Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains. Karl Marx.
Please see below a link to a final pre-Christmas video from Terry Pullinger DGSP on the Royal Mail Dispute. Progress has been made and this is down to the work of our reps and members.
Have a great Christmas and New Year
We’ll bring you one more final Christmas message from the GS later in the week.
#RiseUp
CWU Communications Department
19th December 2017
Summary of Talks with Royal Mail Group
Since the last update there has been six full days of negotiations with the business.
You will recall that we committed to monitor progress to assess genuine movement to
an Agreement. We still believe that the current talks continue to show progress;
Pay
We have seen two moves by the business on the issue of pay. At this stage they
are closed offers but, from a design point of view, we are now talking about
actual increases in basic pay, flowing through to all pay elements and backdated
to 1st April 2017. From April 2018, the business is proposing a basic pay
increase and movement on the Shorter Working Week. While the company has
agreed the principle of a 35 hour working week we have not yet agreed a flight
path and timetable for its introduction. The CWU have rejected the company’s
latest pay offers but the two moves (in one week) clearly represent progress.
The latest basic pay offer is also in stark contrast to the company’s initial offer of
an unconsolidated lump sum payment tied to improvements in productivity.
Parcelforce and Fleet have also joined the talks in the last week. In Parcelforce,
the meeting was positive and we believe the company are recognising that the
full value of a RMG pay settlement will have to be applied to Parcelforce as will
the Shorter Working Week. In Fleet, the Union is seeking application of the 2017
pay award to members and, depending on the shape of the final Agreement, also
the application of the 2018 settlement.
Pensions
In respect of pensions and as previously reported, a Wage in Retirement
Scheme, with a DB lump sum element is now being worked up. What is not yet
agreed are the targeted outcomes and RMG’s overall contribution but these are
being worked through in a more positive manner. You will also recall that both
parties were committed to joint lobbying activities to push through the regulations
required for our scheme to be introduced. To this end, in the last week, we have
jointly attended a Friends of Collective Defined Contributions Meeting at the TUC
to promote our case for a new Defined Ambition Scheme and discuss required
lobbying activities. The CDC Group (which includes Representatives from the
TUC, First Actuarial, Senior Civil Servants from the DWP, business groups,
pension stakeholders and other interested parties) has been campaigning for a
number of years for the same regulations to be introduced that we require for our
proposed Royal Mail Group Scheme. In addition, both parties have agreed a
series of information sharing and joint lobbying activity targeting key politicians and Government Departments.
Shorter Working Week
In respect of the Shorter Working Week this clearly gets embroiled with pay, pipeline, future trials and new technology talks. However, we are adamant that if the company truly share our objective of a full time 35 hour working week then we need a firm commitment and flight path as to how it will be deployed and by when.
Pipeline
Discussions with the company have continued on the issue of pipeline. Over the past week the CWU have carried out an analytical breakdown of Royal Mail Group’s proposal to establish what is actually required for later LATs for parcels and what is arguably just pure cost cutting change. As a consequence we are increasingly confident that we can counter propose in a manner that responds to the later LAT challenge, enables more of those later parcels to be delivered with
the core operation and in a manner which does not totally disrupt our members’ lives. Talks continue.
Accord
We have also held sessions on the Accord document and how we develop the
issues in the Accord into a more meaningful Agreement covering for example efficiency, resourcing, culture and the IR Framework etc. and words are being exchanged in this regard.
Talks will continue this week and have also been booked for the 3rd, 4th 5th January in advance of the next PE meeting on the 9th January where we will again assess any progress made and how we accelerate to an Agreement.
