EQUALITY OFFICER’S SEMINAR, 20TH JUNE 2018 & OTHER DIARY DATES

 

CWU HQ is pleased to confirm that this year’s Equality Officer’s Seminar will take place on Wednesday 20th June 2018. The seminar is held to make sure that Equality Officers are kept up to date on the latest developments on legislation and the businesses we represent. The seminar is to be held at CWU Headquarters on the 4th Floor (Rooms 2 & 3). Registration will commence at 10.00am for a 10.30am start, to finish at approximately 3.30pm.

 

The Union is keen to stress to branches the importance of ensuring that all Equality Officers are made aware of the seminar and every effort is made to encourage them to attend. This is especially important for newly elected Equality Officers.

For clarification, all expenses will be met by Branches.

It is important that anyone interested in attending, will need to register with the Equal Opportunities Department here at CWU HQ as soon as possible. Please let us know of any access/mobility issues, and contact us as soon as possible if anyone requires a prayer room so that we can also arrange this.

Dates for your Diary

BAME Officer’s Seminar – CWU HQ, Thursday 13 September 2018.

Women’s Officers Seminar – CWU HQ, Wednesday 26 September 2018.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Equal Opportunities Department as soon as possible at the following email address: dnoel@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

18LTB278 – Equality Officers Seminar 2018

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BT Pension Scheme Valuation

BT and the Trustee of the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) have announced today that they have reached agreement on the 2017 triennial funding valuation. This includes confirmation that the funding deficit in the Scheme has risen over 60% to £11.3 billion, and a 13 year deficit recovery plan.

The key points are as follows:-

• • The valuation shows BTPS assets of £49.1bn and liabilities of £60.4bn.

• • The funding deficit as at 30 June 2017 was £11.3bn and means the BTPS is 81% funded. This compares with a £7.0bn deficit and a funding level of 85% in the previous valuation. The increase in the deficit since 2014 reflects the fall in long-term real interest rates.

• • A 13 year deficit recovery plan has been agreed. As part of this BT will pay a total of £4.5bn into the BTPS before the end of June 2020. This will be followed by regular annual payments of around £900m until 2030.

• • The agreement continues with a range of other protections for the Trustee that have been previously agreed covering issues such as: payments to shareholders; share buy backs; disposals; and acquisitions.

The next valuation is due to take place by 30 June 2020.

The scale of the deficit and the increases in BT’s funding commitments underlines the significance of the recent Pension and Pay Agreement between the CWU and BT. This has secured the option of a new Hybrid pension for existing BTPS members that will include a mixture of defined benefit and defined contribution benefits, as well as an improved BT Retirement Savings Scheme.

The CWU welcomes the agreement between BT and the Trustee, which clearly demonstrates BT’s continued commitment to funding the BTPS.

Further details are contained in the BT press release, and a statement from the Trustee which is attached.

Yours sincerely,

 

Nigel Cotgrove

Assistant Secretary

10.05.18 – LTB 273 – BT Pension Scheme Valuation

LTB 273 ATTACHMENT 1

LTB 273 ATTACHMENT 2

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BT Annual Results

Following BT’s annual results the CWU have issued the following statement to the press.

Following BT’s full year results today, and the announcement of the size of the pension deficit the CWU are clear that it was the right thing to do to reach a deal with BT over the future of its defined benefit scheme. We will also be talking to the company about the impact of any job losses, although, whilst any job losses are disappointing, we welcome, BT’s commitment to 6000 new jobs in frontline engineering and call centres.

Andy Kerr stated:

“We feel the size of the pension deficit has vindicated our decision to reach an agreement on the pension scheme which will provide an innovative hybrid scheme with part defined benefit and part defined contribution for our members, lessening future risk for employees.

 The profit results also show that reaching a deal on pay, which provides our members with 6.1% over two years, which is an upper quartile pay agreement provides some level of financial security during this period”. 

