Safe & Well – May 2019

Dear Colleagues,

Please see attached the May 2019 edition of the Safe and Well newsletter with contributions from our USRs and field teams. A really good mix of shared learning and articles from a range of people this month – including articles sourced from safety day, incidents, near misses and also seasonal focus. The dog awareness focus is to try to halt incidents by getting the message across as early as possible in May and this will become a separate toolbox talk download. Also included are new “Think: stay safe by” hints based on looking at previous incidents to share the learning a bit more as a refresh, plus also reminding people to report dog-related near misses as well. There is a continued focus on the need to report threats and assaults as incidents plus the usual mix of varied articles and updates including the new HV power WBT.  Crystal – re the HV power – this edition includes the launch of the WBT and a link for FEN 60 which covers the project in more detail plus it’s been agreed to do a promote/update/refresh in the next two editions as a minimum.  This is initially coved in http://snip.bt.com/SNW067 which is the source for some of the local briefings.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB302 Safe & Well – May 2019

Safe and Well Issue 70 May 2019

Election of CWU Regional Secretaries – 2019  

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 August 2019 until April 2021.

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 May- July 2019.

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 11 June 2019.

The timetable for the elections is as follows:

Nominations Open:                                 21 May 2019
Nominations Close:                                 11 June 2019 (14:00)
Dispatch ballot material from:              2 July 2019
Close of ballot:                                         24 July 2019 (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

19LTB297

Regional Secs Election Guidelines 2019

Nomination Forms – 2019

FORMAL NOTICE

PLEASE NOTE THIS LTB CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION 
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION AND DISPLAY THROUGHOUT YOUR BRANCH

Dear Colleagues,

ELECTION OF: 

• • CWU National Executive Council
  • CWU Industrial Executives
  • CWU Assistant Secretary TFS 1
  • CWU Assistant Secretary TFS 2

Further to LTB 229/19 dated 12^th April 2019, which contained formal notification of the timetable for the above elections.

The NEC has now approved the regulations for the above elections which are attached to this LTB for your information.  In addition to the regulations, due to the revised size and composition of the NEC, we have produced some informative guidelines to assist branches in the forthcoming election arrangements.  Again these are attached to this LTB.

Branches with members in the TFS constituency will also need to take into consideration the revised composition of the TFSE which can be found in Appendix 3 of the election regulations.

Please note that in respect of the CWU Assistant Secretaries; TFS 3, Legal Services and Health Safety and Environment, the NEC has taken the decision that it is necessary to continue to defer the elections for these positions pending the outcome of the Redesign Project review of CWU HQ structures and the review of the National Industrial structures as set out in proposition 27 which was carried at the 2019 General Conference.

For ease of reference the details of the National Representative positions to be elected in 2019 are set out below.

CWU NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL & INDUSTRIAL EXECUTIVES 

1)     NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

NEC positions are subject to election in accordance with the CWU national rule that requires election for NEC and Industrial Executive positions every 2 years.

The NEC shall comprise of 30 members:

a) President and Vice President, but their inclusion shall not increase the numbers from their originating Constituencies.

b) 11 lay members elected biennially by and from the Postal Constituency and 1 of whom shall be the Vice Chair. All of whom shall automatically be members of the Postal Industrial Executive.

c) 2 lay members elected biennially by and from the Postal Constituency.

d) 8 lay members elected biennially from the Telecoms and Financial Services Constituency and 1 of whom shall be the Vice Chair. All of whom shall automatically be members of the Telecoms and Financial Services Industrial Executive.

e) 2 lay members elected biennially by and from the Telecoms and Financial Services Constituency.

f) 2 lay Young Workers members elected biennially who must be 29 or under at the time of the election. 1 of whom will be elected by and from the Postal Constituency and 1 of whom shall be elected by and from the Telecoms and Financial Services Constituency.

g) 1 lay Retired Member elected biennially by all members of the Retired sector.
The Retired Members NEC Representative shall not be entitled to vote on issues that are Financial, Rule, Constitutional or issues that could be considered to have an Industrial context except where they apply only to Retired Members.

h) 4 lay Equality members elected biennially 1 from each of the following equality strands: Women, LGBT, BAME, Disability.

From the date of introduction i.e. 2019 two strand members will be elected by and from members of the Postal Constituency and 2 strand members will be elected by and from members of the Telecoms and Financial Services Constituency.  The NEC will be responsible for the allocation of the 2 seats to each constituency. The selection will be reversed at the next series of elections i.e. after a 2 year period.