CWU NORTH WEST REGION – ‘WOMEN OF TODAY’ EVENT
The CWU North West Region are holding their ‘Women of Today’ event on the 25th January 2018 in Manchester. The details of the event are as follows:
DATE/TIME: Thursday 25th January 2018 – 10:00-15:30
VENUE: Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess St, Manchester, M1 6DD
AGENDA: Registration, Tea & Coffee 10:00 – 10.30am
Speakers:
• MARGARET ASPINALL (Hillsborough), WASPI,
• SYLVIA LANCASTER (Sophie Lancaster Foundation)
• LYNN COLLINS, NW TUC Regional Secretary
• JENNY MEIN (former Leader of Lancashire County Council),
• AUDREY WHITE (Labour Activist)
• JEAN SHARROCKS, Chair CWU WAC
• ANGELA RAYNER MP (Shadow Education Secretary) – tbc
LUNCH – Will be provided
The aim of the day is to increase involvement of our female members in the CWU and the wider Labour movement. All Female Representatives and Branch Women’s Officers are encouraged to attend and for them to bring as many CWU female members as possible.
There will also be various information stalls.
To register please visit: http://ow.ly/ALdW30hi13P
If you require any further information, please either contact Karen Kendrick, North West Regional Women’s Secretary emailing karen@cwu-mancom.org or Carl Webb, Regional Secretary – northwestregion@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
MOTION 84: CWU General Conference 2017 – CWU Boycott of The Sun Newspaper
Colleagues will be aware that the above Motion was carried unanimously by CWU General Conference 2017. The motion instructed the NEC to ”support the campaign for all retailers and vendors of newspapers to stop selling the Sun” as well as stating that “conference applauds the group called ‘The Total Eclipse of the Sun’ for their endeavours to rid the UK of this newspaper.
Our work in this regard has continued in line with motion to the extent that our branches in the North West have actively engaged with the campaign and on Merseyside in particular a number of large retail chains no longer stock the newspaper, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s, Asda to name a few.
At the recent North West Regional Labour Party Conference the CWU moved a motion similar to that agreed at CWU conference, moved by Brian Kenny this was carried by the Conference. In other work UNITE taxi drivers Branch in Liverpool boycotted Sainsbury’s petrol stations as part of the campaign for their stores to stop selling the paper. It is clear then that the campaign is effective.
In line with our ongoing support for the campaign we have been reviewing our relationship with the publication.
Alongside its disgraceful coverage of the tragic Hillsborough disaster, this newspaper is an enemy to ordinary working people across the UK with its constant promotion of right wing politics and a vicious approach to anyone not supporting their agenda.
We have been working with the Communications Department to ascertain the level of engagement in recent times with the Sun and can confirm that every story on the CWU in the last two years has been negative towards us.
The Sun has historically been purchased by the department on a daily basis to form part of the news round-up which is provided to the senior officers. The department has suspended this order.
In short we do not believe there is anything positive to be gained by the CWU having any relationship with The Sun and we are loathed to commit our member’s money to an organisation which has done and continues to do so much damage to working people.
We therefore believe it is right for unions to take a formal stance on issues such as this so we are recommending that the CWU takes a formal position of a total boycott of The Sun on a union-wide basis and gives suitable publicity this decision.
Any enquiries on the content of this LTB please forward to gsoffice@cwu.org
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Safe & Well – December 2017
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Please see attached the December edition of Safe and Well newsletter with contributions from our USRs and field teams with articles on Poles (what can go on them, what can fall from them in light of a recent incident and who to call if you are stuck up one), cable drums (how to transport them, how NOT to store them), what does and doesn’t go in a hazardous waste mini (and also a refresh on how NOT to transport hazardous waste). There is a general refresh on winter, what to do from a health and safety view.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
17LTB682 Safe & Well – December 2017
PAYMENT PROTECTION INSURANCE (PPI) – CWU PPI Claims Package
Many of you will be aware of the national media advertising campaign regarding the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
A deadline of August 2019 has now been set for anyone making a claim.
There have been a lot of negative reports around this issue with companies cold calling individuals with nuisance phone calls.
New regulations have been issued to companies who provide this service hence we have seen an increase in the media campaign. The latest campaign has been given a level of respectability with adverts appearing from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) inviting people to make a claim.
Many of our members will have been victims of PPI mis-selling and will, no doubt, be making claims with many of the firms who are advertising this service.
With this in mind, the CWU has been approached by a PPI Claims Management Company, Legal and Financial Solutions Limited (LFS), who work with membership organisations and provide a free, no obligation, PPI review. Having made the necessary security and compliance checks, we have reached an agreement with LFS to offer this service to our members.