 “ The announcement of job losses is disappointing although BT have informed us that they are undertaking a major restructure of their organisation and that the number of jobs impacted are global, not just the UK. We will of course hold urgent talks with the company to understand any implications, however BT has made it clear to us that they plan major investment in frontline engineering and call centres, which we of course welcome. We have already committed to recruit over 3,000 field engineers in the coming year. We are therefore confident any job losses will have little impact on CWU represented grades and we welcome BT’s plans to invest and grow in the frontline areas in which our members are mainly employed.”

Please cascade this message to your BT members. Please contact my office should you have any enquiries in relation to this LTB.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Andy Kerr  

Deputy General Secretary T&FS

274.2018

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Grenfell 1st Anniversary (14th June 2018)

 The CWU Women’s Advisory Committee in conjunction with our Regional Women’s Committees are hosting an event in remembrance of Grenfell. The event on the 14th June 2018 commencing at 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at CWU HQ, Conference Room 3, 4th floor will consist of a panel session made up of speakers linked to the Grenfell tragedy along with contributions from the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) General Secretary – Matt Wrack and Sabby Dhalu from Stand Up to Racism.

Following the panel session, we will be inviting delegates to join us on the Grenfell Silent Walk, which will commence at 7 pm outside The Notting Hill Methodist Church, 240 Lancaster Road, London W11 4AH. The nearest tube station is Ladbroke Grove.

A year on from the tragic events of the 14th June 2017 it is important that the trade union movement remembers Grenfell and those people who lost their lives continue to be remembered.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Equal Opportunities Department as soon as possible at the following email address: dnoel@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

18LTB277 Grenfell 1st Anniversary

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ERRATA TO LTB 277/18 – Grenfell 1st Anniversary (14th June 2018)

No. 277/18

Ref: FH/DGN

10th May 2018

 

To: All Branches

Dear Colleague

Grenfell 1st Anniversary (14th June 2018)

The CWU Women’s Advisory Committee in conjunction with our Regional Women’s Committees are hosting an event in remembrance of Grenfell. The event on the 14th June 2018 commencing at 2.00pm to 3.30pm at CWU HQ, Conference Room 3, 4th floor will consist of a panel session made up of invited speakers linked to the Grenfell tragedy along with contributions from the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) General Secretary – Matt Wrack and Sabby Dhalu from Stand Up to Racism.

Following the panel session, we will be inviting delegates to join us on the Grenfell Silent Walk, which will commence at 7 pm outside The Notting Hill Methodist Church, 240 Lancaster Road, London, W11 4AH. The nearest tube station is Ladbroke Grove.

A year on from the tragic events of the 14th June 2017 it is important that the trade union movement remembers Grenfell and those people who lost their lives continue to be remembered.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Equal Opportunities Department as soon as possible at the following email address: dnoel@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

8LTB277 ERRATA Grenfell 1st Anniversary ERRATA

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TUC New Deal for Workers Rally Saturday 12th May

In just two days’ thousands of workers will assemble on the Embankment and march for a New Deal for Workers. I urge all branches to use these last moments to push for the highest possible turnout.

We have dispatched large amounts of merchandise but will also have limited numbers of T-Shirts, Flags and Caps available on the day.

The CWU Block is located in Zone 7 on the Embankment. This is near to Waterloo Bridge. The nearest mainline station is Waterloo and the best tube stops are Embankment, Charing Cross or Blackfriars.

The march will be forming up at 11:00 and setting off at around 11:45. We ask Branches to arrive by 11:00 as we are hoping to have the facility for speakers to address the CWU block via a PA system at this time.

On the day we will be making it clear the march is the start and not the end of our call for a New Deal for Workers. Publicity for our position on this will include a 4-page cover spread in the Morning Star on Saturday so please pick up a copy if you can.

Once the march reaches Hyde Park a series of speeches will be made from the main platform. The CWU has a prime slot and we will be immediately followed by Frances O’Grady and Jeremy Corbyn.

