CWU REGIONAL STRUCTURE – ELECTION OF THE 5 REGIONAL OFFICIALS

Branches will be aware that, as a result of the decisions taken at both the Special Restructuring Conference 2025 and the Special Rules Revision Conference 2025, there is now a requirement to elect the 5 Regional Officials.

The purpose of this LTB is to publish to branches the election arrangements that have been agreed by the NEC for these elections and to seek nominations for these positions from branches within each of the respective areas.

The timetable for the elections will be as follows:

Election Timetable 

Nominations open:                                     19 August 2025

Nominations close:                                    4 September 2025 (14.00)

Branch Ballot papers dispatched:          10 September 2025

Ballot closes:                                               24 September 2025 (14.00)

Election Arrangements

The elections will be conducted in accordance with the new CWU rule 7 which was agreed at the Special Rules Revision Conference held on the 29^th June 2025 in Blackpool.

Please find attached to this LTB the election guidelines and the candidate guidelines to be used for these elections. Also attached are the relevant nomination forms.

Only members of branches located within the respective paired former CWU regions (as at June 2025) will be entitled to stand for the Regional Official positions in that area. The area’s are as follows;

CWU Regional Areas:

• Eastern & Midlands
• London & South-East
• North East & North West
• Northern Ireland & Scotland
• South West & Wales and the Marches

All candidates will require the nomination of their own branch which has been agreed at a branch meeting.

Following the closing of nominations, if elections are required then the ballot will be conducted on a Branch Ballot basis of all branches within the respective new area.

As detailed in the new Regional Structure (Rule 7) – all CWU members in the Regional Area, who are employed in CWU recognised companies, will be eligible to stand for election and hold the Regional Official position.

The successful candidate shall be the individual who receives the highest number of votes cast.

The period of office for the Regional Official will be 18 months from September 2025 and the successful candidate will be engaged by the CWU on a secondment basis for their period of office subject to the qualifying terms set out in CWU rule 7 (as agreed at the Special Rules Revision Conference 2025).

Role of Regional Official Position  

The role of the Regional Official is as follows:

• The Regional Official will work under the direction of the General Secretary and the NEC and their responsibilities will include:
• Develop and implementation of the new National Networks and support national non-industrial strategies of the union
• Implement CWU strategies that further grows the CWU’s influence across the wider trade union movement
• Involvement in all Regional Sub Committees within their Regional area
•  Implementing the CWU Political strategy
• Solidifying the CWU links to our external political networks, including the Regional Labour Parties and Regional TUC

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be made to Dave Wilshire, Senior Policy Advisor – email dwilshire@cwu.org

Dave Ward
General Secretary        

25LTB172 – CWU Regional Structure – Election of the 5 Regional Officials

Guidelines for Regional Official 2025

Candidate-Biographical-Detail-Consent-Form                  

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Post Office: Further Franchising Partners Announced for 13 Crowns

Further to LTBs 105/25, 107/25, 147/25 and 155/25.  Post Office has today announced franchise partners for a further 12 Crown Offices, in addition to Aldwych which was announced last week (list attached).  Online meetings were held by management with the members in the 12 Crowns earlier today, and our Territorial Representatives were involved in order to provide support where necessary.

Incredibly, in their haste to dispose of the Crown Network, Post Office has stated that for 8 of the 12 Crowns announced today, the franchise partner will be on an “interim” basis whilst a permanent partner is confirmed.  Post Office’s longer-term plan is to pass over the operation of these 8 Crowns to a single Strategic Partner, which is likely to be a household name, but this won’t happen until some time in 2026.  Essentially, this means that members opting to transfer could potentially be facing a double TUPE, firstly to the interim partner, and later to a permanent partner.  This is obviously deeply concerning and in complete contrast to the original promise from the Chairman, Nigel Railton back in April when he committed to treating our members with “care and respect”.

It should be noted that in the 76 Crowns with a franchise partner previously announced, from the initial 9 interests in TUPE, this has dwindled to just 3.  Evidently, there is no confidence in transferring to what are clearly, from our members’ perspective, questionable franchise partners.  With today’s news regarding the “interim” partners, it is conceivable that our members won’t want to risk what they may see as a dubious situation by transferring to one company with the possibility they may then TUPE to a Strategic Partner at a later date.  Furthermore, there are 3 different “interim” partners which makes the situation even more complicated as the union will need to enter into 3 different sets of TUPE discussions in relation to the Measures letters.

