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Cardiff City Hall Dog Control Conference – CWU Calls for Clamp Down on Bad Dog Owners Well Received. National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce delivers ‘key-note Speech.

Cardiff City Hall Dog Control Conference – CWU Calls for Clamp Down on Bad Dog Owners Well Received. National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce delivers ‘key-note Speech.

See below reproduced report written on the above event.

Dog attacks on postal delivery workers and irresponsible owners were discussed at Cardiff’s major conference on dog ownership on 6th March.

The event had a high profile list of speakers led by the Union’s National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce who was invited by the organisers Cardiff City & County Council to deliver the ‘key-note’ address. Other speakers were; Lesley Griffiths AM – Wales Government Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Councillor Huw Thomas, Leader of Cardiff Council and Penny Bowers of Cardiff Dog Action.

Politicians, animal experts, dog owners, victims of dog attacks, postal workers, CWU Reps and members of the public gathered in a packed City Hall for the event to hear evidence and suggestions geared towards making dog owners more responsible and holding to account those that flout the dog control laws and allow their animals to bite postal workers, children and members of the public.

What did the CWU Say?

Dave Joyce, National Health and Safety Officer for the Communications Workers Union (CWU) spoke on the danger of dogs to postal workers – particularly over Christmas and the school holidays when attacks peak – and the urgent need to toughen up dog control in Wales.

Dave said “One in seven of Wales’s 4,730 postal workers have been bitten and injured in the last 5 years with 850 casualties.”

“Some of these injured postal workers never fully recover physically and mentally from dog attack trauma and are not able to continue working in the industry due to their disabilities and disfigurement and mental anguish.”

The 200,000 strong CWU has launched its Bite-Back Campaign and is pressing the UK government to amend the Dangerous Dogs Act further but Dave Joyce added that Wales as a devolved administration can take the lead and the CWU are calling on the Welsh Assembly to:

  1. Re-introduce Dog Licensing to generate ring-fenced funds for enforcement.
  2. Introduce Dog Control Notices (DCN’s).
  3. Introduce on the spot Fixed Penalty Notices to deal with minor offences and breaches
  4. Enforce the Dog Tag Law of 1992 which requires all dogs to wear a collar and tag when in public with the owner’s details on it.
  5. Utilise Public Space Protection Orders to ban dogs from specific areas such as children’s play parks and other designated public areas.Dave Joyce added that “Currently 77% of councils have never issued a Community Protection Notice (CPN) – CPN’s have been a total ‘failure’.

What did the Welsh Government say?

Lesley Griffiths AM – Wales Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs said that she was aware of inconsistencies with dog law enforcement and that there is a lot more they can do. She said: “I am very pleased to support the campaign – being a dog lover, promoting responsible dog ownership is a subject very close to my heart. Irresponsible dog ownership has a devastating impact not only on the dog but on individuals, their families and our communities.” Lesley said she had met Dave Joyce on several occasions and committed to further discussions with the CWU on the issues they have been raising.

What did Cardiff the Council say?

Councillor Huw Thomas – Leader of Cardiff Council, the largest Local Authority in Wales said: “I agree that there is no such thing as a bad dog only bad owners” and he re-affirmed Cardiff’s commitment to responsible dog ownership, supporting the issues raised by Dave Joyce and CWU.

What Did the Cardiff Dog Action Group Say?

Penny Bowers from the Cardiff Dog Action Group spoke about tackling antisocial dog behaviour and said “The council needs to have that top-down approach in dealing with this and we want Cardiff to be a dog friendly city.”

Going Forward!

The group (Wales Government Minister Lesley Griffiths, Julie Morgan Wales Government AM, Councillor Huw Thomas Cardiff Council Leader, Councillor Dilwar Ali Cardiff Council Cabinet Member and Dave Joyce CWU National Health, Safety & Environment Member) are planning to meet again in the near future to co-ordinate an approach to tackle these issues.

See attached Photographs from the Event.

End of Report.

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB176 Cardiff City Hall Dog Control Conference – CWU Calls for Clamp Down on Bad Dog Owners Well Received

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TUC LGBT+ CONFERENCE – 4 – 5 JULY 2019

TUC LGBT+ CONFERENCE – 4TH – 5TH JULY 2019

The TUC LGBT+ Conference 2019 is being held from 4th – 5th July 2019 at the TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS.  The Conference sessions will be as follows:

Thursday 4th July                11.00 – 18.00

Friday 5th July                    09.30 – 17.30

The CWU are allowed a limited number of visitors to attend the above Conference and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.  Due to the need for extra security at all TUC Conferences, names and addresses of those wanting visitor tickets must be supplied and tickets are not transferable.