An information leaflet will be produced as an insert in the December issue of the Voice magazine alerting members of the forthcoming service.
The PPI review process will be as follows. Members will either be contacted by phone or invited to contact LFS direct and then asked if they wish to participate in the Scheme. If the member agrees, an application pack will be sent to him or her. The completed form, including details of any loan or credit products the member has used, will be returned to LFS. On receipt, LFS will carry out the free, no obligation review, and check if PPI was included in any of the products. LFS will report back to the member with details of any potential claims.
If there are any potential claims, members will have the choice of either instructing LFS to act on their behalf or pursue the claim themselves.
This is an excellent opportunity for members who were mis-sold PPI to make their claims via a reputable claims company. It is important to note that the PPI review is a totally free service. In the event members instruct LFS to act for them, the appropriate agreement will be sent to our members which will clearly detail the terms and charges that apply in the event a successful claim is made.
We have put this package together after taking legal advice. Members’ contact details will only be used for this purpose and will be totally secure. We are aware that other Trade Unions are providing this type of service to their members.
If you have any queries regarding the above, please contact Tony Rupa, Head of Legal Services, Communication Workers Union, 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, SW19 1RX. Telephone 0208 971 7444 or via email trupa@cwu.org
Yours sincerely
Tony Rupa
Head of Legal Services
680.2017 LTB – Payment Protection Insurance PPI – CWU PPI Claims Service November 2017
Royal Mail Peugeot Expert Vans Security Standards – Door Locking System – Theft of Mail Bags and Packets from Rear Doors: URGENT ATTENTION
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Earlier this week the CWU/HQ, Health, Safety and Environment Department received reports regarding a series of thefts from insecure Peugeot Expert collection vans in Hull.
A serious security risk was identified with the central door locking system, whereby the rear and side load space doors remained open whilst the vans were being operated, making the vans vulnerable to opportunistic thefts.
Royal Mail Fleet Services subsequently confirmed that some of the new 66 and 67 Registration plate, Peugeot Expert vans had been delivered to Royal Mail without the load area and cab locking system configured to the Royal Mail Fleet specification and therefore this can leave the load area vulnerable to theft and robbery.
The load area and cab locking should operate independently but due to an oversight by the manufacturers, the selective area locking option was not undertaken, meaning both the load area and cab doors will open together leaving the load area unlocked after the cab open button on the key had been pressed.
Other Peugeot vans, namely the Partner and Doblo along with older Experts are unaffected.
This identified error, by the manufacturers however, meant that a number of these vehicles entered service with the locking system set in the wrong configuration and as a result, three of these vehicles, in separate incidents, were victim to motorcycle riding robbers in Hull earlier this week, when the unlocked back doors of the targeted vans were simply opened and mailbags and parcels then snatched before the thieves made off on motorcycles.
As soon as the Royal Mail Fleet Engineering team were made aware of the locking system configuration setting problem, Technical Services Bulletin (TSB) 26/17 dated December 2017 was issued to all RM Fleet Workshops informing them of the problem with the new Peugeot Expert Vans (66/67 Registration), requesting action to check and reset, if required, the central locking system configuration at the next workshop visit. This TSB has also subsequently been distributed and shared with the Fleet Business Partners (FBPs) in order to direct attention to the relevant offices that have the affected vehicles and so concentrate the approach to urgently checking the vans involved.
The FBPs are presently contacting all offices in their own areas to share the TSB information and locking reset instruction, this way speeding up the check and reset, reducing further theft risks and avoiding unnecessary workshop visits and vehicle downtime during the busiest time of the year.
The easy, simple reset process of the locking/unlocking mechanism which is detailed in the attached TSB 26/17 only takes a matter of seconds to complete and will remove the risk of any further thefts of this nature, especially as these attempted thefts from vehicles increases in the run up to Christmas . The resetting can be completed by holding down the correct button on the key fob (see attached TSB 26/17).
Royal Mail Fleet have confirmed that they have 1,142 Peugeot Expert vehicles possibly affected but have assured CWU/HQ that they have the fix in place and are taking the necessary urgent action to alleviate the problem as quickly as possible .