Enhancements to the Financial Settlement for Members Opting to Leave PO

LTB 147/25 outlines the enhancements to the financial terms for Crown members for those not wanting to TUPE that we have secured via negotiations.  In addition, we have now secured the following further improvements:

• 6 years’ service qualifies for a minimum of 39 weeks’ compensation, irrespective of age
• 10 years’ service qualifies for a minimum of 52 weeks’ compensation, irrespective of age

If members have any questions regarding either the terms of the financial settlement, TUPE or bumping, they should contact their Territorial Rep.

Settlement Agreements – Incorrect Calculations

Last week it transpired that Post Office had made an error regarding the calculation of overtime in relation to the overall financial package for 57 people.  Basically, instead of the 3-month period April-June being used as a reference period for average overtime earned, which should then have been multiplied by the relevant number of weeks from the Ready Reckoner, someone in PO HQ made the mistake of just adding the overtime earned for those 3 months to the total package.  This made a huge difference to some of our members, with reports of the settlement offers being short by up to £10,000.  Any incorrect Settlement Agreements were withdrawn and recalculated, and members will have now received the correct financial exit package offers.

Legal Advice from Unionline for Members’ Settlement Agreements

Members who decline to TUPE and opt to take an enhanced severance package will be required to take legal advice in connection with their Settlement Agreement and Post Office will contribute £500 plus VAT towards that advice.  Whilst recognising that members may have their own solicitor, we wish to advise that Unionline, who have extensive experience in assisting with Settlement Agreements, would be pleased to offer their services.  The email address is postoffice@unionline.co.uk or if members would prefer to call Unionline – the number is 0300 333 0303 (option 2) – please ask to be directed to Diarmuid Deeney, Solicitor.

Today’s announcement leaves just one remaining Crown in Inverness where Post Office has yet to confirm the franchise partner and further developments in this regard will be reported.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

Attachment 1: 25LTB171 Post Office – Further Franchising Partners Announced for 13 Crowns

Attachment 2: Attachment to 25LTB171

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Employment Tribunal Workshop

The purpose of this LTB is to advise branches that a one-day workshop will take place on the 12^th November 2025 between 10am-5pm at Summer Lane, Birmingham B19 3TH.

The workshop will be delivered by Paul Kennedy and will assist Representatives and Officials who have responsibilities for Employment Tribunal applications and issues.

The day is a mix of presentations with Q&A’s and will:

• Emphasise the importance of representative’s knowledge on the various individual procedures where members require representation.
• Provide practical advice on internal representation of cases.
• Explain the legal time limits for submitting Employment Tribunal applications.

• Explain how Early Conciliation works.
• Explain the importance of detailing the members claim and issues when completing the Employment Tribunal application and providing guidance on this.
• Explain how to calculate compensation when completing the ET application.

Applications should be made via the membership Portal by the cut-off dates shown below.DateWorkshopCut off12/11/2025Casework and Employment Tribunals15/10/2025

Any enquiries on this LTB should be directed to courseadmin@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

25LTB 168 – Employment Tribunal Workshop

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BRT&G Agreement – Seasonal Variation 2025 Further Update

Dear Colleagues,

Further to LTB 074/25, issued on 14^thApril, which confirmed that both parties have agreed to suspend Seasonal Variation for 2025 due to the significant unknowns and uncertainties concerning USO Reform activity.

After the LTB was circulated, the Department received numerous enquiries from Branches in terms of when this suspension of Seasonal Variation will be reflected in the PSP system and, therefore, individual members’ annual leave cards. At that time, Royal Mail was unable to confirm the direct timelines as to when PSP will be updated to reflect the agreed suspension of Seasonal Variation, but did confirmed that the PSP system was still reflecting and deducting annual leave based on the original Seasonal Variation design, a 15-week High Season and a 15-week Low Season, as set out in Appendix 1 of the Business Recovery, Transformation & Growth (BRT&G) Agreement. This was communicated to Branches and Representatives in ODM 022/25, issued on 17^th April.

