Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains. Karl Marx.
Running from Friday 29th June to Friday 6th July, this week long city-wide celebration offers something for everyone. Peterborough PRIDE is about providing a platform for coming together, celebrating difference, being proud and showing support for our Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) friends and family.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO VEIW ALL EVENTS
GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATIONS (GDPR)
LTB 227/18 dated 17th April 2018 informed Branches of the need to take action around the above new regulations that come into force on Friday the 25th May 2018.
Since that LTB we have taken time to consider what policies we need to introduce and what guidelines it is necessary for us to issue in order that we can be seen to be taking the necessary steps to ensure compliance.
The TUC have run a number of seminars/presentations on this issue that various members of CWU staff have attended. Additionally advice has been issued by a number of authorities with regard to the steps we need to take.
Following consideration of the issues raised at these events we are now in a position to issue a CWU “GDPR Policy and Guidance for Branches” document in advance of the new regulations coming into force.
As we stated in LTB 227/18 it important for us to understand that breaches of the new regulations can result in organisations being fined up to 4% of turnover. To put this in perspective, unless we take action to show we are compliant we risk a fine that could total up to £1.1 million for breaches. Clearly our job is to mitigate against such risk and as such the Policy and Guidance document is produced and distributed to ensure we alleviate that risk.
That document is attached to this LTB and all Branches are urged to read the document and act appropriately. It is through the compiling, issuing and compliance with these guidelines can the CWU be seen to have taken the necessary action under the law.
Should Branches require any further advice or wish to seek clarification around the contents of the Policy and Guidance document they should contact Denis Lenihan in his capacity as CWU Data Protection Officer by email at dlenihan@cwu.org
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
Here is an important video message from Outdoor Secretary Mark Baulch giving an update on the Four Pillars Agreement.
Virgin Media Fined £385,000 for Street Works Safety Law Offences in Carlisle:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
A judge has imposed a £385,000 fine on Virgin Media after its street works contractors left streets across Carlisle in chaos.
The fine is one of the biggest ever handed down by a Cumbrian magistrates’ court and was imposed after the firm pleaded guilty to seven breaches of street-works safety rules.
The city’s Rickergate court heard how contractors working for Virgin Media repeatedly flouted rules which are designed to ensure that such street works are carried out without putting pedestrians and other road users at unnecessary risk.
Workmen are legally obliged to provide proper signage and pedestrian protection.
However, when Virgin Media’s contractors carried out a huge broadband cable-laying operation across the city in July last year, this did not happen, District Judge Gerald Chalk heard.
The court heard a snapshot of the problems as prosecutor Jonathan Farnsworth described seven locations in Carlisle affected by shoddy workmanship.
Among the problem areas identified by Cumbria County Council highways officials was Upperby Road. Residents living in 15 properties on the street were unable to get into or out of their homes because of the cable-laying excavations.
On the same street, after closing a pedestrian crossing, workmen erected a sign telling pedestrians to use a non-existent alternative crossing.
Elsewhere in the city, pedestrians were forced to step off dug-up pavements and risk walking amid moving traffic on busy roads because no alternative route was provided.
On the day when all seven offences were committed – July 31 last year – Virgin Media’s contractor had eight work gangs who were attempting to work at 22 separate sites across Carlisle.
A council highways inspector said the situation got out of control.
They were not providing suitable and safe alternative walkways for pedestrians and people had to walk along the road. The contractors should have made sure that all the sites they were working on had been made safe before they left them but they just kept digging more holes.
Virgin Media admitted offences relating to poorly guarded or signposted works in the following streets: Scalegate Road, Beaconsfield Street, Thirlmere Street, Uldale Road, Kirklands Road, and two sites in Upperby Road.
Virgin Media was prosecuted under the 1991 New Road and Street Works Act, which aims to ensure that all such work is carried out safely and with consideration for the needs of disabled pedestrians.
As well as being fined, the firm was told to pay prosecution costs of £3,500, and a £170 victim surcharge.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
18LTB309 Virgin Media Fined £385,000 for Street Works Safety Law Offences in Carlisle
Fight For Your Rights To Safety’ – A TUC (North West Region) and Greater Manchester Hazards Training event For Trade Unions, June 8th, Manchester:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
The Health, Safety and Environment Department has been notified by the TUC North West Region and Greater Manchester Hazards Centre that they are organising a special Health and Safety training event to celebrate 150 years of the TUC.