Finally, thank you for all the work you have done to deliver what we hope will be a record CWU turnout at a major demonstration – I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed the General Secretary’s Office gsoffice@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary  

18LTB276 – TUC New Deal for Workers Rally 12 May.doc

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Mental Health Awareness Week ‎ (MHAW) 2018‎ – The Address Your Stress Toolkit:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

In just over a week the Mental Health Foundation will kick off Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), running 14-20 May. This year the campaign is leading with the theme of stress, asking the question, ‘Stress: are we coping?’ It will seek to highlight the impact stress has on us all, and the connection between stress and our health – both mental and physical.

The Address Your Stress Toolkit

To support the campaign, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England is today launching the Address Your Stress Toolkit: a set of practical resources designed to help people better understand and manage stress.

This toolkit is free to download from the MHFA campaign page as of today, and includes infographics and shareable GIFs on stress and self-care, as well as a signature banner which can be added to your email signature to support the campaign.

During Mental Health awareness week, MHFA want to share experiences from across our community of Mental Health First Aiders, and in particular from MHFAiders ages 18-35. Whether you’ve got an inspiring story of supporting someone using your MHFA skills or simply want to share how MHFA training has helped you think about self-care and stress, MHFA want to hear from you! You can get in touch by emailing media@mhfaengland.org and their team will get back to you with some more information.

Get involved

MHFA want Mental Health First Aiders, in particular, to support the campaign and to make the most of the Address Your Stress Toolkit and Mental Health Awareness Week. The CWU Health Safety and Environment Department is joining with MHFA and therefore encouraging Reps to get involved with the campaign by sharing this resource with others in the Union as well as friends, family and colleagues.

Further LTBs on Mental Health Awareness Week will follow.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB266 Mental Health Awareness Week ‎(MHAW) 2018‎ – The Address Your Stress Toolkit

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A third of the seats in Peterborough were up for election this year