Royal Mail further advised at the time that given the agreement to suspend Seasonal Variation in 2025, ‘all leave in that period would be reverted to Mid-Season/Contracted hours within PSP in the coming weeks once upgrade has occurred.’

Unfortunately, despite continuously raising this matter with Royal Mail during this period, there has been a noticeable delay in finally reverting leave within PSP back to Mid-Season/Contracted hours.

We have now been advised that the wider and final PSP system update, based on the suspension of Seasonal Variation this year, will now take place in November and will remove the impact of Seasonal Variation from all local Delivery units for 2025.

However, in the meantime, Royal Mail have shared via the attached comms, issued today to all Delivery managers, the following manual corrections to individual employee annual leave records in PSP to ensure they are accurate ahead of November, when a final technical solution will be made. This plan will be briefed locally in units outlining the following changes:

HR Services leave balance corrections 

HR Services will run an initial update to correct leave balances for employees whose leave was incorrectly deducted due to the system assuming Low Season. This correction applies to leave taken between May and June.

Updated leave balances will be visible in PSP and the People App from around 11 August.

Impact of the update

As PSP treated employees as being in Low Season instead of Mid Season, the correction will deduct additional time from leave balances. The impact will vary depending on full-time or part-time status and the number of leave days taken.

Ongoing monthly adjustments 

HR Services will repeat the correction process monthly, at the start of each month, to maintain accurate leave balances. Each update will reflect corrections for the previous month.

These monthly updates will be visible in PSP and the People App from around the second week of each calendar month.

September onwards 

From September, the effect will reverse, and employees may see leave time credited back, depending on leave taken.

November onwards 

The manual process will continue until the permanent technical solution is deployed in November, which will fully remove the Seasonal Variation effect from the system.

These changes in PSP will not impact current planned and booked annual leave arrangements for individuals.

This period of ongoing delay has not been a helpful development, but it is now hoped that this further clarification will end any remaining confusion in this regard and confirm the steps to correct leave in the PSP system following the suspension of Seasonal Variation this year.

If any member believes that, as a result of these changes outlined above, there have been errors made with their allocated Annual Leave entitlement and / or the changes create additional problems, the business have confirmed that, in the first instance, line managers should be able to assist, as outlined in the attached Royal Mail Comms. Equally, as confirmed above, these changes in PSP will not impact or alter currently planned and booked annual leave arrangements for members.

Any enquiries to the content of this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, email address: Pharacz@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

LTB 167/25 – BRTG Agreement – Seasonal Variation 2025 Further Update

Att: Seasonal Variation suspension and leave balance adjustments August 2025 v3 CO

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Latest Data for Raising Concerns Agreement

Attached to this document is the latest data from Royal Mail associated with the Raising Concerns Agreement/process.

Included in this data are the figures up to and including 22^nd of July 2025 and are the:

• Total number of cases raised since the launch last October
• The main reasons for the concern being raised
• The outcomes of the concerns
• The number of appeals
• The results of whether the Business are meeting timescale targets as set out in the agreement.

Clearly in sharing this data with everyone we realise this may generate further questions on how the Agreement/process is being applied and we would welcome feedback in advance of the 12 monthly review in October.

We are also aware of a system issue which needs to be addressed as part of that review including a substantial number of cases which were concluded but were not closed down properly from the system. These figures keep recurring in the monthly statistics and will not drop off until the end of the 12 months.

There are a number of cases which have been entered by individuals but have not had a category recorded yet. Whilst recognising there is room for improvement, we are encouraged by the figures for the targets on timescales. So, up to July the 22^ndthere is a 79% completion rate for cases which are being dealt with informally, with an 84.5% completion rate for cases being dealt with formally.  In terms of the 14-day meeting target 80% of cases being dealt with informally have met this target with 94.5% of cases being dealt with formally meeting this target.

There is still room for improvement as detailed, however we do believe we are now getting a greater level of visibility on how cases are progressing which we have not had in the past.