Would all ASRs, ADR’s and Unit Reps check the vehicle key fobs on any Peugeot Expert vans, 66 and 67 Plate Registration, which are in service on local Royal Mail fleets in their areas and at their offices to confirm the van’s locking/unlocking works correctly and if not get them reset, as required in the TSB, so the fobs only performs partial vehicle door unlocking/locking – cab or rear load space doors separately and NOT full unlocking of all doors at once!
Thanks very much for your help and assistance.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
 
Processing Report
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
It has been a difficult year with the pressures of privatisation having a huge impact on the resourcing of our operation and a major threat to the company we work for and our terms and conditions of employment. I’m proud of you the members who make up our union for standing up against those threats by backing your union during the current dispute which has given us a strong foundation to negotiate a future for Royal Mail and protect our terms and conditions. Thank you!
The following report gives you some important information about Christmas and an update on the National Issues courtesy of the London Division.
Long Term Sick Christmas Raffle
As in previous years we are running a Christmas raffle in aid of the long-term sick. Your CWU Representatives will be selling raffle tickets for a range of prizes including once again a day’s leave as the top prize. A list of the prizes available will soon go on display. It’s hoped that you support this worthy cause as you have done in previous years.
CWU Diaries
CWU members will be receiving a CWU diary for Christmas. Your Reps will be distributing them over the next couple of weeks.
Christmas & New Year Attendance Arrangements 2017/18
The 2017 Christmas agreement is on display on the union board. The section identifying the working arrangements is copied below:
2.8 Week commencing 24th December the 5-day attendance Night Shift, Late Shift, Twilight Shift and Monday to Friday Early Shift staff will attend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Tuesday to Saturday Early Shift staff will attend Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The 4-day attendance DSA staff will attend Thursday and Friday. The 4-day attendance Weekend Shift staff will attend on Sunday 24th and Saturday 30th December.
2.10 Week commencing 31st December the 5-day attendance Night Shift, Late Shift, Twilight Shift and Monday to Friday Early Shift staff will attend Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Tuesday to Saturday Early Shift staff will attend Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The 4-day attendance DSA staff will attend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The 4-day attendance Weekend Shift staff will attend Sunday 31st December, Wednesday 3rd and Saturday 6th January.
2.11 Staff who attend for 3-days or less will fall under the Bank Holiday Credit Formula.
Boxing Night and New Year’s Day Night
The business require a small amount of resource for Boxing Day and New Year’s Day nights. Overtime volunteer sheets are on display for staff to put their names down if they want to be considered to perform overtime on these nights.
Christmas Pay Supplement
The Christmas pay supplement of £100 for full time OPG and OSGs (pro-rata for part timers) will be paid on Friday, 22nd December. The eligibility criteria for the Christmas supplement payment will be the same as last year, based on the four December weeks (commencing Monday, 27th November). In the unlikely event of any Industrial Action the abatement criteria will be drawn from the PBS agreement.
The separate payment of £100 (pro rata for PT employees) agreed in the National Joint Statement – New Incentive Arrangements June 2012 will also be paid on Friday, 22nd December.
Scheduled Attendance Holiday Pay
Christmas pressure SA may increase the number of SA hours worked above normal weekly averages. To ensure the additional contribution is not lost SA holiday pay for the Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day Bank Holidays will be calculated by taking the average daily amount of SA worked by each individual in the 4 weeks prior to the Bank Holiday.
National Dispute & Mediation Update
Firstly, we wish to thank you for your continued support and apologise for the lack of information over the last few weeks. The CWU had to respect the request from the mediators not to communicate on the national talks until after the mediation report has been produced.
We can now give you a full update on the National Negotiations. There has been progress on many of the issues. However due to the complexities of these issues there is still no agreement.
Talks have been ongoing for the last two weeks without the mediator. The CWU national negotiators are optimistic that we will have a good agreement at the end of the talks.
We should all be aware that progress has only been made because of the massive 89.1% yes vote in favour of strike action. If Royal Mail at any stage of the ongoing talks decide to stop listening to our concerns the union will have no choice but to invoke the industrial action mandate and announce strike action.
