Royal Mail Group Special National Briefing & Postal Policy Forum – Wednesday 21^st & Thursday 22^nd May 2025

We are pleased to advise you that the business has agreed paid release for delegates attending the above event.

We would also like to take this opportunity to kindly remind colleagues (as reported in LTB 54/25) that due to space constraints at the venue we are unfortunately unable to accommodate visitors on this occasion. Branches are asked to ensure they complete and return their registration forms via email to eventsregistration@cwu.org by no later than 17^th April 2025.

Finally, to ensure that all attendees are able to fully engage in the discussion over the 2 days, any Branches that require a signer to be present are asked to inform the DGS(P) department as soon as possible so that the appropriate arrangements can be put in place.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be referred to the DGS(P) department hford@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)                   

Mick Kavanagh
Postal Executive Chair    

LTB 67.25 Royal Mail Group Special National Briefing Postal Policy Forum – Wednesday 21 Thursday 22 May 2025

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STRESS AWARENESS MONTH 2025- HEALTH & WELLBEING COMMUNICATION

Information is provided below to assist branches when undertaking any activities for Stress Awareness Month 2025. This LTB is shared as a communication in line with planned Health, Safety and Wellbeing Activities/Campaigns for 2025.

Stress Awareness Month is an event that has been observed since 1992, it serves as a gateway to open conversations about stress, signpost people to the right support and help us all prioritise our mental health. It is promoted by numerous organisations and the NHS. The HSE published annual reporting statistics in November 2024 revealing that almost half of 1.7 million work-related ill health cases were identified as stress related, with over 776,000 workers suffering from ill-health related to stress, depression or anxiety with each person suffering taking an average of 15.8 days off work.

The Health and Safety Executive have recently been funding research into work-related stress under the title Project OSCAR (Occupational Stress Consultation and Research). The Health and Safety Executive have commissioned Affinity Health at Work, the Institute of Employment Studies, the Institute of Occupational Medicine, and the Society of Occupational Medicine to lead the Occupational Stress Consultation and Research programme. This project aims to provide HSE with the evidence base on which to make policy decisions and underpin guidance on the practical actions that employers can take to prevent and mitigate work-related stress relative to three research areas.

1. Preventing & Reducing
2. Defining & Identifying
3. Examining Barriers & Enablers to Reducing

The CWU are taking part in this research which aims to:

• Explore how the evolving model of WRS (Work-Related Stress) labelling is received and its applicability across different contexts.
• Identify how the Project OSCAR research findings can be made most useful to relevant groups.
• Gather & use suggestions on how employers and health professionals can improve current practices and what needs to be in place to support this.

This research will result in a final report in early 2026, with the aim to better identify what we know about effective interventions to prevent and reduce work-related stress, with a further sharing of new knowledge and good practice.

Stress Risk Assessments

Employers have a legal duty to protect employees from stress at work by undertaking stress risk assessments and acting on the findings. The CWU has national agreements with all the major employers on both individual and group stress risk assessments.

Members suffering the effects of stress are encouraged to approach their Union Rep, Safety Rep, Mental Health First Aider or seek help, support and assistance without delay should they need help at work, or feel in need of crisis support.

When undertaken correctly, Stress Risk Assessments can be an extremely effective tool to reduce personal stress on an individual level or workplace level.

Shared for information and use are the following embedded documents:

•       CWU Preventing Stress flowchart

•       CWU Armed forces veterans & Reservists Questionnaire

These shared documents have been used to beneficial effect within the CWU Mental Health First Aiders networks over several years and have been updated in 2025.

They are provided as information, to aid understanding of potential stressors & stress prevention routes.

• The Stress Prevention flowchart is a simple easy to understand step by step guide guide for supporting with individual stress.
• The Armed forces Questionnaire has been produced by CWU MHFAiders and Reps who are ex-Armed forces, it is designed for armed forces Veterans and Armed forces reservists as a Pre-cursor to any Stress Risk Assessment process.

Further information and useful workplace resources can be found by clicking on the links provided below.

Stress and mental health at work – HSE

Stress Awareness Month April 2025 | Mates in Mind

If you have any questions or need any further information relating to this LTB, please contact Jamie McGovern on jmcgovern@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Jamie McGovern, FRSPH MIIAI

Health & Safety Policy Assistant, Central Services

LTB 063/25 – STRESS AWARENESS MONTH

Attachment: CWU Armed Forces Veterans Reservists Questionnaire – v1

Attachment: cwu-preventing-stress-flow-chart-v2

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CWU LGBT+ and Allies Networking Event 

The Equality, Education and Development department are pleased to announce that a CWU LGBT+ and Allies Networking Event will be taking place on Friday 23^rdMay in conjunction with Birmingham Pride on the 24^th May.

The day is being sponsored by the Midlands Region and will be an opportunity to connect and network with other LGBT+ activists and Allies from across the union.