The safety and health of workers is good for the workplace, society and the economy. This event will look at what can be learnt from the past to show what improvements need to be made to ensure workers leave the workplace healthy and uninjured now and in the future.
Speakers will address the challenges Trade Unions face and what needs to be done in response to keep workers safe.
The event will take place on 8th June at the Mechanics Institute, Manchester, 10am – 5pm with lunch provided.
The Speakers are:-
• Paul Holleran – GMB – How do we tackle health and safety in the GIG economy/Uber?
• Adam Lincoln – UCU – How do we tackle work related stress and workload in all our sectors?
• Lizanne Davenport – Unison – How do we improve the health and safety of unorganised and precarious workers like care workers?
• Suzanne Humphreys – Thompsons Solicitors – How can the law support workers challenging unacceptable and health damaging working conditions?
• Kevin Rowan – TUC & HSE Board Member – Safety Reps Organising for Safety
The event will be chaired by Doug Russell, National Health and Safety Officer USDAW and Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary, will open up the conference. To apply please register using Eventbrite on the link at: https://www.tuc.org.uk/events/you-gotta-fight-your-right-safety-health-safety-workplace
Contact Janet Newsham: email: Janet@gmhazards or 0161 636 7558 for more information.
The Event Flyer is attached.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
18LTB308 ‘Fight For Your Rights To Safety’ – Training event For Trade Unions, June 8th, Manchester
Government U-Turn on Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry Panel:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
In what is a welcomed announcement, the Government has made a U-Turn and agreed that two independent experts will now be appointed to join the panel presiding over the Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry.
They will join Judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick for the second phase of the Inquiry, which is due to commence later this month. The announcement comes after pressure from campaigners who claimed the Inquiry would be a whitewash and not take into account key concerns from campaigners, families, survivors and residents.
A petition, which asked for additional and more independent expert panellists, was launched following concerns that Sir Moore-Bick was unable to relate to survivors. It attracted 156,000 signatures. The Prime Minister Theresa May had originally dismissed the request but has now relented and changed her mind. She has confirmed that two additional panellists will be appointed before Phase 2 of the Inquiry begins.
The Prime Minister stated that in order to ensure that the inquiry panel has the necessary breadth of skills and diversity of expertise relevant to the broad range of issues to be considered in Phase 2, and to best serve the increasing scale and complexity of the inquiry, she had decided to appoint an additional two panel members to support Sir Martin Moor-Bick’s chairmanship for Phase 2 of the inquiry’s work onwards.
Sir Moore-Bick awaits the names of those appointed for his consideration under section 7(2)(b) of the Inquiries Act 2005.
The news of the U-Turn has been welcomed by campaigners who are desperate to make sure the Inquiry delivers truth and justice for those lost in the fire and those that survived.
Campaigners thanked the 100 MPs who came to meet them in Parliament recently and the 156,000 people across the country who signed the petition.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
18LTB306 Government U-Turn on Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry Panel
Independent Review (Hackitt Report) on Fire Safety Published
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
The independent review into building regulations and fire safety has been published and calls for a “radical rethink” but does not ban the use of combustible materials.
The independent review was commissioned by Prime Minister Theresa May last July following the Grenfell Tower fire and it has been conducted by EEF chair Dame Judith Hackitt. It looked at current building regulations and fire safety with a particular focus on high rise residential buildings. It examined the regulatory system around the design, construction and on-going management of buildings in relation to fire safety, related compliance and enforcement issues and international regulation and experience in this area.
As part of the review, Dame Judith consulted the Buildings Regulations Advisory Committee, which advises the government on changes to building regulations as well as the construction and housing industry, the fire sector, international experts, MPs and the public. The review also worked closely with other government departments and the devolved administrations and considered the implications of changes to the regulatory system on other government objectives.
Dame Hackitt published her interim findings on 18 December 2017 in which she called on the construction industry, building owners, regulators and government to come together to address the ‘shortcomings’ identified so far.
The interim report identified that the current system of building regulations and fire safety is not fit for purpose and that a culture change is required to support the delivery of buildings that are safe, both now and in the future.