Anyone interested in attending will need to contact their Branch initially for funding, to include a £10 visitor ticket fee. The easiest way to pay the £10 fee will be for us to transfer it directly from your Branch’s account through the rebate system, therefore please contact Angela Niven on conferences@cwu.org with details of which Branch the individual belongs to on application.  Alternatively you can send a cheque (made payable to ‘CWU’) addressed to Angela Niven at CWU HQ with a covering letter.  Please note that places will not be reserved until the £10 fee is received.

Please let me know if you would like to attend the Conference as a visitor by no later than midday on Wednesday 10th April 2019

Any further enquiries with regards this please contact conferences@cwu.org or Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256.

 

Dave Ward

General Secretary

19LTB 175 – TUC LGBT Conference – Visitors


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CWU Conference – Bournemouth – 28 April – 2May 2019 Bucket Collections

CWU Conference – Bournemouth – 28th April – 2ndMay 2019

Bucket Collections

Branches are reminded that any requests for Bucket Collections during Annual Conference need to be put in writing to conferences@cwu.org and not the General Secretary’s Department as previously advised in LTB 115/19. Written requests should include background material/information/full details on the organisation for which the collection is to be made.   The General Conference SOC will be advised accordingly and arrangements will be made for the collections.   The monies collected will be counted by the SDGS Department and a cheque will be made out to the appropriate bodies.

The number of bucket collections during conference will only exceptionally exceed two.

Distribution of Documents at General Conference

All requests for the distribution of documents on delegates’ seats shall, in the first instance, be referred in writing to the General Conference SOC, together with a copy of the document(s) concerned, for consideration.   Please send any requests to conferences@cwu.org

Any documents that have been agreed for distribution on delegates’ seats at General conference shall be delivered to the General Conference Administration office by no later than 5pm on the day prior to distribution.

Branches are reminded of the facility of the Conference Guide to publicise meetings and other events.

Seating at Conference

If any member of your delegation requires special seating due to special needs or a disability

they should email conferences@cwu.org as soon as possible stating the reason and the conference(s) the member will be attending and no later than Friday 29th March 2019.   Branches need to be aware that allocated seating is only in the Windsor Hall.

Any queries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256 or by email to conferences@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

 

A P Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

19LTB174-CWU-Conference-Bucket-Collections-etc

 

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Culture Visits Feedback and Interim Joint Statement

Culture Visits Feedback and Interim Joint Statement

Further to LTB 695/18, Branches will be aware that Joint Culture visits were due to be conducted at 62 workplaces within Royal Mail Group with the agreed reports being submitted by 22nd February 2019.  However with any initiative of this magnitude there was always going to be a slight delay with visits to certain locations due to diary commitments and other factors.  Nonetheless, I am pleased to announce that at the time of writing this LTB, the joint visits to the vast majority of units have been completed and over 2,000 participants have provided an insight into their working environment.

I am due to visit a further 6 sites with Sally Ashford, Chief HR Officer which will take place over the coming weeks at Wythenshawe, Prescott, West Park and Aireborough Delivery Offices as well as at the Home Counties North and Edinburgh Mail Centres.  In addition, a meeting is due to be held with Royal Mail Group on 21st March 2019 to begin the voluminous work that is required to jointly analyse both the positive and negative feedback received. It is however already evident that whilst some matters will require further national dialogue, others can be resolved locally.

At a meeting on 19th March 2019, the Postal Executive were provided with an update in relation to the considerable amount of joint work that has been conducted and endorsed the attached Interim Joint Statement. This outlines the next three key steps and also provides examples of some of the reoccurring themes and issues that can be resolved locally.

Branches will appreciate that whilst there is still much overall work yet to be completed, our members will expect to see some “quick wins” following the Joint Culture visits. It is therefore vitally important that the text within the Interim Joint Statement is used as the basis of resolving these issues and providing “quick wins” in the workplace.

This mutual interest activity will be addressed through the development of local action plans under the guidance of the Lead CWU Divisional Representative and Managers who held the visit(s).This work will also highlight and resolve similar issues that have been identified at neighbouring sites and will be jointly reviewed after three months.

The Joint Statement refers to the national discussions to progress the culture activity, the independent evaluation and further joint communications. Evidently, it is imperative that there is not a communications vacuum in the next few weeks and as a result I am requesting that Branches give this statement the highest possible publicity. In addition, a two page article will be appearing in the Voice magazine that is due to be dispatched imminently.

I would also like to make Branches aware that our Research Department is in the process of finalising an assessment of the data returned which will be circulated in due course and will no doubt recall that the process for the culture visits in relation to Parcelforce Worldwide was announced in LTB 101/19 and work is about to commence.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to those who have participated in this Joint Activity that has been so successful in giving members an opportunity to provide honest feedback as well as voicing their opinions.

Click here to watch the video from Terry Pullinger

The CWU are committed to addressing the culture in Royal Mail Group and your responses are providing the platform to complete this work.

