Royal Mail Launch Smartphone and Technology Schemes
Attached for your information is a copy of a letter from the business to be sent to all Royal Mail employees relating to the launch of two new products as part of My Bundle – the company’s flexible benefits package launched earlier this year.
From 1 November 2016, Royal Mail plan to trial two new products to be provided by Let’s Connect:
Smartphone – a choice of Apple or Android phones for colleagues who are not in receipt of a company provided mobile phone; and

Technology – a choice of laptops and tablets from various brands.

The company say that My Bundle products are designed to save colleagues income tax (where possible) and National Insurance (without affecting other Royal Mail benefits) and will not affect employees’ pensionable pay, overtime or bonus.
Royal Mail’s letter, which is due to land with employees on 26th October, sets out how the two products will work and how employees can choose the new benefits, together with a list of Frequently Asked Questions and a contact Helpline number.
However, CWU members should be clear that My Bundle and the products associated with it are a Royal Mail initiative and the union has had no involvement in their design or implementation. Whether colleagues choose to take up any of these flexible benefits is ultimately a matter for each individual employee but the union would advise initial caution with My Bundle products – in terms of relying too much on the employer. There may also be issues about My Bundle benefits in relation to employees who might lose their job, cut their hours or are made redundant.
From a union perspective, the Bundle that means most to our members is their job, pay and pensions and it is those that we need to focus on and maintain going forward.
Any enquiries relating to this issue should be addressed to the DGSP Department.
Yours sincerely
 
 
Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 630/16 – Royal Mail Launch Smartphone and Technology Schemes

Attachment 1 – LTB 630.16 – RMG_gadget Letter_20161010_V4

TARIFF INCREASE – QUADRANT CATERING

The department were recently made aware from the field of a change in the Quadrant tariff, which unusually we had not received any prior notification of from the business. 
We have now clarified the position with the business and they have provided us with details of the tariff changes that have recently taken place. 
Branches should note that the Union does not set or endorse the change in tariff.
Colleagues will be aware that Quadrant has not increased their tariff since February 2014. The attached outlines that they have introduced a 2% increase based on overall sales mix, in order to reduce impact on the number of lines increased and that the tariff process has been used to align main meal dishes into easily identifiable price points for customers. 
They have also pointed out that prices on meal bundle offers have been held. 
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number: 312.01
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 634/16 – TARIFF INCREASE – QUADRANT CATERING

Slow Manoeuvring Extended Trial in Delivery 

Branches will recall the slow manoeuvring trial agreed back in September 2015, together with the Terms of Reference contained in LTB 597/15 relating to the issue.

 

It has come to the attention of the department that an extension of this trial has recently been introduced without agreement into a number of offices.

 

By way of background to the extension of the existing trial, Branches should be aware that Royal Mail took a unilateral decision to disband the National Joint Road Safety Working Group (NJRSWG), at a time when it was due to review the outputs of the slow manoeuvring trial. The business wrote to the department informing us they had now formed a new group wide forum named, ‘The Road Safety Taskforce’ (RST), extending an invite to the Officer of the department to attend a meeting. The department responded to the business informing them of the nominees from the outdoor department (Alan Tate and Bobby Weatherall), who would be attending any future meetings, and at the same time questioning what had happened to the NJRSWG. It seemed that all road safety issues and Royal Mail lead managers had been subsumed into the RST group leaving no avenue where outstanding trial reviews could be addressed outside of this forum.

 

For various reasons, including no invites, cancelled meetings etc, the new RST did not meet until the 5th of October 2016. The department voiced a number of concerns and raised a number of issues relating to Road Transport issues. From this meeting a new strand group of the RST is being established in the form of a strategic involvement group. This group will deal with new trials, reviews, initiatives and agreements.

 

With regard to the extended slow manoeuvring trial, whilst not originally having the opportunity to input into the extension of the trial, we feel that it would be wrong in ignoring the importance and relevance of the trial due to the safety measures it may bring in safeguarding our members with regard to on site Road Traffic Accidents. Therefore, rather than preventing the trial from continuing, we are prepared to accept the trial as it is, and on the same conditions as contained in the Terms of Reference as agreed on 15th September 2015 (see attached).

