GENERAL CONFERENCE 2015 – MOTION 1: HOUSING 

Branches will recall that Conference unanimously adopted Motion 1 on the subject housing in the following terms:

 

“The NEC is instructed to start an affordable housing campaign, working with CWU Youth, the equality sections and other trade unions where possible. This should focus on affordable housing that families, as well as workers on low incomes and wages can afford.

 

Additionally the following must be pursued –

 

• Increasing investment in genuinely affordable housing including from government, pension funds and ethical investors.

• Affordable housing for families and workers on low income.

• Bringing down the costs of renting from private landlords, increasing security of tenancy and quality.

• Lifting the restrictions on local government preventing council house building and working with other social landlords to increase the stock of affordable housing available.

• Maintain existing social/council housing stock by limiting the right to buy

 

The campaign is not limited to these points and the NEC could use other relevant issues that supplement the points above. Bringing down housing costs would in effect be one of the best pay rises we could deliver for members.”

 

This paper seeks to bring branches up-to-date on developments since the adoption of that motion.

 

Branches will recall that prior to Motion 1 being adopted, CWU Youth had already adopted housing as a key priority area (indeed Motion 1 was one of the two motions from the 2015 Youth Conference forwarded to General Conference).

 

This led to the launch to an internet-based campaign designed to highlight the lack of regulation and generally low standards in the private rented sector under the header of Unscrupulous Landlords. The campaign also sought to encourage members to give details of their particular “bad stories” which could be used to pursue the campaign’s objectives.

 

As part of this campaigning work, CWU Youth had established a good working relationship with campaign group Generation Rent. Generation Rent and CWU Youth representatives have shared platforms on a number of occasions over the last 6 months.

 

Shortly after Annual Conference, Generation Rent approached CWU Youth to see what support might be possible for a publication they had compiled entitled “A Queen’s Speech for Housing”. This was designed to pull together the various strands of the housing debate into one overarching document that could be presented as a programme for resolving the current housing crisis.

 

When drafted, the document anticipated a hung parliament in which advancing a constructive policy towards housing would become a key element in the post-electoral horse-trading.

 

CWU Youth provided an introduction to the publication and it was distributed on the basis that it had been supported by CWU Youth. This was useful in consolidating the widespread view of the CWU’s support for and leadership in this policy area. The Queen’s Speech for Housing document is attached to this letter to the NEC for ease of reference.

 

Following the General Election, further informal discussions took place with Generation Rent about how the CWU’s policy objectives outlined in Motion 1 could be pursued.

 

It was agreed that a joint approach to those MPs who were successful in the ballot for Private Members Bills would be fruitful.  

 

(Generally speaking, those MPs who come in the top 10 of those essentially drawn out of a hat have the chance of presenting a Private Members Bill of their choice to parliament. Those MPs favoured by the ballot can expect to receive many approaches from interest groups seeking a sponsor for a Bill.)

 

The Private Members Bill ballot was announced on 4 June and it became apparent that Karen Buck MP (Labour, Westminster North and Regents Park) would be approachable on the question of intervention in the housing market.

 

A meeting therefore took place with Ms Buck and her research assistant to explore the possibility of her support for either a Private Members Bill on rent capping or a Private Members Bill to enshrine much higher standards and regulation of the private rental sector. (These are summarised in section 5 of the Queen’s Speech document).

 

At the meeting for the CWU were Simon Sapper, National Officer; John Colbert, Campaigns Manager and James Mills, Press Officer.

 

As a result, we reached an agreement with Ms Buck that she would indeed sponsor a Bill on regulation of the rental sector. In her view, there was a very realistic possibility of this Private Members Bill clearing all the parliamentary hurdles and actually becoming enacted as legislation.

 

The Homes (Fit for Habitation) Bill was consequently lodged with the parliamentary authorities by 23 June 2015.

 

Next Stages

 

There are a number of immediate next stages that we can identify.
The first is for the precise terms of the Private Members Bill to be drafted. This is primarily a job of parliamentary drafts men/women. They will take the policy objectives that Karen Buck provides to them (which she in turn will get from us and Generation Rent) and convert them into parliamentary language.

 

The Bill will then be tabled for a first reading which is usually a formality and then a more substantive debate under a second reading. Because these debates always take place on a Friday morning there is a particular challenge in ensuring that sufficient MPs are in the Chamber for the Bill to have a reasonable chance of success.

 

The first reading is likely to take place before parliament rises for the summer recess in late July with the second reading probably in November 2015.

 

As part of the process of building support for the CWU’s campaign on housing in general and the Private Members Bill in particular, the possibility of fringe events at the TUC Congress and the Labour Party Conference are being actively explored.