In relation to correspondence sent in to the Department on this issue we have had a number which have highlighted Management’s misinterpretation of other agreements, for example Trimble, which are being raised by our members through this process. We have brought these to the attention of Royal Mail and they are being dealt with accordingly.

We do need to advise Branches of a change of wording in the investigation section of the formal stage bullet point 7.

The current wording is:

Following the formal investigation, the investigating manager will communicate the outcome to the employee raising the concern and to the employee responding to the concern giving their rationale for the decision. This will be set out clearly in a decision report which includes reference to how the evidence they gathered throughout the investigation supports their decision.

Which we have changed to this wording:

Following the formal investigation, the investigating manager will communicate the outcome to both the employee who raised the concern and the employee responding to the concern, providing the rationale for the decision. The employee who raised the concern will receive an outcome letter and a decision report outlining the rationale for the outcome. The employee responding to the concern will receive an outcome letter that includes the rationale relevant to their involvement. In both cases, the rationale should reference how the evidence gathered during the investigation supports the decision.

The reason for this change was because the individual responding to the concern only received an outcome letter, whereas in future they will receive a full rationale for the decision reached. This was especially important should cases move to discipline.

This anomaly was brought to our attention from a Branch and we are grateful to them for pointing this out to us in order for us to rectify.

In conclusion we believe the process is generally working well.  We have recognised areas for improvement as we move towards the first 12 monthly review and as such, we would welcome feedback from Branches.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Bobby Weatherall Acting Assistant Secretary email hmaughan@cwu.org or lpietrzykowska@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Bobby Weatherall
Acting Assistant Secretary

LTB 166/25 -Latest Data for Raising Concerns Agreement

Att: Raising Concerns_CWU_23072025 (download)

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Women in the CWU

The purpose of this LTB is to advise branches that we have added an online “Women in the CWU” course to the programme to be delivered over 2 days.

This course is designed to:

• Help women become more active in the CWU
• Develop a better understanding of what unions are and how they work
• Provide an opportunity to build effective support and networks for woman activists
• Develop new ideas for how women can work at the heart of the CWU

RELEASE

This course does not attract paid release from the employers that we work with.

Applications should be made via the Portal by the cut off dates shown below.DateCourseCut off27^th& 28^thOctoberWomen in the CWU15/09/25

Any enquiries on this LTB should be directed to courseadmin@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

LTB 164/25 – Women in the CWU

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First Mile Integration – Phase 2 

Branches will recall in LTB 076/25 it was agreed for the Transfer of POL Collection work from Parcelforce to Royal Mail in identified locations where this was possible. This activity was part of the concept of utilising the synergies between Royal Mail and Parcelforce in relation to collection activity.

As part of the ongoing activity on First Mile Integration (FMI) and supported by dedicated collection planning support, RM Plant catchment areas have successfully migrated over to the full collection of all available PFW items from POL. Alongside this activity PFW have also been going through technology changes required to place them onto the RM Platform, known as Project Daisy, this is due to go live on 11^thAugust nationally, this means PFW systems will shut down and they will move onto the RM Platform, due to this change PFW would no longer be able to access their system in relation to ad hoc collections and therefore, RM would need to take on these collections.

From 11^th August Royal Mail will commence PFW ad hoc collections this has been built into the Royal Mail Parcel Collect system so it is fully integrated between RM/PFW. Traffic volumes are expected to be low (4.6k per day nationally) and they should be consolidated with PFW POL traffic on the appropriate PFW York Container from the Delivery Offices and Collection Hubs.

In deliveries this means the same process for RM collect will apply and COMs will review all planned Parcel Collects for their offices in the morning at the start of shift via the Redlands Dashboard and follow the agreed process. Due to the size, weight and dimensions of some Parcel Collect we have secured the ability to utilise tailored options which can include alternative delivery vehicles, DPR, afternoon collection routes and PFW as a last resort. Where further support is required, the COM is to escalate to the relevant CCOM at the earliest opportunity.

We have secured with Parcelforce commitments that all workloads will be balanced to ensure that the time saved by removing collections is fully utilised with delivery traffic. The expectation is that the traffic will migrate from External resource and PFW have agreed that all headcount reduction will come from External resource.