 

Below are the offices that are currently on track to conclude the trial by the end of October 2016, along with those that are off track and not in a position to conclude by the end of October.

 On Track

 

Alfreton

Kenilworth

Melton Mowbray

Dumfries

Middlesbrough

Llangefeni

 

Offices off Track

 

Eltham & Lee

Antrim

Blackpool

Stockport

Reading

Shrewsbury

 

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 230

Email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Mark Baulch​

CWU A/Assistant Secretary

CWU Digital Photography 2016 competition
Dear Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that we announce the shortlist for this year’s CWU Digital Photography Competition. This year’s categories are:
• In Search of Space

• Love

• The Wild Side of Life

• The Spirit of Activism
“As before, it has been a difficult challenge to whittle the numbers down to a final twelve,” said Trish Lavelle, Head of Education & Training. “The judges selected on the basis of those which best and most imaginatively fitted the category title, as well as the overall composition of the image. There were some wonderful images that we were unable to include in the final twelve. Thank you to everyone who made the effort to share their images with us.”
We are now asking CWU members to pick the winner. Please go to http://www.cwu.org/leftclick to vote for your favourite.
The competition has consistently attracted a high standard of entries, with the 2014 winner – postman David Gibbon from Durham – going on to reach the finals of the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Last year’s winner was Paul Fine of Plymouth Mail Centre, whose captivating image of an elderly woman lighting up a cigarette in a Borneo marketplace became the first entry to be selected for the top prize by a national poll of members visiting an online gallery of the shortlisted entries.
This year the same mass-voting mechanism will be used to select the overall winner of the 2016 competition, and it is hoped that over the coming months even more members will sign up to the CWU’s ‘No Nonsense Guide to Digital Photography’, which was launched last year and which is accessible on http://www.cwu.org/leftclick.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Simon Massen by email to learn@cwu.org 
Yours sincerely,

TRISH LAVELLE

Head of Education & Training
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 636/16 – CWU Digital Photography 2016 competition

Developing Our Vision Policy
 
Further to LTB 524/16, please find attached the business’s response to the union’s call for more meaningful and focused negotiations on the direction of the employer, its commitment to the spirit and intent of our agreements and the union’s progressive agenda determined by the CWU Policy Forum.
 
The CWU have made it clear, in the strongest terms, that we believe the absence of a consensus vision for the future, the attack on the pension promise and the very serious declining workplace environment (as management intensify the pressure on our members to drive budget savings) has to be addressed as a matter of urgency and we are pleased that the response from the business recognises the need to engage.
 
In many ways their response is predictable but I believe it does establish the key components for entering into genuine negotiation on our Policy Forum document and the policies carried, insomuch as the business accept we need to begin more formal negotiations and have no ‘in-principle’ problem dealing with CWU policy in future talks. We are meeting with the business on the 26th October to determine the structure for these talks.
 
Of course management will have their issues that they wish to progress but the union is seeking to design a negotiating structure to try and develop consensus and/or draw out the key differences between us. We have made it absolutely clear that the proposed negotiating structure aims to advance the Policy Forum Decisions and not substitute or retard current functional/Departmental talks already taking place. We have therefore broken down the Policy Forum Decisions into the following Negotiating Groups: Culture (More Human); Current Agreements; Resourcing; Pensions; Pipeline (Future Design); Pay, Terms & Conditions/Shorter Working Week; and Vision/Charter.
 
Each of the Negotiating Groups will be led by at least two Officers from a CWU perspective, along with their chosen negotiating teams, and the Postal Executive has already determined the protocol required for reporting and final decision-making to ensure a joined up approach across the whole range of our policies.
 
We imagine these talks evolving and accept this is very much a start point, with other policies (via existing commitments or Annual Conference motions) having to be factored in as the talks develop.
 