For the 2019 elections NEC allocation of the Equality Stand seats will be as follows:

Women – TFS Constituency
LGBT – Postal Constituency
BAME – TFS Constituency
Disability – Postal Constituency

Please note that the NEC members listed in categories c), e), f), g) and h) are members of the NEC only and are not automatically members of their respective Industrial Executives. 

2)     CWU INDUSTRIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES

Postal Executive (PE)

The Postal Executive shall consist of 17 lay members elected biennially by and taken from the Postal Constituency of whom;

• 2 shall be elected by and from PTS Grades.
• 15 shall be elected by and from Postal Grades.

Separate ballots are conducted for the NEC and PE positions however in accordance with the rules of the union the elected Chair, Vice Chair and the 9 NEC members elected by the Postal Constituency will automatically be members of the PE.

In practice this means that the PE Ballot(s) will be for the remaining positions available which will be 6 positions. The precise number of “grade” positions available to 1) Postal Grades and 2) PTS Grades will vary depending on the grade of the successful candidates in the NEC election.

Further information regarding the voting entitlement for the PE elections will be published to branches prior to the dispatch of ballot papers.  

3)     TELECOMS & FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSTITUENCY INDUSTRIAL EXECUTIVE POSITIONS 

The Telecoms & Financial Services Executive (T&FSE) will consist of 16 lay members elected biennially.

The composition of the T&FS Executive is as follows:

a) 8 NEC members elected by and from all members in the Telecoms and Financial Services Constituency whom in accordance with the rules of the CWU shall automatically be members of the respective Industrial Executives.

b) 1 member elected by and from all members the Telecom & Financial Services Constituency and who must be aged 29 or under at the time of the election.

c) 1 member elected by and taken from members in the Santander Group and related companies (Santander UK, Santander UK Operations Ltd, Santander UK Technology Ltd, Santander Global and RR Donnelley).

d) 1 member elected by and taken from members in Telefonica O2 UK, Connect 44 and ISS Eaton.

e) 1 member elected by and from all members working for Capita in the T&FS Sector and 14Forty (Capita contract).

f) 4 members elected by and taken from all other members in the Telecom & Financial Services Constituency.

Further information regarding the voting entitlement for the T&FSE elections will be published to branches prior to the dispatch of ballot papers.

CWU ASSISTANT SECRETARY TELECOMS & FINANCIAL SERVICES – TFS 1 

The above TFS Assistant Secretary is currently responsible for dealing with the following companies:

BT Business & Public Sector, BT Ireland (non Networks), BT European Consultative Committee, BT Global Services, Computacenter, Ericsson, Anovo – Ingram Micro. 

CWU ASSISTANT SECRETARY TELECOMS & FINANCIAL SERVICES – TFS 2

The above TFS Assistant Secretary is currently responsible for dealing with the following companies:

Accenture, BT Personnel & Equality issues, BT Group HR, BT Learning, BT Technology, Service and Operations, Damovo, Hewlett Packard, Sopra Steria, Tech Mahindra.

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.

The timetable for all of the above elections, as previously notified in LTB 229/19, is as follows:

Nominations open:                                    21 May 2019
Nominations close:                                    11 June 2019 (14:00)
Accept nominations:                                  14 June 2019 (14:00)
(TFSE NEC/IE positions only):

Dispatch of ballot material from*:          2 July 2019
Ballot closes first post:                              24 July 2019 (First Post)
Result:                                                          26 July 2019

*Please note that ballot papers will be sent to all eligible members who are included in the membership register maintained by the union as at 2 June 2019.  Therefore any changes of address, etc. will need to have been received at CWU HQ prior to this date.

Branches will also wish to note that the independent scrutineer appointed by the union to oversee the election arrangements is Electoral Reform Services.

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 attached 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 in due course. 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 forms.

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 on 0208 971 7368, or email: pmetcalfe@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

19LTB296

NEC & IE Election Regulations 2019

National Officer Election Regulations 2019

Election Guide 2019 – NEC & IE Elections

Postal Industrial Conference 2019 – Motion 92

Please find reproduced below the terms of the above mentioned Motion that was raised by the Glasgow & District Amalgamated Branch:

This Conference instructs the Postal Executive enter into immediate discussions with Royal Mail to seek an agreement that ensures, where an employee is underpaid through no fault of their own, that the facility available to rectify this (CHAPS payment) is made available regardless of the individual’s financial circumstances.