There has been real progress on all issues which made up the 4 Pillars Campaign.
The mediator has now produced a report. It is important to recognise that the report is not an agreement and that talks have continued without the mediator for the last two weeks. Further talks will take place into next week without the mediator. This dispute will only be settled by negotiations between Royal Mail and the CWU.
PENSIONS. There have been significant developments on Pensions. During all the previous negotiations Royal Mail had refused point blank to agree to having just one pension scheme for all.
However, during the negotiations which the Mediator was facilitating, Royal Mail agreed to the principle of one pension scheme for all.
Royal Mail and the CWU are still working on the details of the scheme but the following has been agreed.
A) That there will be one pension scheme for all.
B) That All Basic Pay and pensionable allowances will count towards pensionable pay.
C) This will significantly benefit those individuals who joined after April1987 and are in the old POPS scheme as their first £4000 of their basic wage is not pensionable. Under this scheme, it will be. This will benefit 88,000 members of the 93,000 in the current DB scheme who joined after 1st April 1987.
D) All DC scheme members will be in the new scheme and will for the first time have their pensionable allowances count towards their pension.
The above scheme will be a collective defined ambition Pension scheme which will guarantee a wage in retirement and there will be an element of shared risk.
This new scheme needs changes to the Pension Regulations and Royal Mail and the CWU will lobby the Government to have these changes introduced. The above represents significant progress. However, a lot more of the detail needs to be clarified before there is an agreed and legally binding commitment on pensions.
Both the union and Royal Mail recognises that whilst we are lobbying the Government for the changes to be made to allow for the Pension regulator to approve of such a pension scheme, we will need transitional arrangements prior to the 31st March 2018 when the Defined Benefit scheme closes.
The transitional arrangements could be that we simply agree an extension to the DB scheme closure date. However Royal Mail has offered the following as an interim measure;
. All current DB members get transferred into a Defined Benefit cash balance scheme;
. That any member who is in the DC scheme who has been in Royal Mail for 5 or more years would be also moved into the Defined Benefit Cash balance scheme;
. That all remaining members in the Defined Benefit scheme who had done more than 12 months would be auto enrolled onto the highest level which attracts Royal Mail’s contribution of 10%.
PAY. The CWU has rejected another Royal Mail pay offer which increased the lump sum from £350 to £550 which would have been consolidated from April by 2% and another 2% for next year and an hour off the working week. The external mediator has recommended 2.6% backdated to April 2017 flowing through to allowances. Pay remains unresolved and subject to further negotiations.
SHORTER WORKING WEEK. Royal Mail has offered an hour off the working week from next year. The CWU want agreement on a timetable which commits to the introduction of a 35-hour gross working week without loss of pay and with paid meal reliefs continuing and is pushing for a shorter working week based on automation and the decline of letter traffic. Also, a shorter working week will reduce absorption levels.
Prior to 2009 we had no sequencing and no flat automation. Now more of this workload completely bypasses the IPS. Royal Mail wants later acceptance times and more work sequenced on the first wave. This means that the first wave will not be sorted into the frame, the work will be un-sequenced.
If, and it is a big IF, the parcel machines work to full capacity, a manifest for each walk can be produced which then further reduces indoor work. Add to this Automated Hours Data Capture (AHDC), which identifies where you are in any part of the building and PDA actuals which record your last letter and location and time.
A reduction in the working week is therefore vital based on the loss of indoor workload. The expectation from the employer will be to do longer deliveries to compensate. Hence the importance of a substantial reduction in the working week. Those who argue that you can’t complete now within 39 hours should be aware that a shorter working week means they must employ part timers on more hours or another full timer.
Royal Mail estimates that a 1-hour reduction in the working week based on no absorption equates to a cost of 100 million pounds. Remember the Shorter working week is without loss of pay and without losing paid meal reliefs. Due to the hourly rate going up part timers would benefit from a shorter working week with an instant pay rise. Our reasons for a shorter working week are sound.