Election 2018 Results

CON GAIN FROM NOC

Party

Elected in 2018

Total councillors

Change +/-

Conservative

7

31

+1

Labour

6

14

-1

Liberal Democrat

3

6

+1

Independent

1

5

—No results

Liberal Party

0

2

-1

Green

1

1

+1

UKIP

0

1

-1

Bretton

Scott WARREN (Conservative) – 851

Jo JOHNSON (Labour) – 824

Graham WHITEHEAD (UKIP) – 188

Simon KAIL (Liberal Democrat) – 92

Central Ward

Mahboob HUSSAIN (Labour) – 1,794

Mohammad Ayoub CHOUDHARY (Independent) – 659

Louise Catherine COLES (Conservative) – 601

Alan SUMMERSIDE (Liberal Democrat) – 132

Steve WILSON (Green) – 125

Jeff LIPSCOMB (UKIP) – 86

Turnout: 44.98%

Dogsthorpe

Dennis Peter JONES (Labour and Co-operative) 954

Sandra RINGLER (Liberal Party) 560

Christopher Michael MOON (Conservative) 255

Romina CAMMARATA (UKIP) 88

Carolyn ENGLISH (Green) 58

Turnout: 29.61%

East Ward

Samantha HEMRAJ (Labour) – 1,131

Muhammad IKRAM (Conservative) – 892

Graham MCMILLAN (UKIP) – 190

Stefan CLEMENTS (Green) – 129

Eye Thorney & Newborough

Richard Andrew BROWN (Conservative) – 1,252

Christian DEFEO (Labour and Co-operative) – 666 CWU Member

Layton Mark MILLS (UKIP) – 214

Michael ALEXANDER (Green) – 105

Callum ROBERTSON (Liberal Democrat) – 70

Turnout: 32.65%

Fletton and Stanground

HOGG Christian (Liberal Democrat) – 920

TYLER Bryan Andew (Conservatives) – 453

SKIDMORE Chris (Labour) – 448

REEVE Peter David – (UKIP) – 221

ALEXANDER Karen (Green) – 70

SLINGER Peter Huxley (Independent) – 53

Turnout: 30.58%

Fletton & Woodston

Alan DOWSON (Labour and Co-operative) – 876

Nigel NORTH (Conservative) – 864

David STEVENSON (Green) – 268

Turnout: 27.6%

Gunthorpe

Andrew BOND (Liberal Democrat Focus Team) – 1,097

Emily Kate FISHER (Conservative) – 688

Haggai ODEP (Labour) – 205

Anthony Steven LOCKHART (Independent) – 120

Marc BOYLAN-TAYLOR (UKIP) – 92

Cherry BEEBY (Green) – 50

Turnout 35%

Hargate-and-Hempsted

Mohammed FAROOQ (Conservative) – 616

Callie HARGREAVES (Labour and Co-operative) – 306

Chris WIGGIN (Liberal Democrat) – 289

Alex BAILEY (Green) – 44

Turnout – 27.7%

Hampton-Vale

Marco CERESTE (Conservative) – 529

Mohammed MUNIR (Labour and Co-operative) – 292

Nicola MILLS (Liberal Democrat) – 121

Greg GUTHRIE (Green) – 66

Turnout: 22.9%

North Ward

Shazia BASHIR (Conservative) – 1,233

Naz BIBI (Labour) – 1,156

John MYLES (UKIP) – 134

Nicola DAY (Green) – 131

Phillip WHITLEY (Liberal Democrat) – 115

Orton-Longueville

Irene WALSH (Conservative) – 850

Heather SKIBSTED (Labour and Co-operative) – 730

John OKONKOWSKI (UKIP) – 322

Daniel GIBBS (Liberal Democrat) – 172

Alex AIREY (Green) – 170

Turnout: 29%

Orton Waterville

Julie HOWELL (Green): 1,413

ELSEY (Conservative): 1,058

Alan GASPARUTTI (Labour): 249

Rachel SPEED (Liberal Democrat): 64

Turnout: 39%

Paston & Walton

Asif SHAHEED (Liberal Democrat Focus Team) 873

Jonas HOPOGAP YONGA (Labour) 687

Haq NAWAZ (Conservative) 424

Massimo PINTO (UKIP) 186

Joseph WELLS (Green) 114

Turnout: 31%

Park Ward

Aasiyah JOSEPH (Labour) – 1,714

John Philip PEACH (Conservative) – 1,260

Fiona RADIC (Green) – 105

Ian HARDMAN (Liberal Democrat) – 104

Turnout – 46.35%

Ravensthorpe

Edward MURPHY (Labour and Co-operative) – 1,285

Paul BRISTOW (Conservative) – 1,257

Mark PERRY (UKIP) – 181

Goran RADIC (Green) – 83

Turnout unknown

Stanground-South

Ray BISBY (Conservative) – 1,080

Tony OTLEY (Labour) – 481

Lisa Ann DUFFY (UKIP) – 92

Julian BRAY – 82

Jon PHILLIPSON BROWN (Green) – 51

Terri HAYNES (Liberal Democrat) – 42

Turnout: 27.8%

Werrington

Steve LANE (Werrington First) – 1,420

Ruta DALTON (Conservative) – 467

Sandra BOND (Liberal Democrat) – 310

Suzanne Marie WHITE (Labour) – 291

Roger PROUDFOOT (Green) – 102

June KENNEDY (UKIP) – 76

Turnout: 33.8%

Find your local election results here

Reinstatement Guide Following a Successful Appeal

Talks with Royal Mail regarding the policy and practice on reinstatement following successful appeal have now concluded and a revised Policy Statement is attached.

Vetting requirements due to the terms of Royal Mail’s integrity guidelines under the USO license have delayed return to work by up to 6 weeks. The revised Policy clarifies what will occur when vetting is being performed, however in normal circumstances this will not prevent return to work.

