Latest from the Branch

CWU Dispute with Royal Mail Group

CWU Dispute with Royal Mail Group

Our Representatives and members will have seen the immediate response of Royal Mail Group in the wake of what we consider to be a totally shameful and unjust injunction served on the CWU.

Those reflecting and perhaps making their judgement should remember that we balloted circa 110,000 members, 86,500 members participated in the ballot and 97.1% rejected RMG’s propaganda and voted with their colleagues and their union. It was an amazing campaign, everyone worked extremely hard engaging with the membership and their response was nothing short of magnificent.

There was no evidence that our members were intimidated by their union or doing anything other than expressing their own opinion. Not one complaint was made to the Independent Scrutineer, Royal Mail Group or the CWU out of 86,500 people voting, yet such a judgement was made off the back of our members’ enthusiasm to vote as quickly as possible.

Of course we will appeal, even if the odds are still stacked against us because we refuse to accept that we cannot engage with our members and maximise turnout and opinion in any ballot.

In respect of RMG’s immediate publicity, they do their best (which is never good enough) to try and break the unique relationship and trust that we have with our members by depicting us as unreasonable and undisciplined. Their statement that they are still available for negotiations is something they are playing both with our members and the wider public. If the type of talks they are offering are of the same standard of those that have taken place since Rico Back has arrived, then their offer is not genuine.

Our members should be assured that the CWU have always been available for genuine mutual respect and mutual interest negotiations, therefore against that backdrop, and the recommendations of the external mediation, we have responded to the company’s offer.

We have taken the unusual decision to produce an open letter (Annex 1) with the relevant attachments (including the Mediator’s recommendations) as RMG have made their offer of talks public, and to ensure that our Representatives and members are clear on the manner in which we have responded to their offer and are fully aware of our previous actions during the mediation process.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your tremendous and inspiring support, we shall not be moved.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department. Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

19ltb662-cwu-dispute-with-royal-mail-group.pdf

ltb-662.19-annex-1.pdf

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Labour announcement on full fibre broadband

Labour announcement on full fibre broadband

As you will have seen, yesterday evening Labour announced a major policy to invest in and roll out a publicly owned full fibre broadband network to every address across the country within a decade. They would do this by taking the relevant parts of BT into public ownership – a longstanding policy of the CWU that has been reaffirmed by our annual conference on many occasions – and would offer a free fibre broadband service to every home and business, funded through a tax on the big tech multinationals.

This is a significant announcement which would deliver major benefits for CWU members working in the industry if Labour is elected and we have been working closely with Labour to shape the proposals in recent weeks. In terms of detail, Labour would bring Openreach and other parts of BT that are relevant to broadband – including parts of BT Technology, BT Consumer and BT Enterprise – into public ownership to form a new public body, British Broadband.

We have secured a number of important commitments for our members who would be affected by this:

  • they would TUPE over with a guarantee on all terms and conditions;
  • all pensions would be safeguarded or improved, with a commitment to maintain the Crown guarantee on the BTPS;
  • the use of agency work to undercut permanent staff would end, with contracted workers being insourced;
  • health and safety standards would be improved through engagement with frontline staff;
  • our existing industrial agreements would be honoured, meaning the threat of compulsory redundancy would be removed;
  • collective bargaining would be at the heart of decision-making and we would make positive harmonisation of terms and conditions a priority;
  • employee shareholdings would be dealt with under TUPE and no-one will be worse off; and
  • there would be massive investment in the organisation with profits being kept and re-invested in it.

If Labour is elected we would be sitting down with it as the new government to work out and shape the final details but the above pledges we have already secured are significant wins for our members and demonstrate how the proposals would deliver for them.

For CWU members in other operators such as Virgin we are also working with Labour to ensure that jobs in the industry as a whole are protected and we believe the final plans will benefit all telecoms workers. For our members in parts of BT like EE that are not directly covered by the plans, we would continue to work to protect and enhance their terms and conditions, and we believe the wider impact of the proposals will be to raise the floor across the industry.