Yours sincerely,

 

Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Attachment to LTB 173.19 – Interim Culture Visits Update – 8-3-19

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THE U WORD DELIVERY WORKPLACE PODCAST – EPISODE 3 

THE U WORD DELIVERY WORKPLACE PODCAST – EPISODE 3 

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

Please see below a link to the latest episode of our workplace podcast. This month we have focused on the Unit Reps Briefings, doing the job properly, lapsing, pensions and pay.

 

Can all CWU Representatives share this link with members via social media, email, text and WhatsApp. We would also encourage Reps to bring the podcast to the attention of members during WTLL sessions or indeed any other any similar opportunity.

 

https://soundcloud.com/user-53225609/the-u-word-workplace-special-episode-3

 

Any enquires should be directed to the Outdoor Department, reference 535, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

 

Mark Baulch              

Assistant Secretary

19LTB170.19


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UNI ICTS World Conference 2019

UNI ICTS World Conference 2019

Further to LTB 135/19 dated 1st March 2019 at the close of nominations on the 18th March 2019, the following had been received:

1 NEC Member  

Tom Cooper Leicester & Midshires, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, *Elected

 

3 Lay Members

(at least 1 delegate must be a woman and at least 1 delegate must be under the age of 30 at the date of the conference) 

 

The timetable for the ballot is as follows:

Ballot Opens               21 March 2019
Ballot Close                 4 April 2019 (14:00)

Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237, or email address sdgs@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

 

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

19LTB169


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UNI ICTS WORLD CONFERENCE 2019

UNI ICTS WORLD CONFERENCE 2019

Further to LTB 169/19 dated 19th March 2019.

Following the issuing of the above LTB we received notification from the North East Branch that the candidate from the branch (Peter Sharrocks) has withdrawn from the ballot.

Therefore would branches please note that John Turnball has been elected.

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

19LTB171


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CWU Exchange Mentoring – Activists Supporting Activists 2019

CWU Exchange Mentoring – Activists Supporting Activists 2019

A key aspect of supporting our representative structure is the continuation, development and further roll out of the CWU Exchange Mentoring Scheme.

“CWU Exchange Mentoring” is the CWU mentoring scheme designed to develop new activists through utilising the skills and experience of our more experienced representatives.

The initial pilot scheme was targeted at relatively new Women, BAME and Youth activists who were active in their Branch, workplace or Region and most had been active for up to three years.

Widening the programme and selection of additional CWU Exchange Mentors

Potential new mentors from across the whole union are now invited to apply through a formal application process.

If any current representatives are interested, please complete the attached application form which will detail skills, experiences and understanding of mentoring.

A national Steering Group will shortlist the successful candidates and they will be invited to attend a two day training course. The following criteria will apply:

  • At least 5 years’ experience within the CWU at a senior level at Branch, Regional, National, or IR level
  • Excellent communications skills including public speaking
  • A demonstrable commitment to developing new activists
  • An understanding of the role of mentoring within a trade union
  • Ability to commit specified time to the mentoring role
  • It will be desirable but not essential to have experience of delivering training, workshops, briefings etc. to other representatives or in the wider labour movement.

Training

Building on the success of the Mentoring for BAME and Women courses delivered previously, we will provide a two day course with the following aims:

  • To develop mentoring skills
  • To understand the roles and responsibilities of CWU mentors
  • To understand and apply mentoring skills in line with the requisite ethical standards
  • To understand and apply the processes and policies of delivering mentoring according to the CWU Exchange    Scheme

The training will be delivered by suitably qualified tutors on the following dates at the Elstead Hotel:

Course option 1: Commence 12:00 13th May 2019 – Finish 12:00 14th May 2019 

Course option 2: Commence 12:00 14th May 2019 – Finish 12:00 15th May 2019

How to apply

Potential mentors will need to apply by completing the attached application form. Please give us as much information as possible and return your application by 17:00 on 5th April 2019.

We will ask potential mentees to apply via a similar application process in due course detailing their experience to date, any barriers that they are facing and letting us know what they are looking for in a mentor.

Selection and matching of Mentees and Mentors

The Steering group will then be responsible for short listing mentors and potential mentees and for matching them with one of our trained mentors. This will be based on geography, particular areas of interest, constituency, and what they are seeking from the mentoring process.

If you are interested please return your completed application form to:

Michelle Simpson, CWU, 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1RX. Alternatively email your application to learn@cwu.org

Any queries relating to this LTB should be directed to Lee Wakeman (lwakeman@cwu.org) in the first instance.

Yours sincerely,

 

Trish Lavelle

Assistant Secretary

19LTB 168 – CWU Exchange Mentoring – Activists Supporting Activists 2019

Attachment 1 – Application Form

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