CWU Retired Members Conference – Thursday 21st January 2016 

The online registration system for registering delegates and observers to the above conference is now open.    

 

As for previous conferences we ask that Branch Secretaries register their delegates/observers. Branch Secretaries have been provided with a password for their branch. If you experience any problems please contact eventsregistration@cwu.org

 

The link to access the webpage is as follows or this can be copied into the search browser: http://conference.cwu.org

 

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to Angela Niven by email to conferences@cwu.org

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

A P Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

 

COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION 

ELECTION OF NEC MEMBER VACANT POSITION (POSTAL CONSTITUENCY)

Our report of voting for the above elections, which closed at first post on Monday 14th December 2015, is as follows:

 

Number of eligible voters:

 

118,638

            Votes cast by post:

14,331

 

Total number of votes cast:

14,331

Turnout:

 

12.1%

Number of votes found to be invalid (abstentions):

 

47

Number of votes found to be invalid (spoilts):

 

23

Total number of valid votes to be counted:

 

14,261

 

Result (1 to elect)

 

JONES, Steve……………………………………………………………. 3,854 Elected

GLEBOCKI, Darren…………………………………………………… 2,285                  

HALLIWELL, Steve………………………………………………….. 2,099                  

QUIRKE, Katrina………………………………………………………. 1,931                  

EDWARDS, Paul………………………………………………………. 1,866                  

WEATHERALL, Bobby…………………………………………….. 1,191                  

KHAN, Khurram……………………………………………………….. 1,035                  

 

As Scrutineers appointed in accordance with Section 49 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (as amended), we are satisfied as to each of the matters specified in subsection 52(2) with regard to the election. The following points should be noted:

1. The person appointed under section 51A to carry out the storage and counting of voting papers was Electoral Reform Services Limited.

 

2. The person appointed under section 51A to carry out the distribution of voting papers was Electoral Reform Services Limited.

 

3. A copy of the register of voters (as at the relevant date) was examined in accordance with section 49(3). The examination took place at our own instance and did not reveal any matter that should be brought to the attention of the trade union.

 

 

 

We would draw your attention to sections 52(4), 52(5), and 52(6). Section 52(4) requires that a copy of this report be published and made available to all members of the union within a three month period from today. This does not, however, mean that every member has to be notified individually.
Adrian Wilkins

Senior Consultant

BRANCH ELECTION RESULTS 2016-18 

Processing Weekend Rep

 

 

At the close of the Branch Ballot for the Processing Weekend Rep the result was as follows:

 

Ballot papers dispatched​375

Ballot papers received ​121

Ali, Imra​n​13​

Arif, Sim​37​

Cole, Ian​71​​

Spoilt​0​

 

Therefore Ian Cole is duly elected and will take up post in March 2016.

 

Amanda Hill, Branch Secretary and Luke Smith Deputy Branch Secretary acted as scrutineers.

 

Any queries in relation to this matter should be addressed to Branch Secretary.

 

Amanda Hill

Branch Secretary

BRANCH ELECTION RESULTS 2016-18 

Orton Southgate Unit Rep

 

 

At the close of the Branch Ballot for the Orton Southgate Unit Rep the result was as follows:

 

Ballot papers dispatched​189

Ballot papers received ​75

Obradovic, Marija​43

Pywell, Damon​32​

Spoilt​0​

 

Therefore Marija Obradovic is duly elected and will take up post in March 2016.

 

Amanda Hill, Branch Secretary and Luke Smith Deputy Branch Secretary acted as scrutineers.

 

Any queries in relation to this matter should be addressed to Branch Secretary.

 

Amanda Hill

Branch Secretary

BRANCH ELECTION RESULTS 2016-18 

Sub Area Health & Safety Rep

 

 

At the close of the Branch Ballot for the Sub Area Health & Safety Rep the result was as follows:

 

Ballot papers dispatched​1777

Ballot papers received ​430

Biggs, Mark​289

Skillings, Luke​141​

Spoilt​0​

 

Therefore Mark Biggs is duly elected and will take up post in March 2016.

 

Amanda Hill, Branch Secretary and Luke Smith Deputy Branch Secretary acted as scrutineers.

 

Any queries in relation to this matter should be addressed to Branch Secretary.

 

Amanda Hill

Branch Secretary

BRANCH ELECTION RESULTS 2016-18

 

Sub Area Delivery Rep

 

 

At the close of the Branch Ballot for the Sub Area Delivery Rep the result was as follows:

 

Ballot papers dispatched​1169

Ballot papers received ​266

Charlton, Julian​147

Pywell, Damon​119

Spoilt​1​

 

Therefore Julian Charlton is duly elected and will take up post in March 2016.

 

Amanda Hill, Branch Secretary and Luke Smith Deputy Branch Secretary acted as scrutineers.

 

Any queries in relation to this matter should be addressed to Branch Secretary.

 

Amanda Hill

Branch Secretary

Parcelforce Joint Statement Underpinning Incentive Payment 

Branches and representatives will be aware that in June 2012 a new National incentive scheme was agreed, LTB 455/12 refers.

 

In line with the aforementioned incentive scheme please find attached for your information a copy of a Joint Statement that has been agreed with Parcelforce Worldwide and is self-explanatory in respect of the underpinning incentive payment that is to be made.

 

Branches and representative are requested to ensure that our members are made aware of this LTB and that the attached Joint Statement is given full publicity.

 

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, e-mail: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number: 106A.06

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Davie Robertson​

Assistant Secretary

JOINT STATEMENT

 

Underpinning Incentive Payment 2015

 

You will be aware that a commitment was agreed in 2012 to develop an incentive scheme covering all CWU grades across the business, including Parcelforce Worldwide.