It is clear that the policy from Labour is hugely ambitious and it would have major economic benefits for the country. It would also deliver for individuals and businesses across the UK by offering a free full fibre service and puts broadband at the heart of the debate about public service provision and the way businesses and the economy are run.

We will be issuing more detailed communications to members later today and holding a Live Facebook Q&A on this on the CWU Facebook page on Tuesday 19th November at 6pm. Any queries on the contents of this LTB should be directed to britishbroadband@cwu.org .

Yours sincerely,

 

Dave Ward – General Secretary

Andy Kerr – Deputy General Secretary T&FS

19LTB661 – Labour announcement on full fibre broadband



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Next Friday – 22nd November is National Gate Meeting Day. The theme is WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED.

Next Friday – 22nd November is National Gate Meeting Day. The theme is WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED.

We will shortly email our PDF versions of these graphics that we want you to print and dispatch to every office for the day.

Next week we will also send you a statement from the unions leadership giving an update on the next steps in this dispute.

We will to create a massive wall of defiance next Friday so please get your meetings planned.

#WeRiseAgain

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Midlands Division Defending The 4 Pillars Agreement – November2019 The High Court Judgement Explained

Midlands Division

Defending The 4 Pillars Agreement – November2019

The High Court Judgement Explained

 

This Members Bulletin is designed to explain the judgement of the High Court in RMG’s Injunction application, the relevant law and the issues that were raised in the Court,

 

The case was heard by Mr Justice Swift who has been a High Court Judge for around 1 year. Justice Swift decided, in his wisdom, to uphold RMG’s application and declared our ballot unlawful.

 

Below is a reminder of the result in our industrial action ballot:

 

Number of ballot papers issued:     110,292

Number of papers returned:       83,704

Ballot turnout:       75.9%

Number of YES votes:       81,232

Number of NO votes:         2,421

Percentage voting YES:                     97.1%

 

The law that governs Trade Union industrial action ballots is the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992 (TULRA), which has recently been amended by the Trade Union Act 2016.

 

The Trade Union Laws in the UK are the most repressive in Europe.  The part of the TULRA that deals with industrial action runs for 38 pages and contains 43 Sections. The law is designed to make it as hard as is possible for a union to obtain a lawful ballot for industrial action. Some of the requirements of the law are:

• We are required to appoint an Independent Scrutineer to conduct the ballot. We fully complied with this requirement.

 

• We are required to supply the employer with a massive amount of information before we commence the ballot. We fully complied with this requirement.

 

• We are required to supply the employer with a sample of the industrial action ballot paper. We fully complied with this requirement.

 

• We must take all reasonable steps to ensure that all members included in the ballot receives a ballot paper. We fully complied with this requirement.

 

• We are required to send the ballot paper to members home addresses. We fully complied with this requirement as ballot papers were posted to members home addresses. 

 

• Members must be allowed to vote without interference. We fully complied with this requirement as there was not a single complaint of interference from any CWU member to the Independent Scrutineer, CWU Headquarters, the Certification Officer or Royal Mail,for that matter. 

 

• We are required to ensure that at least 50% of members balloted take part in the ballot. We fully complied with this requirement as we achieved a 75.9% return. This return is higher than the turnout in the Brexit Referendum and all General Elections in the last 25 years.

 

• We are required to ensure that of those voting at least 50% vote YES. We fully complied with this requirement as we achieved an astonishing 97.1% YES vote. The largest YES vote ever achieved in a national industrial action ballot.

 

So, Why Were We Injuncted?

 

Justice Swift decided there were three reasons:

 

× Because some members in DO’s intercepted their ballot paper in the office, Justice Swift decided that this turned the ballot from a postal ballot to a workplace ballot. So, even though the union fully complied with law to post ballots out to members home addresses – we still breached this part of the law!