Our aim in these talks is to secure another long term agreement that will give our members the assurances and security required to ensure our continued cooperation with a rapidly changing future while affording industrial stability going forward.
 
In respect of communication with Representatives and members, it is very important to position this progress in the context of the Policy Forum document and the motions and amendments carried. To that end we have attached copies of both for ease of reference.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
 
Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 629/16 – Developing Our Vision Policy

Attachment 1 – LTB 629/16 – Developing Our Vision Policy

Attachment 2 – LTB 629/16 – Developing Our Vision Policy

Attachment 3 – LTB 629/16 – Developing Our Vision Policy

CWU Women’s Conference – Tuesday 8th November 2016
Branches would wish to know that the agenda for the forthcoming CWU Women’s Conference being held in Leicester on Tuesday 8th November 2016 has now been published on the website and can be accessed using the link below:
http://www.cwu.org/media/conference/womens-conference-2016/
Hard copies of the agenda will be sent to Branch addresses of everyone that has registered using the online registration system.
Credential cards for delegates/visitors and voting cards for this conference will be issued on the morning of the conference at registration.  
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by telephoning 020 8971 7256 or by post to head office or by email to conferences@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
 
A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 632/16 – CWU Women’s Conference – Tuesday 8th November 2016

CWU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Conference – Wednesday 9th November 2016
Branches would wish to know that the agenda for the forthcoming CWU LGBT Conference being held in Leicester on Wednesday 9th November 2016 has now been published on the website and can be accessed using the link below:
http://www.cwu.org/media/conference/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-conference/
Hard copies of the agenda will be sent to Branch addresses of everyone that has registered using the online registration system.
Credential cards for delegates/visitors and voting cards for this conference will be issued on the morning of the conference at registration.
Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by telephoning 020 8971 7256 or by post to head office or by email to conferences@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,

A P Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 633/16 – CWU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Conference – Wednesday 9th November 2016

LGBT CONFERENCE PAD

‘Dying to Work’ Campaign – Motion 57(2016) – British Telecom Positive Response:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
This is an update report to branches on the ‘Dying to Work’ campaign, further to LTBs 364/16 date 6th June 2016, 260/16 dated 26 April 2016 and 581/15 dated 7 September 2015.
Motion 57 (Health and Safety Section) was accepted at 2016 Conference instructing the NEC to provide regular updates on the ‘Dying to Work Campaign’ and to raise awareness amongst our members in the workplace.
The TUC’s ‘Dying to Work Campaign’ called for all TUC affiliated Unions to support the campaign and to raise the profile of the campaign and to pledge to promote the new campaign which is designed to support those workers fighting for their right to work whilst coming to terms with their terminal illness, seeking to achieve dignity and respect that terminally ill workers deserve. A lot of workers with a terminal diagnosis decide that they want to continue working as long as they can, either because they need the financial security or because they find that their work can be a helpful distraction from their illness. Whichever choice a person makes, they should be able to expect help and support from their employer. Unfortunately the experience of many workers is that their employer is either unsympathetic or puts up barriers to them continuing in work.
Representations have been made to Royal Mail and BT.
LTB 364/16 gave an update report on discussions with Royal Mail Group who had given a positive response, declaring support for the campaign and agreeing to amend their ‘Terminal Illness Guide’ to reflect that support.
This LTB however is an update in relation to the discussions with BT Group who I am also pleased to report have given positive support to our campaign.
See attached letter dated 15 September 2016 from Dr Paul Litchfield OBE OStJ FRCP FFOM BT Group Chief Medical Officer and Director Safety, Health & Wellbeing, confirming BT’s support for the principles of the ‘Dying to Work’ Campaign with the exception of the call for Regulations. 
The key extracts are as follows:-
“We (BT) are very supportive of the principle of treating terminally ill people with particular dignity and respect. I have spent the best part of 40 years encouraging organisations to do that and to give dying people as much control as possible over decisions affecting their employment – not least because in that situation people generally lose control to “the system” over many of the important decisions affecting them. I have dealt with thousands of people facing these issues over the years and the key to me appears to be flexibility. No two people are the same and you can’t predict what people are going to want – some want to remain in employment for as long as possible and others want to make a clean break and put their affairs in order.
I do not recall a single case in BT over the past 15 years where someone who is dying has been forced to take medical retirement and I see every case where a certificate is issued. More often the pressure is to expedite medical retirement with serious ill health commutation where that is appropriate. We have always (at least in my time) given absolute priority to cases of terminal illness and we have recently amended procedures to speed up the decision making process for all MR cases so that at least one worrying uncertainty is minimised. I have no doubt that if this was going wrong your colleagues on the telecommunications side would have let us know and I would expect to have intervened personally.
Medical advances have changed the landscape during my career. Conditions that were essentially a death sentence a generation ago are now sometimes curable or, more often, have a greatly extended prognosis. Defining “terminal illness” has therefore become much more difficult because very many people have extended periods of life with a disease which is likely to kill them eventually and their level of incapacity varies considerably. Even determining whether people satisfy the HMRC rules for serious ill health commutation has become more challenging, though at BT we will always seek to err on the side of benefitting the scheme member (a line the Trustees support)….we are committed to doing the right thing by our dying employees….flexibility is the key to compassionate management of these cases.
Dr Paul Litchfield OBE OStJ FRCP FFOM

