCapita RepresentativeBryan Cossar48*ElectedRobert Ferrier12Spoilt Ballot Papers-no vote0Spoilt Ballot Papers0Total Ballot Papers Received60Total Ballot Papers Dispatched108Capita Substitute RepresentativeGraham Pllu25Wilhelmus Van Mierlo32*ElectedSpoilt Ballot Papers-no vote3Spoilt Ballot Papers0Total Ballot Papers Received60Total Ballot Papers Dispatched108

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

LTB 408/21

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A great session on pensions tonight with DGSP Terry Pullinger.

Share these links for catch up.

Facebook https://fb.watch/8bfgiFwgpU/

Twitter https://twitter.com/cwunews/status/1440722524900192262?s=21

YouTube https://youtu.be/oUcDiiUlWCM

CWUandProud

Affiliate – the CWU App: Download Now

Following your feedback we are delighted to today launch a new App for members and the wider trade union movement. You will now be able to access the best of our online communications in one place. No more searching Facebook for videos, Soundcloud for podcasts or Twitter for statements. 

The App is free for all members and you can download it by simply searching for ‘Affiliate the CWU App’ in your App Store or via the links below. 

App Store for Apple devices

Google Play Store for Android devices

Please note, the app download and sign up process must be completed on your phone and not on a desktop computer. To access a download guide and further information on your system requirements for download, please visit: www.cwu.org/affiliate

It is absolutely crucial that as many members as possible download and use the App. We’ll have exclusive content, polls, podcast, videos and articles in the coming weeks. 

Download it now and ask your colleagues to do the same. If you have any issues with the downloading process simply email mmurray@cwu.org and we will help you out. 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Ward
General Secretary

Chris Webb
Head of Communications, Engagement & Media

Postal Apprentices – CWU Membership/Recruitment & Subscription Rates

Branches will be aware from the contents of LTB 401/21 circulated on 20^th September 2021 that the initial tranche of Postal Apprentices have started their employment and can now be recruited to/or join the CWU.

It was previously reported that the usual subscription rates that are applicable to adult recruits 18 years of age and above will apply to Postal Apprentices but that in respect of the rates for the 16/17-year-old age group, the Union are currently working with Royal Mail Group to update the PSP System to accommodate the new subscription rates for our younger colleagues. These discussions have also involved the Membership Department at CWU Headquarters.

It has now been confirmed that as an interim solution from Monday 27^th September 2021 and whilst Royal Mail Group update the PSP system, an additional column will be added to the file that is supplied to the Royal Mail Group processing team in order to identify those who are 16 and 17 years old and set the membership rate as outlined below which was agreed in consultation with the SDGS Department:

• All 16 year olds who Opt IN to the Levy Plan 6 pay £1.57 per week (Those who Opt OUT of the Levy will pay £1.37 per week).
• All 17 year olds who Opt IN to the Levy Plan 5 pay £1.93 per week (Those who Opt OUT of the Levy will pay £1.73 per week).

This will replace the need for a direct debit form to be completed and provides the method for ensuring that those aged 16 and 17 can join the CWU and pay their subscriptions through deduction at source.

In closing I would like to place on record my thanks and appreciation to both Matt Edwards and Laura Wright in the CWU Headquarters Membership Department for their help and assistance in resolving this matter.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 406/21 – Postal Apprentices – CWU Membership Recruitment Subscription Rates

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LACEY AND JOHN PAUL BENNETT DONATION FUND

We are writing to advise Branches of the tragic and very sad news reported in the media of the death of Lacey and John Paul Bennett whose father Jason Bennett is a CWU member employed at the Sheffield City Delivery Office. Lacey and John Paul’s mother Terri Harris and Connie Gent, a friend of Lacey, were also tragic victims.

In conjunction with the South Yorkshire & District Amal Branch, CWU HQ have set up an appeal fund where Branches can make a donation. This appeal is to assist the family and Jason at this very difficult time.

Donations from branches should be made via a bank transfer to the CWU’s General Fund, please ensure that the following reference is used with the donation “LACEY AND JOHN PAUL BENNETT DONATION”.

Any enquiries on the above should be address to jdunn@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Ward                                                   

General Secretary           

LTB 405/21 – LACEY AND JOHN PAUL BENNETT DONATION FUND                          

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