 

Part of that exploration is to see what support may be possible from our jointly owned law firm, Unionline. The Unionline board has already expressed the suggestion that they would like to become more involved in supporting some of the union’s key policy objectives. This is a not unknown attitude for a law firm to adopt as can be seen with the Unionline’s most prominent rivals, Thompsons.

 

However, through the Head of Legal Services, we are seeking to discuss with Unionline something more than just financial support in the form of sponsorship for fringe events. We would also wish to explore with Unionline to what extent they could adjust the portfolio of services they offer their customers to embrace some of the key concerns of tenants and then expand that further to embrace homeowners as well.

 

This would mean that there is a close synergy between the policy objectives we are seeking to achieve through Karen Buck’s Private Members Bill and the expertise and service we offer our members and their families through our jointly owned law firm.

 

There is an added community of interest here because Karen Buck, as reported above, is supported by the GMB who are partner-owners of Unionline.

 

Summary

 

Branches can see from the foregoing report that no time has been lost in attempting to progress the issues so clearly adopted by our conference as a policy priority. Further reports will be supplied on a regular basis.

 

Any queries on this LTB should be directed to Simon Sapper, Assistant Secretary, at CWU Headquarters.

 

Yours sincerely

 
 

Dave Ward

General Secretary  

 
 
COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION

 

 

 

Rule Book
 

The revised Rule Book including the amendments carried at Annual Conference 2015 is now available as a pdf.file via the CWU website.

 

http://www.cwu.org/rulebook.html

 

If you have any problems downloading a copy of the Rule Book from the website please contact Angela Niven on 020 8971 7256 or by e-mail to aniven@cwu.org

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Ward

General Secretary

NSSN Conference Saturday 4th July 2015 – Conway Hall London 

The National Shop Stewards Network’s (NSSN) conference takes place on Saturday the 4th July 2015 in Conway Hall, London. It has been announced this week that Harris Sideris will be speaking at the conference. Harris, who is from Athens, is one of two Vodafone workers who were sacked a few weeks ago. Harris is also a member of the trade union committee of the contract workers at Vodafone who are fighting for full union rights. As a result of these sackings there have so far been two one-day strikes.

 

The fact that the conference falls a day before the Greek referendum on the EU austerity package gives union and anti-cut activists the opportunity to show solidarity with both Harris and his fellow sacked worker as well as the Greek people.

 

Harris will join the already confirmed speakers Mark Serwotka PCS General Secretary, Ronnie Draper BFAWU General Secretary, Matt Wrack FBU General Secretary, Steve Gillian POA General Secretary, Peter Pinkney RMT President, Helen Pattison Youth Fight for Jobs, Dave Smith anti-blacklisting campaigner, Isai Priya Tamil Solidarity trade union co-ordinator and Rob Williams NSSN National Chair.

 

The Conference costs £6 to attend and it is possible to pay on the day. You can find more information on the conference from the NSSN’s leaflet here you can also find further information via their website here.  

 

The Conference Starts at 11:00 and finishes at 16:30 – Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL.

 

Any further enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office at gsoffice@cwu.org quoting the reference GS17.4/LTB 437/15.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Dave Ward

General Secretary      

                                      

 Motion E7 – General Conference 2015

 

Motion E7, in the name of Kent Invicta Branch called upon the NEC to issue a statement providing assurance and a commitment that “future education and training is delivered by suitable qualified education provider(s) and qualified tutors in line with trade union principles of solidarity and covered by recognition agreements with the appropriate unions.”

 

At its meeting yesterday, the NEC agreed the following statement to be issued to Branches via LTB which outlines the points raised and actions taken pursuant to the Conference decision:

 

“The CWU were informally advised on 17th April 2015 and formally notified of the closure of the Trade Union Education Department at Solihull College on 13th May 2015. This closure is as a direct result of the 24% cuts to Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funding for the College made by the last Coalition Government as one of their final attacks on adult education. Our formal contract with the college to deliver the national programme of CWU courses at our residential education centre, Alvescot Lodge will therefore terminate on the 31st July 2015. For clarity, our regional programme which is/can be arranged at HQ Departmental,; Branch; Region; Sub-Committee request can be/is delivered under contract by Ruskin College.

 

The CWU has written to Solihull College expressing our serious concerns and to the TUC and the UCU offering support for any campaigns.

 

The NEC have considered fully the implications of this closure and reaffirm the existing policy that CWU education will continue to be accredited where possible and therefore delivered by qualified tutors who may be CWU Reps, CWU employees, or employees of an external provider covered by their appropriate trade union recognition agreements.

 

As has been the case for many years, this will be supplemented by informal, unaccredited training that may be delivered by CWU staff and Senior Lay Officials.

 

The CWU will now be considering options for delivery of our programme from 1st August 2015 to 31st July 2015 in line with existing conference policy and positive discussions have taken place with the TUC and an alternative provider.”