BT Group Chief Medical Officer and Director Safety, Health & Wellbeing”
Further updates will be published to Branches and Health and Safety Reps in due course.
Further information:- Dying to work campaign: http://www.dyingtowork.co.uk

Yours sincerely

 
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 631/16 ‘Dying to Work Campaign’

Letter from Dr Paul Litchfield

Auto Level Trolley Withdrawal From Royal Mail Service Following 2016 Christmas Pressure:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Royal Mail have been phasing out the Auto-Level Trolley for some time, replacing it with the Mini-York Container and ALP Sleeve. Royal Mail has decided that the formal, final withdrawal of all remaining units will take place after the 2016 Christmas Pressure period.
4000 additional new Mini-York Containers are being put into service in preparation for Christmas but this may not be enough. Therefore the remaining numbers of ALTs which are currently in offices awaiting removal and disposal may be pressed back into service for the Christmas Pressure period only as long as the condition of them is both safe and fit for purpose. As soon as the Christmas pressure is over they will be withdrawn and there will then follow a concerted effort to remove remaining Units for final disposal.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
Email Attachments – Click to download
Attachment 1 – LTB628/16 Auto Level Trolley Withdrawal From Royal Mail Service Following 2016 Christmas Pressur

Attachment 2 – Doc1

Royal Mail Managerial Structure – Professionalising Collections
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
We became aware that Royal Mail had made announcements regarding their managerial structure for Collections, under the banner/project of ‘Professionalising Collections’.
 
As a result clarity was sought from Royal Mail on the detail of the initiative and any potential impact to CWU Members and Representatives who undertake Collection activity across a number of different functions.
 
The business response is that this is purely a managerial driven change linked to their structures which will involve moving to a new structure of three Regional and thirty geographic areas, arranged around Mail Centre catchment areas and aligned to Delivery sectors. It has been confirmed that there will be no changes to where current CWU members are tagged or perform their collection work. In addition they have confirmed there will be no changes to the current IR interfaces within the Collections functions.
 
Attached to this LTB is a copy of the WTLL briefing that has been shared with us. At the present time we are evaluating the changes to understand whether the information supplied requires further consideration or discussion.
 
As such if Branches or Representatives have any comments then it would be appreciated if these could be fed back to the relevant CWU Department as soon as possible, so that any necessary representations can be made at the next Collections Joint Working Group Meeting.
 
Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 532
Email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org
 
Any enquiries to Davie Robertson’s department, quoting reference 711.03
Email address: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org
 
Yours Sincerely,
 
 
Davie Robertson Mark Baulch
Assistant Secretary A/Assistant Secretary 
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 625/16 – Royal Mail Managerial Structure – Professionalising Collections

Attachment 1 – WTLL Professionalising Collections