In addition, the full impact across the Delivery & Collection around reviewing the volumes and additional resource needed, along with ensuring that all training and safety related matters have been deployed correctly will be monitored through the Collections Joint Working Group in Royal Mail.

Attached to this LTB for your information are the agreed words covering this activity, along with a copy of the WTLL and FAQ’s. These will be used to ensure that the criteria is fully understood and deployed consistently, ensuring that connectivity and quality of service is maintained.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org or Tony Bouch Assistant Secretary, email: Pharacz@cwu.org quoting reference LTB 163/25.

Yours sincerely,

Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

LTB 163/25 – Final Mile Integration – Phase 2

Att: Transfer of Ad hoc Collection Work from Parcel Force to Royal Mail – National Deployment

Att: WTLL

Att: What If Guide (download)

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Workplace Adjustments and Health Passport Poster Campaign

Further to LTB 352 titled Business Recovery, Transformation and Growth Agreement – Workplace Adjustments and Health Passport issued on the 6^thNovember 2024, there were numerous enquiries from branches to advise us of the lack of knowledge or understanding of the Passport Guide by members and local managers.

Royal Mail confirmed the New Workplace Adjustments Process was shared with all managers in their weekly communications link dated the 18th November 2024, designed as a means of communicating agreed procedures at pace.

The Department subsequently issued a Passport Guide Process which enabled members to walk through the steps required to complete the procedure whereafter the manager is duty bound to follow up the application with an interview to seek a mutually agreeable solution.

The Department subsequently agreed to issue an updated Workplace Adjustment Fact Sheet and further suggested the construction of a Poster for display in all workplaces designed to signpost members and managers towards the agreed procedures as a means of highlighting the benefits and help navigate the process.

This poster has since been produced by Royal Mail and is attached for onward share by all Branches.  This will also be displayed across the business alongside a live link for the e-learning as a means of raising awareness and promote the understanding of Workplace Adjustments Process.

The poster is designed to direct and encourage open conversations, support inclusivity, and ensure members are aware of the adjustments available to them. Alongside the poster rollout, Royal Mail will also be sharing a follow-up communication via Signpost to highlight the tools and resources available to support both colleagues and managers. This will include:

• A reminder of the Workplace Adjustments process
• Links to useful guides and tools (inc. the Workplace Adjustments Poster)
• Our new Workplace Adjustments eLearning product for managers

The Department are keen to point out the introduction of the Workplace Adjustment and Health Passport was a CWU initiative that offers support and inclusivity for members who are impacted by the Equality Act 2010 as well as being an important extension of rights to all members who may well be carers or non-disabled members, highlighting a disability, a neuro-diverse condition or any members caring responsibilities.

The Department now wish to draw the attention of all Branches of the production of the attached Poster that includes the CWU logo that displays the benefits to all CWU members across Royal Mail in creating an inclusive environment and support the Workplace Adjustment approach.

Please bring this LTB to the attention of our representatives and members, and any queries relating to this agreement should be forwarded to the PTCS Department , email address hmaughan@cwu.org

Bobby Weatherall

Acting Assistant Secretary

LTB 161/25 – Workplace Adjustments and Health Passport Poster

Att: Workplace Adjustments Factsheet PDF

Att: Poster

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Election of:

• Royal Mail Divisional Representative (Substitute) – Midland

Further to LTB 152/25 regarding Divisional Representative vacancies, and Steve Blowers appointment as Divisional Representative for the Midland Division, nominations are now invited from Branches within the Midland Division for the above position.

These positions are being elected on an interim basis ahead of the full divisional nominations due to be advertised early in 2026 and successful candidates will take up office at the conclusion of the election period.

Nomination forms are attached to this LTB and completed forms must be signed by the Branch Secretary and Branch Chair or accredited deputies and the nominee.

The signed nomination form should be returned by email to elections@cwu.orgto be received by 22^nd August 2025 (14.00)

Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 0208 971 7237 or email address sdgs@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

25LTB160 – Election of Midland Sub Div Rep

Guidelines 2025

Div Rep Sub Midland – Nomination Form

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The Royal Mail Group pay ballot opens on 6th August. Here is how you can vote 🗳️