Please find attached for the information of colleagues, a letter that has been sent to Royal Mail and Parcelforce Senior Field Officials, the content of which is self-explanatory. It would be very much appreciated if Branches could ensure that a timely response is provided to requests for information/assistance from the Union’s Senior Field Officials who are coordinating this activity in the field. It is envisaged that this exercise will be concluded four weeks from the date of this LTB and further updates will be provided in due course. Branches/colleagues should also note that the attached Royal Mail Group policy should be circulated as widely as possible to area and local representatives as this will also assist Senior Field Officials with their activity.

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

Yours sincerely,

Ray Ellis
Acting Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Attachment 1 to LTB 293-19 – 13.05.19 Postal Industrial Conference 2019 – Motion 92

Attachment 2 to LTB 293-19 – Reward Guide

POST OFFICE: HORIZON TRIAL – BATES & OTHERS VS POST OFFICE LTD

Further to LTB 234/19 dated 12th April. I would like to provide Branches with an update regarding the Group Litigation Action against the Post Office by 557 former Postmasters who have been sacked, financially ruined and in some cases imprisoned for what they believe are errors with the Horizon computer system. 

Branches will recall that there are four trials in total in this case, and following the first of these – the “Common Issues” trial, the Judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Fraser ruled in favour of the claimants. The Judge was also critical of the relationship between the Post Office and the NFSP, stating that he found “that the NFSP is not fully independent”. 

Following the Judge’s ruling, the Post Office made an application for the sitting Judge Mr Fraser to be recused (remove himself from the trial) on the basis of “apparent bias”. This led to the temporary suspension of the second trial – the “Horizon issues” trial which began on 11th March. 

On 9th April, Mr Justice Fraser, made the decision NOT to recuse himself from the second trial and indeed the third and fourth trials. The Post Office’s QC asked the Judge for permission to appeal which was not granted. Therefore the Post Office went directly to the Court of Appeal to ask for permission to appeal against the recusal decision. 

On 10th May, without a hearing, the Court of Appeal made the decision to refuse the Post Office’s appeal. Lord Justice Coulson, in making this decision via a very detailed document which was highly critical of the Post Office, noted that the application was “without substance”. Lord Coulson also stated the following: 

“For the PO now to complain about the making of findings on these issues, which arose out of the way which they themselves put their case, is absurd.”

“The judge learned of the recusal application by accident just before the afternoon session of the last day of the factual evidence on the Horizon Issues trial This was at best discourteous; at worst, it betrayed a singular lack of openness on the part of the PO and their advisors.”

Lord Coulson also seemingly displayed some sympathy with the Postmasters who surmised that the Post Office’s recusal application was made for the purpose of delaying or causing the collapse of the Horizon trial when he stated: 

“It is a great pity that the recusal application and this application for permission to appeal have had the effect of delaying the conclusion of the critical Horizon sub-trial. Indeed, the mere making of these applications could have led to the collapse of that sub-trial altogether. Although I can reach no concluded view on the matter, I can at least understand why the SPMs originally submitted on 21 March that that was its purpose.”

The second trial will now recommence with the Managing Judge, Mr Fraser, on 4th June with the third and fourth trials scheduled for later this year and early next. 

In a communication dated 13th May (attached to this LTB for your information), Al Cameron, Interim Chief Executive, also indicated the Post Office will appeal the Managing Judge’s interpretation of the Postmasters’ contracts (trial one) and in this regard a hearing is now due to take place on 23rd May. 

Clearly the Horizon litigation is not going in the direction the Post Office would like and should this continue the costs and compensation to the claimants could be substantial.

Further developments on this important matter will be reported as they occur.

Further Details on the Horizon Trials

I would like to remind Branches and members that full details of the Horizon trials can be accessed via the journalist Nick Wallis’ website (note parts of the website are free and some sections you have to subscribe to):

https://www.postofficetrial.com/2018/07/about-me.html

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey

Assistant Secretary

19LTB292 Post Office – Horizon Trial – Bates & Others vs Post Office Ltd – Update

Attachment 1 to 19LTB292

Royal Mail Group – PDA Cabinet Cleaning Procedure and Periodicity

Following a growing number of complaints from ASRs and Branches regarding the above the matter was discussed with RMP&FS and the following details have been provided:-

If a PDA cabinet has been missed off the OMP, this is logged as a service failure and flagged up to the RBM team to add to the maintenance and cleaning routines for site.

All other reactive maintenance is done via a helpdesk job.

Area Health and Safety Reps are advised to carry out their periodic Workplace Safety Inspections ensuring the cabinets are checked during the course of the visits or initiate spot checks at all offices and where necessary log in calls to the RMP&FS Help Desk requesting cleans.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB291 Royal Mail Group – PDA Cabinet Cleaning Procedure and Periodicity

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