Day 1: The session on Friday 23^rd Maywill run from 13:00 – 17:00 and take place at CWU Offices, 47, Summer Lane, Birmingham, B19 3TH. The afternoon will include interactive and informative sessions with group discussions.

Day 2: Will include attending Birmingham Pride. Further information will follow regarding a CWU meeting point and times.

A list of hotels is set out below for those that may need to stay due to travel:

• Holiday Inn Express, Snow Hill
• Hampton by Hilton, Jewellery Quarter
• Premier Inn, Station Exchange
• Premier Inn, Waterloo Street

To reserve a place at the Networking event on Friday 23^rd May or for any queries relating to this LTB please email equality&education@cwu.org

We look forward to seeing you in Birmingham!

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

25LTB 066 – CWU LGBT+ and Allies Networking Event

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Salary Sacrifice and Minimum Wage Legislation

Royal Mail have informed us that there are circa 20,000 Royal Mail employees who have voluntary pay reductions which are paid via salary sacrifice.

The combination of this week’s increase in the minimum wage to £12.21 per hour, and the fact the Government now reviews the minimum wage after the deduction from salary sacrifice, has meant that some individuals would have been below the minimum wage.

Types of salary sacrifice deductions include the following:

• Purchasing additional annual leave
• Car lease scheme
• Insurance
• Items purchased via My Bundle
• Cycle to work scheme

In addition, specific attendance patterns such as Wallingtons which require individuals to work extra hours on particular weeks to achieve a week off, are also causing some problems as the basic pay remains the same each week despite an individual sometimes working 6 or 7 hours over the standard 37 hours full-time contract.

Royal Mail has advised us that to avoid the business breaching the law they will pay for individuals salary sacrifice items ahead of the pay rise so they are not disadvantaged.  This means that individuals who have been written to will not have any salary sacrifice reductions from their pay so that they will be above minimum wage ahead of the pay rise.

Royal Mail has said it is happy for individuals to continue to use salary sacrifice in the future but wish to review the car lease scheme to ensure that this does not result in the company breaching the minimum wage law.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be referred to the DGS(P) department.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)  

LTB 64.25 Salary Sacrifice and Minimum Wage Legislation                       

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CWUHA – THE ANDY KERR PROJECT 

This year is CWU Humanitarian Aid’s 30^thAnniversary and they have contacted headquarters to advise that they are running a special project in honour of one of the greatest ambassadors for CWU HA Andy Kerr, our former Deputy General Secretary who as you know sadly passed away last year.

Andy helped secure thousands of pounds in funding for the charity as well as the loan of BT vehicles and release for BT/Openreach members to take part in CWUHA Convoys to Eastern Europe. He also secured funding for projects with our partners Medical Aid Delivered-Aid in Moldova. Andy had also shown his commitment by taking part in a convoy to Moldova – a place that was close to his heart.

Therefore, it is very fitting that CWUHA have agreed that their 30th Anniversary Project in Moldova will be dedicated to the memory of Andy.

Working with their partners Medical Aid Delivered-Aid, CWUHA are helping to refurbish a children’s surgery ward in a hospital in Chisinau, Moldova, that cares for children with serious health issues.

The charity is looking to raise £40k to help fund the purchase of new furniture for the ward, new electrical equipment and to provide an indoor play area that will be dedicated to Andy’s memory.

If your branch would like to donate towards this project you can either please send a cheque made payable to ‘CWUHA’ to Carl Webb, CWU Office, 75 Garstang Road, Preston, PR1 1LD, or make BACs payment to the account below:

CWU Humanitarian Aid
Unity Bank
S/C: 60-83-01
Acc No: 20031169

A JustGiving link has also been set up for personal donations: www.justgiving.com/campaign/andykerrprojectcwuha

If you would like more information or would like to raise funds for this project, please contact Julia Upton via Julia.upton1@btinternet.com

Your support will mean a great deal and is a fitting tribute to the work that Andy had undertaken.

Yours Sincerely,

Dave Ward
General Secretary 

25LTB062 CWUHA – THE ANDY KERR PROJECT

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Tonight at 5pm we are LIVE with a Royal Mail Delivery Members special with national officer Tony Bouch.

We will talk the state of workplaces across the UK, USO trials and crucially take your questions live.

Please tune in https://www.youtube.com/live/4M7atHSf1MI?si=C2jA14nX21_s–Md

Royal Mail – The Collective Plan : Election of Member Nominated Directors

Further to LTB 053/25 – Royal Mail Collective Pension Plan – Member Nominated Director (MND) Election, the Head of Executive & Scheme Secretary of The Collective Plan  has advised me that following the ballot for the 3 Member Nominated Directors (MNDs) the following have been elected to the roles.

• Alan Tate
• Brendon Allen
• Kevin Carey

We do not have details of the actual number of votes cast or the number of votes received by each candidate as this has not been provided.