The final report calls for the creation of a new Joint Competent Authority (JCA) to oversee the management of buildings and calls for tougher penalties for those flouting the Building Regulations. It outlines a new structure for how to manage building safety and calls for more effective testing of products (such as cladding) but does not ban the use of combustible materials. The key recommendations include:
• A new regulatory framework focused, in the first instance, on multi-occupancy higher risk residential buildings (HRRBs) that are 10 storeys or more in height;
• A new Joint Competent Authority (JCA) comprising Local Authority Building Standards, fire and rescue authorities and the Health and Safety Executive to oversee better management of safety risks in these buildings (through safety cases) across their entire life cycle;
• A mandatory incident reporting mechanism for dutyholders with concerns about the safety of a HRBB;
• A set of rigorous and demanding dutyholder roles and responsibilities to ensure a stonrger focus on building safety;
• A series of robust gateway points to strengthen regulatory oversight that will require dutyholders to show to the JCA that their plans are detailed and robust;
• A stronger change control process that will require robust record-keeping by the dutyholder of all changes made to the detailed plans previously signed off by the JCA;
• A single, more streamlined, regulatory route to oversee building standards as part of the JCA to ensure that regulatory oversight of these buildings is independent from clients, designers and contractors and that enforcement can and does take place where necessary;
• More rigorous enforcement powers. A wider and more flexible range of powers will be created to focus incentives on the creation of reliably safe buildings from the outset. This also means more serious penalties for those who choose to place residents at risk;
• Clearer rights and obligations for residents to maintain the fire safety of individual dwellings;
• A regulator for the whole of the building (the JCA) in relation to fire and structural safety in occupation; and
• A more effective testing regime for cladding with clearer labelling and product transparency
In the Report summary, Dame Judith Hackitt stated that the above issues have helped to create a cultural issue across the sector, which can be described as a ‘race to the bottom’ caused either through ignorance, indifference, or because the system does not facilitate good practice. There is insufficient focus on delivering the best quality building possible, in order to ensure that residents are safe, and feel safe.
It goes on to state that just as the process of constructing the building itself must be subject to greater scrutiny, the classification and testing of the products need to undergo a radical overhall to be clearer and more proactive.
Hackitt adds that the ultimate test of this new framework will be the rebuilding of public confidence in the system. The people who matter most in all of this are the residents of these buildings. The new framework needs to be much more transparent; potential purchasers and tenants need to have clear sight of the true condition of the space they are buying and the integrity of the building system they will be part of.
Hackitt concludes that one of the greatest concerns which has been expressed to me is whether there is the political will to achieve radical and lasting change. I believe that we have a real opportunity to do this, and to create a system in which everyone will have greater confidence.
The review had received criticism for not being inclusive of some key associations in the fire sector. In February, the All Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group revealed that it had been excluded from being part of key advisory groups within the review.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) responded to the Hackitt Review by agreeing that the fire safety testing regime for building materials needs to be considerably clearer, more rigorous, and based more closely on real world conditions. The ABI provided evidence to Dame Judith Hackitt about the inadequacy of parts of the current regime. The ABI stated that an improved testing regime must be established as soon as possible.
The ABI added that the Report does not tackle the fundamental issue of combustible materials used on homes and businesses and called for a total ban on combustible materials being used on the outside of buildings. Without a ban, they said, there would be a lack of confidence in the regulations.
The full report is attached to this LTB.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
18LTB304 Independent Review (Hackitt Report) on Fire Safety Published
Building A Safer Future – Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety Final Report
Fatal Fires increase in UK – 2017 Government Statistics published:
To: All Branches
Annual statistics released by the government have shown that the total number fires and the number fatal fires have increased in the UK over the last year.
The report, “Fire and rescue incident statistics: year ending December 2017”, gives in-depth details into incidents attended by fire and rescue services between 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017. It is the third set of statistics published by the Home Office which cover the Grenfell Tower fire.
While the number of fire related fatalities have been on a downward trend for the past three decades, this last year saw a 15 per cent increase, which includes the 71 fatalities at Grenfell Tower. This means in the last year there were 321 fatalities compared to 278 in the previous year.