 

× There was one video showing a couple of members completing their ballot paper in the workplace. These members were voluntarily doing this and happy to be filmed. Despite this, Justice Swift decided that this amounted to ‘interference’ in the ballot. So, even though there was not a single complaint from any CWU member alleging interference, the union was guilty of interference!

 

× Justice Swift decided that because there is a General Election this was another reason to injunct the union. So, even though there is nothing in the law that prevents unions from having industrial action during a General Election, he decided that it is not acceptable!

 

 

 

Incredibly, on the first two reasons given by Justice Swiftthese issues happened during the 2017 Four Pillars campaignand Royal Mail made no complaint that this was a breach of the law.

 

Even if these activities technically breached the balloting regulations; with a 97.1% YES vote, even if you excluded all votes identified by Royal Mail as breaching the regulations there is no possibility that this could turn this YES vote into a no vote.

 

For a judge to decide that because a General Election has been called (after we had balloted) that this is grounds for nullifying a ballot where over 80,000 members had voted YES is a disgrace. In short, Justice Swift decided that our democracy was worthless. 

 

This injunction is perhaps the greatest demonstration of how the law and the justice system is stacked against Trade Unions.

 

Members should also be very angry with Royal Mail. This is your employer seeking to silence the voices of over 80,000 of their employees.

 

Next Steps

 

We are still in dispute with Royal Mail.

 

Firstly, we will appeal the judgment of Justice Swift to the Court of Appeal.

 

If necessary, we will re-ballot members (and ensure the issues complained of do not re-occur.)

 

The dispute will only be resolved via a national agreement covering the issues in dispute. The sooner Royal Mail enters into negotiations with the CWU, the sooner we can resolve the dispute.

 

We Rise Again!

 

 

No Justice – No Peace

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Royal Mail, Parcelforce and RM International Christmas Operations 2019 – Temporary Dedicated Parcel Sort Centres (PSCs), Outhouses and Marquees – Health and Safety

Royal Mail, Parcelforce and RM International Christmas Operations 2019 – Temporary Dedicated Parcel Sort Centres (PSCs), Outhouses and Marquees – Health and Safety

To: All Branches with Postal Members 

Dear Colleagues,

This is to inform and update Branches and Area Health and Safety Representatives that for the ninth year running, Royal Mail Opps, Parcelforce Worldwide and Royal Mail International are setting up and opening a dedicated, nationwide network of temporary ‘outhoused’, parcel sort centre hubs and outhouses, overflow, relief sites as part of the 2019 Christmas operations, to deal with and handle the significantly increased traffic volumes and to sort a significant proportion of the parcels/packets Royal Mail handles before distribution around the UK and final delivery. The sites will be opening on a phased basis from November.

The temporary network will handle a significant proportion of the additional parcels/packets from the normal sorting network of Mail Centres and Regional Distribution Centres, enabling Royal Mail to cope adequately with the increased volumes of parcel/packet traffic as a result of the continued growth of online retail shopping as effectively as possible, providing Royal Mail with increased capacity and flexibility needed as well as reducing the potential for congestion in Mail Centres and Regional Distribution Centres that sort parcels, cards and letters at the busiest time of the year. The set up will also enable the operation to cope better in the event of any severe weather conditions.

Discussions have taken place with Royal Mail Group in relation to Health and Safety at the Temporary Outhouse Christmas Sort Centres and Satellite Offices and the Joint Statement attached has been agreed with the Royal Mail Group Global Director Compliance and Sustainability. This applies to all temporary offices and operations and ensures the full access and involvement of CWU ASRs in order to be fully consulted and to undertake Health and Safety Inspections, pre-start and ongoing safety spot-checks once operational and to be fully involved, working with RMG Safety Team, Property Team and Operational Management, to deal with any Health, Safety, Welfare and working environment issues both before and during occupation. All the relevant safety documents agreed with CWU by the Royal Mail Group Central Safety Team are attached.