Naturally, congratulations go to the successful candidates and commiserations to the other candidates. It was pleasing to see such good interest in these important roles.

The newly elected MNDs will have a crucial role going forward in respect of the Collective Plan which is obviously in it’s infancy.

Any queries in relation to this LTB should be directed to Samantha Nicholas at snicholas@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary 

LTB 060/25 – Royal Mail – The Collective Plan – Election of Member Nominated Directors

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Branch Information – Area and Local Workplace Reps Database

 The Postal Department is seeking to update our Representatives database.

Lynn Browne, Senior Postal Organiser, has created a proforma which she will be sending to Branches with the request that the document is populated with the names and contact details of all Area Representatives (all functions) and Local Representatives.

It would also be appreciated if Branches could list the workplaces within their Branch area as well as those workplaces without Representatives.

Completed proformas should be returned to lbrowne@cwu.org by 17^thApril 2025.

Going forward this will be a yearly housekeeping requirement for Branches to complete to ensure our records remain up to date.

Any enquiries should be referred to the DGSP department.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh                                                             

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

LTB 59/25 Branch Information – Area and Local Workplace Reps Database

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THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE 2025 NATIONAL MAIL CENTRE REALIGNMENT REVISIONS 

Branches and Representatives are informed that discussions have been taking place with the business in relation to progressing arrangements for the 2025 National Mail Centre Realignment Revision activity 2025.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing resistance of the business to agree to Joint Statements we have not been able to secure the normal signed Joint Statement covering this activity. However, in line with the approach we have taken on other issues affected by this policy, we do have a letter from the business confirming the dates and the commitments to follow the established Nationally Agreed processes for this activity.

This approach has been endorsed by the Postal Executive and attached for the information of Branches and Representatives is the correspondence from Simon Aris, Operations Programme Director – Processing, confirming Royal Mail’s commitment to the established, agreed revision processes along with the detailed processes at Annexes A – F.

As in previous years realignment activity will seek to ensure proper alignment of resource to workload and workplan compliance while creating attractive duty patterns for our members. Additionally, the business has indicated the following projects, all of which are subject to ongoing discussions will also be included or may influence the 2025 realignment activity:

• USO Reform workplan requirements including any changes to the CSS operations, most notably at the weekend. These elements will be influenced by the ongoing USO Pilot activity and will be dependent on any final agreement to deploy the USO Optimised model.
• MPU consolidation. Current CSS activity will run concurrently with realignment activity and where CSS consolidation is agreed this should be included in workload and will be included in Realignment discussions.
• The progression of the Single Large Parcel Network activity, defined in Section 5 of the BRT&G agreement which may entail workload migrating between the PFW and RM Networks in financial year 25/26. Proposals include large items (Format 4+) migrating to PFW through direct injection or sortation from the Outward Mail Centre’s.  The movement of smaller PFW traffic to RM and the maximising of synergies between RM and PFW Collection operation.  
• Branches and Representatives will note as part of the ongoing discussions with EP Group and the business, there is an enhanced focus on the reduction of agency use across the operation. Against this backdrop a key priority in the realignment activity is the reduction in agency use and the creation of robust and fully resourced duty sets.   

The document covers the ability to utilise inventive duty patterns, to assist the ability to achieve revision outcomes, which better match the aspirations of our members. 

A Joint launch event took place for Plant Managers and Divisional/Area Representatives today online and a further session will be arranged as necessary to update Branches and Representatives as discussions progress.

Attached for the information of Branches is the letter received from Simon Aris confirming the commitment from Royal Mail to the agreed Realignment Process and Annexes, a copy of the Process Documents and a copy of the slides used during the launch call. As in previous years the department believes that the agreed process supported by all relevant national agreements including the IR Framework and MTSF will enable Representatives to achieve the best possible outcome in the realignment activity.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org quoting reference LTB 058/25. 

Yours sincerely, 

Davie Robertson 

Assistant Secretary

LTB 058/25 – THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE 2025 NATIONAL MAIL CENTRE REALIGNMENT REVISIONS

Attachment: Letter to Davie Robertson From Simon Aris – MC Realignment 2025

Attachment: 2025 RESOURCE REALIGNMENT PROCESS IN MAIL CENTRES

Attachment: Realignment Slides_2025 (004)

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NEW: Martin Walsh explains the delay in Royal Mail Group pay settlement and sets out how the union will tackle the next few weeks. It is vital all members watch this broadcast.

We have made it clear to Royal Mail there will be no agreement to moving beyond the 37 USO trial units unless there is a full agreement on pay and all issues relating to section 5 of our agreement with EP Group.

You can also watch the update here via the following links:

Facebook https://youtu.be/N3c8uf0DVHU?si=9p8L9yINM5wmZIHC

YouTube https://youtu.be/N3c8uf0DVHU?si=9p8L9yINM5wmZIHC

X https://x.com/cwunews/status/1904531816209330582?s=46