There has also been a four per cent increase in fires attended, which increased from 169,588 fires compared with 162,427 the previous year (162,427). This represents a 50 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (336,233 in 2006/07). The increase in fires is driven by an increase in secondary fires with primary fires showing a small decrease.
The fire and rescue service responded to a total of 563,527 incidents compared to 560,874. This was a less than one per cent increase compared with the previous year and a 34 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (854,371 in 2006/07).
In addition, firefighters attended 223,383 fire false alarms, which is a one per cent decrease compared with the previous year (224,862), but a 37 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (352,136). They also attended 170,556 non-fire incidents, which represents a two per cent decrease compared with the previous year (173,585). There had been a general decline in the number of non-fire incidents during the last ten years.
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has responded to the latest fire incident statistics released by the Home Office commenting that the trend of incidents and fires attended has fallen over the past ten years but it is disappointing to see an increase in fires attended during the past 12 months, despite it being relatively small. They added that it is also clear more work needs to be done on addressing false alarms, which currently account for 40 per cent of all callouts.
The NFCC said that the 15 per cent increase in fatalities during the last year must be looked at; which includes the devastating loss of life at Grenfell Tower.
The Hackitt Review will make a number of recommendations with regard to current building regulations and fire safety.
In addition, the independent Grenfell Tower Inquiry will look at the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire. The Inquiry will then report back to the Prime Minister with the findings and recommendations.
NFCC stated that it will continue to work with the Home Office to ensure fire and rescue services are appropriately represented within government, including presenting clear and concise messages about future needs, resourcing to risk, influencing the wider Fire Reform programme and working on the new inspectorate programme. It is vital the communities the Fire and Rescue service serves continue to have confidence in the service they trust.
The full report can be found at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-england-year-ending-december-2017
A copy of the full Report is also attached to this LTB.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
18LTB305 Fatal Fires increase in UK – 2017 Government Statistics published
ELECTION OF NATIONAL DELEGATIONS – 2018
• TUC Congress
• Labour Party Conference
Further to LTB 258/18, dated 3rd May at the close of nominations the following had been received:
TUC
Postal Constituency
NEC (1 Member)
Mick Kavanagh
South Midlands Postal*ELECTED
Lay Members (7 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)
Katie Dunning
West London Postal*ELECTEDKate Hudson
South Midlands Postal*ELECTED
Ballot RequiredJim McKechnie
Glasgow District Amal Anthony Pedel
York & District Amal Sajid Shaikh
Birmingham & District AmalAmarjite Singh
South East Wales AmalMark Walsh
Greater Mersey & South West Lancs Richard Wilkins
South Central Postal Mark Williams
South West Wales Amal Rob Wotherspoon
Bristol & District Amal
Telecom & Financial Services Constituency
NEC (1 Member)
Tom Cooper
Leicester & Midshires, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South Wales*ELECTED
Lay Members (5 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)
Ballot RequiredJonathan Belshaw
Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Capital, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Northern Ireland Telecom, Scotland No 1, South WalesEugene Caparros
South Wales, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Northern Ireland Telecom, Scotland No 1Fiona Curtis
Northern Ireland Telecom, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South WalesDavid Kennedy
Northern Ireland Telecom, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South WalesJacqueline Morrey
Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Northern Ireland Telecom , Scotland No 1, South WalesAngela Teeling
Greater Mersey & South West LancsJeffrey Till
Greater London Combined
LABOUR PARTY
Postal Constituency
NEC (1 Member)
Steve Jones
London Postal Engineering, London Regional MT*ELECTED
Lay Members (7 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)
Katie Dunning
West London Postal*ELECTEDKate Hudson
South Midlands Postal*ELECTED
Ballot RequiredPaul Braithwaite
North Lancs & Cumbria Kye Dudd
Bristol & District Amal Peter Firmin
London Phoenix Keith Hamilton
South Central Postal Sajid Shaikh
Birmingham District Amal Alan Tate
London Regional MT, London Postal Engineering Mark Walsh
Greater Mersey & South West Lancs, London Regional MT
Telecom & Financial Services Constituency
NEC (1 Member)
Karen Rose
South Wales, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Mersey, Portsmouth West Sussex & IOW, Scotland No 1*ELECTED
Lay Members (5 Members at least 2 delegates must be women)
Ballot RequiredCraig Anderson
Scotland No 1, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, South WalesGraham Colk
South Wales, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1Kate Hankey
Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Portsmouth West Sussex & IOW, Scotland No 1, South WalesBrian Kenny
Mersey, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Scotland No 1, South WalesJoyce Stevenson
Scotland No 1, Capital, Lincolnshire & South Yorks, Mersey, Mid Wales The Marches & North Staffs, Portsmouth West Sussex & IOW, South WalesAngela Teeling
Greater Mersey & South West Lancs
The ballot timetable is as follows:
Despatch ballot papers 25 May 2018
Ballot Closes 8 June 2018 (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
CWU/RM – Resourcing & Quality Checklists Review Process in Delivery Units
Dear Colleagues,
Further to LTB 280/18 dated Friday 11th May, which contained the RM & CWU National Joint Statement, regarding updates relating to the Resourcing & Quality Checklists.