Following reinstatement, Royal Mail has been deducting earnings from any work undertaken for another employer during the period of dismissal from back pay. Under the revised policy this practice will cease.

Employees will be put back on pay at the next available pay cycle and the calculation of back pay will be conducted within two weeks of returning to work.

Benefits from unemployment or Job Seekers Allowance will have to be repaid to the DWP. Benefits not associated with the dismissal, such as disability living allowance or caring allowance will not have to be repaid.

A process of support and rehabilitation has been put in place. The Policy stipulates a return to the role previously held unless there is an associated penalty from the appeal. If the role no longer exists due to a revision, then the MTSF process will apply.

Royal Mail’s policy on non-payment of lost earnings from scheduled attendance or regular overtime during the period of dismissal is unchanged. The Union has advised Royal Mail that we have reserved our right to pursue this separately and legal advice is being taken in this regard.

All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 041. Email address: khawkins@cwu.org

 

Ray Ellis

Assistant Secretary

18LTB262 Reinstatement Guide Following a Successful Appeal

Reinstatement Following Dismissal – Guide for Managers

TUC Health & Safety Reps Survey 2018

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

This is the twelfth TUC survey of Health and Safety Reps. It is designed to provide the TUC and individual unions with information about who health and safety reps are, and what their experiences and needs are.

The TUC needs this information so that the TUC and Unions can do more to help Safety Reps, and so that Safety Reps’ views and experiences are better reflected in public policy debates and the work of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The TUC will publish the results, and use them to campaign for better safety standards at work (including more rights for Health and Safety Reps).

Your response is crucial to ensuring that this survey provides the information the TUC is seeking. Please answer as many questions as you can – but if they seem irrelevant to your experiences, ignore them.

Collating the responses to this survey will be a time-consuming and expensive task, so the TUC cannot enter into correspondence arising from the survey. But the TUC does want to know about any successes Health and Safety have had in improving health and safety standards and if Reps want to send details, then please e-mail those details to: healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk.

Please complete the survey by Friday 29 June 2018 when the survey will close.

The 2018 biennial TUC survey of health and safety representatives is now online so please complete the survey at:- https://www.tuc.org.uk/national/health-and-safety-reps-survey-2018

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB263 TUC Health & Safety Reps Survey 2018

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ELECTION OF NATIONAL DELEGATIONS 2018

• TUC Congress

• Labour Party Conference        

The NEC has agreed the 2018 election arrangements for the National delegations listed above. Accordingly please find attached the Election Regulations, Nomination Forms and Candidates Consent and Biographical Detail Form for these elections.

Labour Party Conference – 2018

Would Branches please note that the relevant section of The Labour Party’s procedural rules regarding delegates to Annual Conference reads as follows:

(Chapter 3, Clause 1, Rule 4F) – All delegates must have been individual members of the Party for at least 12 months at the closing date set for the receipt of names of delegates.

Accordingly in order to be eligible to be a delegate, a nominee must have been a member for 12 months at the Labour Party closing date for applications, which in respect of 2018 is 22 June. Therefore if any nominee joined the Labour Party after 22 June 2017 then unfortunately they are not eligible to be a delegate at Annual Conference 2018.

Additionally would branches please ensure that all candidates for the Labour Party delegation complete sections B, C, D, E, G and J of the attached Labour Party Annual Conference delegate application form, and attach this to the candidate consent form which must be returned to CWU HQ by the closing date for CWU nominations.

The details of the Conferences are as follows:

• TUC Congress, Manchester, 9-12 September 2018

• Labour Party Conference, Liverpool, 23-26 September 2018

The Timetable for the elections is:

Nominations open:                 4 May 2018

Nominations close:                18 May 2018 (14:00)

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

18LTB258

Election Regulations LP & TUC 2018

TUC Nomination Forms 2018

TUC Candidate Biographical Detail & Consent Form

LP Nomination Forms 2018

Labour Party Affiliate Delegate Application Form

LP Candidates Biographical Detail and Consent Form