The agreed Royal Mail Group (Including Parcelforce Worldwide and RM International)/CWU Joint Statement provides a strong commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace, safe work methods and safe equipment at the Temporary Outhouse Offices, Hubs, Marquees etc., for all staff, and ensures the provision of information, training, supervision and fit for purpose equipment needed to achieve this.

Operational Management supported by the RMG Safety Team will take responsibility for health and safety procedures, working with CWU Area Safety Representatives.

RMG/CWU Joint Statement:

The Joint Statement covers:-  staff safety training and information including site induction training, statutory Health and Safety notices in place, manual handling training, new/temp employees and visitors, safe systems of work, environmental controls, adequate heating and lighting safe place of work, risk assessment, housekeeping, safe machines, plant and equipment, fault reporting, noise and dust control, fire safety and evacuation plan, first aid, ensuring all accidents and near misses are reported and investigated, emergency procedures, joint workplace safety inspections and monitoring. Site access and involvement of CWU Safety Representatives, workplace transport and yard risk controls, continued effective vehicle and pedestrian segregation on site, PPE, emergency procedures and workplace monitoring are also included.

Safety Documents:

I also attach several safety documents agreed with us by the Royal Mail Group Central Safety

Team which have gone out to all Royal Mail Regions, and Safety Teams which they have been asked to complete when introducing additional Outhouses or Temporary Structures to support their Christmas operation. These are:-

(1) Safety Assessment and Concurrence (SAC1) Project/Programme/Product Form

(2) Temporary Accommodation Health & Safety Checklist General

(3) Temporary Accommodation Health & Safety Checklist Marquees on existing sites

(4) Guidance Note For Persons In Control (PIC) Where Temporary Heating is Provided

SAC1 & Risk Assessments:

Completion of the SAC 1 in particular may lead to the requirement to review a number of risk assessments in light of changes being introduced, for example:-

  • Yard – Primarily to ensure continued effective vehicle and pedestrian segregation on site.
  • Workplace – To identify and record any other significant risk issue inside the building.
  • First Aid – Some of these sites can be remote and require first aid provision to be made.
  • PPE – Potentially a number of risks at the site in terms of vehicle/pedestrian segregation and with adjacent properties who share the yard.
  • Work Equipment – Normal work equipment may not suit some premises/environments
  • Fire Risk Assessment including fire evacuation plans – essential.

Royal Mail will also be ensuring the following points have been considered:- 

  • Site induction training – Everyone will be new to the premises.
  • Statutory Notices in place – See the new Health and Safety notice board standard.
  • Accident reporting procedure – Arrangement in place to allow reporting of accidents and near misses.
  • Heating – RMPFS directive followed for temporary heating.
  • Housekeeping standards – To minimise the risk of slip and trip accidents.
  • Manual handling training – For all the temporary staff.

This set of clear arrangements will help overcome problems experienced in the past with Christmas ‘Outhouses’, ensuring better Health and Safety standards, joint working and problem solving.

Attached are the Royal Mail Opps, Parcelforce Worldwide and Royal Mail International locations of the Christmas Outhouses and additional buildings and Marquee Accommodation being used for the Christmas period 2019.

Attachments:

  • RMG/CWU Joint Statement 2019
  • Guidance Document for Temporary Heating (Guidance to Person In Control)
  • Temporary Accommodation Health and Safety Checklists
  • SAC1 Handover Certificate (SHEI 5.3) (Appendix 4)
  • Change Management SAC1 (SHEI 5.3) (v2.0)
  • Royal Mail Opps, Parcelforce Worldwide and Royal Mail International locations of the Christmas Outhouses and Marquee Accommodation and additional parking 2019

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB658 Christmas Operations 2019 – Temporary Dedicated Parcel Sort Centres (PSCs) Outhouses and Marquees

Change Management SAC1 (SHEI 5.3) (v2.0)

Christmas 2019 – Site Detail

Joint Statement2019 (2)

Marquees on exisiting sites OH

PIC Temp Heating Guidelines

SAC1 Handover Certificate (SHEI 5.3) (Appendix 4)

Temporary OH

 



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