 

This commitment introduced an ongoing £100 underpinning payment that would be paid in addition to any existing productivity or incentive schemes. The relevant section of the agreement is reproduced below:  

 

“From 2013 onwards, in Royal Mail an underpinning £100 payment will be paid as an ongoing increase to the current Christmas bonus. For those CWU represented grades in Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide who do not receive the Christmas bonus, the following will apply: they will either receive the ongoing £100 as a payment in December of each year, or alternatively both parties can agree separate arrangements for this ongoing payment.”

 

Parcelforce Worldwide and the CWU want to take this opportunity to recognise the hard work and contribution made by everyone to keep Parcelforce at the forefront of the industry by providing excellent customer and quality of service in an extremely competitive market

 

Against that backdrop consistent with the £100 underpinning agreement and in recognition of the contribution you have made, we are pleased to confirm that the £100 lump sum (pro-rata for part time workers) for 2015 will be paid in December salaries to eligible employees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Simpson​​Davie Robertson

Managing Director​​Assistant Secretary

Parcelforce Worldwide​CWU

 

Sick Absence between Christmas and New Years DayOver the last few days enquiries and complaints have been received relating to managers interviewing members about previous absences between Christmas day and New Years day.

At a meeting earlier this week with National Head of Attendance Jo Ferguson the Union was advised that a spreadsheet had been produced and circulated to all line managers in Royal Mail Operations providing details of all staff who had any absence during the period between Christmas and New Years day in the last 5 years. Apparently, it has been suggested to managers that may wish to hold an informal review under the Attendance procedure if they believe there are grounds to do so having considered this information. Inevitably, we have received reports of people who have had one absence, three or four years ago, being interviewed. 

This type of initiative has occurred at various times of the year (such as Easter, half term periods, etc.) in various parts of the business over the last few years. It has been regularly challenged by the Union and the expectation of both CWU and Royal Mail was that this kind of scattergun approach would cease following the deployment of the 2013 Attendance agreement, which provides for the opportunity for informal discussions if managers become concerned about a particular pattern of absence. Unfortunately, although the number of incidences of use of this approach has reduced since 2013 it has not ceased. It is deeply concerning that it has now in effect been endorsed by the business nationally and run as a national exercise.

There is no doubt that this is contrary to the terms and spirit of the Attendance agreement. All absence is assumed to be genuine but an exercise of this kind is based on the implicit assumption that this may not be the case. It is disingenuous to suggest that it is done to enable the business to provide support to anybody who has difficulties attending during this period for reasons other than sickness absence – its only effect will be cause anger amongst people who have been unfortunate enough to fall ill during this period at some point in the past and who are implicitly having the genuineness of their absence questioned. It is also a matter of concern that the informal review process introduced as part of the 2013 agreement has never been properly deployed and the only experience that most people interviewed as a result of this national initiative will have of an informal review discussion is one which is completely outside the intentions of the Attendance agreement and which will bring the concept into disrepute.

 
We have registered our concern with the Head of Attendance in the strongest terms. We do not recognise the legitimacy of this exercise, nor do we regard it is as an informal interview of the kind provided for by the Attendance agreement. We therefore strongly suggest that members be advised not to attend a discussion with their manager concerning past absences over the Christmas period without a representative being present.

Any enquiries should be addressed to PTCS department, quoting reference PTC/RE/sn/415. 

Email address: djeffery@cwu.org  

 

Yours sincerely
 
 
 

Ray Ellis                                               

Assistant Secretary

          

 Attendance Management Structure: Royal Mail Operations 
Royal Mail has established an Operations HR Attendance Management Team. The team is headed by Jo Ferguson, National Head of Attendance and comprises heads of attendance for each of the three regions plus logistics, supported by attendance leads, six in the East, four each in the West and the North and three in logistics. The regional heads of attendance direct report is the Regional HR Director (team structure attached).

The team has been set up to build line management capability in managing attendance, ensure consistent application of the Attendance agreement and identify and ensure deployment of best practice. The Union has been assured that the remit of the team is to ensure that absence is managed consistently in line with the 2013 Attendance agreement. However, it has been created as a result of a slight increase in the level of absence in the 2014/15 financial year and a key objective of the team is to reduce the overall annual level of absence by ½ percent. 

The Union has welcomed the creation of the new structure. An increasing concern has been the re-emergence of aggressive approaches to absence management in many units, including intrusive contact during short term absence in breach of the national agreement, failure to consider circumstances and mitigating factors when issuing stage reviews in breach of the national agreement and use of threatened or actual stoppages of pay in cases of short term absence which would not normally require a certificate, where OH advice has differed from that of the individual’s GP or other medical professional or on spurious grounds of alleged “non compliance”. The new team provides a focus for discussion at regional and national level on absence management and where the Attendance agreement is being broken we will expect the support of the attendance team in addressing and resolving the problem. Monthly meetings are now taking place with the national head of attendance and senior field officials should ensure that regular contact is established with the regional teams. 

We are concerned that the team is operating to a specific targeted reduction in the level of sick absence. Our fear is that achieving an arbitrary figure will become an overriding goal leading to inappropriate behaviours to hide the real level of absence and signal to line managers that an aggressive and intolerant attitude should be taken. In this regard the recent initiative on absence over Christmas, reported separately in LTB 794/15, does not bode well.

The Union’s response should be clear – we should uphold the 2013 Attendance agreement and challenge any breach. It is a collective agreement and breaches are therefore not just an individual issue which can be channelled through the grievance procedure but a collective issue which can be addressed through the IR framework.

Any enquiries should be addressed to PTCS department, quoting reference PTC/RE/dj/415. 

Email address: djeffery@cwu.org  

 

Yours sincerely
 
 

Ray Ellis                                               

Assistant Secretary