Branches and Representatives will be aware that the 2018 Guiding Principles Agreement, contained within Sections 8 (Resourcing) and 9 (Quality of Service) it was agreed that both parties would produce a jointly agreed checklist to assess each Unit against the application of our National Agreements and ensure that all scheduled mail is being cleared on a daily basis.
The purpose of the exercise is to build confidence that all delivery units are compliant with all National agreements and joint statements. Where it is identified there is non-compliance, an agreed action plan will be worked up locally as a priority. In addition we have also included a number of questions within the resourcing checklist pertaining to annual leave in order to avoid further duplication and deal with this element of the National agreement within one combined joint exercise.
Following discussions with Royal Mail we have now agreed the content of both checklists, (which are attached), along with the details and process of how to use the share point process in order to complete these checklists using the online platform.
In line with the commitment within the Guiding Principles Agreement, both the unit manager and local CWU rep will complete this exercise together as a part of the weekly resourcing meeting. Accordingly it is essential that the local, or area CWU representative where there is no local rep in place, is provided sufficient release time to jointly complete this exercise with the Delivery manager.
Units will have a maximum of three weeks to complete this exercise and all returns must be completed online no later than Friday 8th June 2018.
The completed online checklists will be made available to the CWU Area Reps and RM Ops Managers and also the CWU Divisional Reps and RM Delivery Leads both where compliance has been agreed and where non-compliant remedy action plans are jointly being worked up. These will also be made available to the CWU Divisional Reps and RM Delivery Leads for their respective units, as well as the overall outputs being shared with the Department Nationally.
Also attached are the ‘CWU & RM Annual Leave/Resourcing Guidelines’ (LTB 460/17) published on the 23rd of August 2017, which contain:
• Royal Mail & CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Annual Leave and Weekly Resourcing.
• Annual Leave Planning Meeting Agenda template.
• 12 Week Resourcing Meeting Agenda template.
• Weekly Resourcing Meeting Agenda template.
In addition the ‘CWU & RM Nationally Agreed Summer Resourcing Guidelines’ (LTB 305/17) published on the 7th of June 2017, which although due for review for operation this forthcoming summer, they also contain important joint commitments which are a valuable reference point for resourcing including:
• A Joint Message from Royal Mail and the CWU.
• Royal Mail & CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Summer Resourcing.
Additionally in relation to workload issues and all due mails receiving the correct and appropriate quality of service, the agreed National Joint statement containing the agreed avoiding delay guidelines along with reporting standards of any mail failures and service issues are also attached.
It is acknowledged that this LTB contains a large number of attachments, however it is important that all relevant and necessary documentation linked to the checklists is in one LTB for ease of reference for Branches and reps whilst carrying out this activity.
Any queries to the content of the above, please contact the Outdoor Department, reference 230.05, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Baulch
CWU Assistant Secretary
LTB 301.18 – RM CWU Resourcing Quality Checklists Review Process in Delivery Units (2)
Resourcing and Quality Checklists QuickGuide
Summer Resourcing 2017 Joint Message from RM & CWU
RM & CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Summer Resourcing
RM CWU Nationally Agreed Guidelines Covering Annual Leave and Weekly Resourcing
JS_Avoiding Delay_Commit to Deliver_Accurate Reporting_February17_Final
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 