LEGAL GUARANTEES. This is one area where progress has not been made and has not been helped by the Mediators report. The mediators’ recommendation is that the review should not take place until 2019. The CWU is insisting that Royal Mail agrees to an extension of the legal guarantees as part of any final deal. This would stop any attempts to introduce outsourcing, franchising, a two-tier workforce or a break-up of the company.
PIPELINE ISSUES. Progress has been made on all the issues which Royal Mail were originally proposing. This includes: Dropping the 1700-hour last letter and their 9-5 Delivery strategy. Royal Mail has moved its position from 17:00 to a range of finishing times from 14:30 and 15:30. (It is currently from 14:00 until 15:00). This remains unagreed by the CWU. The CWU are looking at agreeing trials on ADHC which cannot be used for identifying where you are within your workplace and cannot be used for individual performance standards or conduct issues.
The union has rejected walk ownership and the concept of outdoor delivery merging and are currently exploring trialling different indoor methods for prep. However, there will be change since the growth in parcels is based on next day delivery. Additionally, new technology and automation is going to change the way we sort and the way we currently work. Against this background, the CWU is attempting to establish trials based on what will be acceptable in the future from automation and technological advances.
OTHER RELATED ISSUES. The following issues are still a fundamental part of the ongoing negotiations: Reviews of Part Timers contracted hours; Holiday pay for part time members; Resourcing in Offices and managers putting budget before quality of service.
CONCLUSION. We believe there has been real progress on most of the issues and accept that it is right for our national negotiators to continue to attempt to reach a final agreement. If at any stage the negotiations hit a brick wall, then we should all be in no doubt that we will invoke our right to take strike action.
At this moment in time we are hopeful of a good agreement. The progress so far would not have been achieved without your support and your yes vote. The power of our collective strength through the union is there for us all to see. Keep the faith and keep supporting your union.
Merry Christmas
&
Happy New Year
EJ Orviss
Area Processing Representative
Date 15th December 2017
Woman Jailed Over Savage Dog Attack On 12 Children
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Irresponsible dangerous dog owner Claire Neal was jailed for 4 years yesterday after she allowed her dog to escape into a playground full of young children and stage a terrifying attack on 12 youngsters.
Claire Neal, 39, left her dog unsecured even though it was known to be dangerous stated Northumbria Police.
The dog had already bitten children in previous incidents.
Neal had left her brown and white Staffordshire bull terrier in her front yard, where it was able to escape into the road in Blyth, Northumberland.
The dog, named Marley, was already subject to a ‘destruction order’ after it had attacked children on two previous occasions.
It was found without a muzzle or collar by a teenager who planned to take it to the RSPCA but it went wild after seeing children in a park and ran inside the play area before jumping on kids and biting them.
Statements from the children were read out in court, with one girl saying she fainted after the dog closed its jaws on her during the attack in May 2016.
Another child said he saw a girl being dragged by the dog while screaming.
One parent described their child’s leg as looking like “Swiss cheese”, full of puncture holes and a big gash.
A total of 12 children were treated for bites and puncture wounds, with three needing to remain in hospital overnight for further treatment.
Neal, 39, initially denied owning a dog that was dangerously out of control, arguing that the destruction order meant that it belonged to the courts.
However, after a trial was aborted part way through, she changed her plea to guilty just before a second trial commenced.
Jailing her for four years, Judge Sarah Mallett said it was a “sustained and repeated attack” and that Neal’s actions were “utterly irresponsible on every level”.
The Judge said Neal had failed to put in place any control measures and the dog had been trained to be aggressive by Neal’s partner.
The Judge added that it was ridiculous to suggest Marley was not Neal’s dog. She told Neal that she was the owner and was responsible for the dog at all times.
The Judge concluded that it was clear from these descriptions there were serious injuries but it was also clear there was significant psychological harm as well.
In addition to the 4-year jail sentence, Neal was also disqualified from owning a dog for life and the dog was destroyed.
The CWU welcomes the sentence. With 3000 Postal workers attacked by irresponsible owners’ dogs every year and with a recent spate of very serious injuries following attacks on Postmen and Women, we are calling on the Courts to be more consistent and to use the full range of their sentencing powers to hand down effective sentences along with ownership bans and destruction orders as in the Claire Neal case.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 