 

The terms of the motion are therefore discharged and any queries relating to this LTB should be addressed in the first instance to Lee Wakeman at lwakeman@cwu.org  

 

Best wishes,

 

 

Trish Lavelle

Head of Education and Training

 
No. 432/15

 

1st July 2015

 

To: All Branches with Postal Members

 

Pension Salary Exchange (PSE)

 

Since LTB390/15 was issued and the CWU Q&A letter on PSE was sent to members, most of the queries received on PSE have related to the two issues below:

 

Will PSE reduce my basic state pension?

 

No. Royal Mail Pension Plan (RMPP) members are contracted out of the second state pension and as a result pay 10.6% National Insurance (NI) instead of 12%.

 

This means that RMPP members will not be entitled to the full rate of the single tier state pension from April 2016. This is the result of contracting out – it has nothing to do with PSE and the introduction of PSE will make no difference to state pension entitlement for RMPP members.

 

Members of the Royal Mail defined contribution plan (RMDCP) may see a trivial reduction in state second pension, of around 15p a year for each £100 pension contribution exchanged in excess of £15,100 a year. For a RMDCP member paying a 6% pension contribution on earnings of 20k a year, this will produce a reduction of £1.20 a year for the whole life of the second state pension.

 

What are the changes to Terms and Conditions referred to in the documentation issued by management?

 

The only contractual change is to the headline rate of pay, arising from the difference in how pension contributions are made under PSE. There is no other change to Terms & Conditions.

 

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the DGS (P) Department.

 

Yours sincerely

Ray Ellis ​

A/Deputy General Secretary (P)​

AGENDA FOR GROWTH AGREEMENT: RESOURCING 

Information provided to the union by Royal Mail Group indicates a level of agency staffing in some parts of the business which appears to be at variance with the terms of the Agenda for Growth agreement.

 

Agenda for Growth contains the following provisions:

 

Section three, paragraph 2.73 “Employees will be employed on permanent contracts, except where there is a genuine short term need identified by the employer after consultation with the union”.

 

2.7.4 “Agency workers are intended to cover short term or unforeseen resourcing needs, expected to last for periods of no more than 12 weeks, which cannot be covered by offering additional hours to existing employees whilst maintaining quality of service. In the rare circumstances that employment exceeds 12 weeks the provisions of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 will apply”.  

 

The default position is therefore that recruitment should take place on permanent contract – only if there is a defined short term need should a temporary contact be issued and only after consultation with the union. Agency staff should only be employed where the need for additional resource is not expected to last more than 12 weeks.  

 

Is it clear that in some units agency staff are being used on an ongoing basis, well in excess of 12 weeks, with no attempt by Royal Mail Group to regularise the situation in line with the terms of Agenda for Growth. We have received reports that in some locations employment agencies have offices on Royal Mail premises.

 

The union has strongly registered its concern nationally and has requested an up to date breakdown by location of all non permanent staff. We have made it clear that we expect Royal Mail Group to take appropriate action to ensure that all parts of the business are compliant with the Agenda for Growth.

 

It is necessary for the union at all levels to challenge breaches of Agenda for Growth. Head office is not aware of any registered disagreement on excessive use of agency staff, despite the numbers running into hundreds in some units. Head count figures, including agency numbers, should be provided to senior field officials on a regular basis to enable an overview to be maintained – I have written to senior field officials seeking confirmation that information is being provided. In addition, resourcing meetings should take place on a weekly basis at unit level. It is vitally important that management are challenged on use of non permanent staff where this is outside the terms of Agenda for Growth.

 

It is imperative that the union defends the terms of Agenda for Growth. Widespread use of agency staff outside the terms of the agreement can only serve to undermine the position of permanent staff in the long term. In some parts of the business it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that a two tier work force has in effect been established by widespread use of agency staff with no job security, recruited on minimum wage and in some cases on zero hours contracts.

 

Branches and representatives should therefore review staffing arrangements in every unit –

 

• If non-permanent staff are being used without consultation this should be challenged

• If the use of non permanent staff is inappropriate or excessive this should be challenged

• If the matter can’t be swiftly resolved disagreement should be registered.

If you have any further enquires please do not hesitate to contact the DGSP department.

 

Regards,
Ray Ellis

A/Deputy General Secretary  

 
COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION

URGENT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS

SPECIAL NOTICE

It is with deep regret that I have been informed of the death of

JANIE OSMAN

(FORMERLY DUNMORE)

 

 On 24^th June 2015

Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.

Funeral arrangements will be published in due course.

Nationally Agreed Guidelines & Supporting Materials for the use of Mini Yorks within 7.5 tonne and above Vehicles

In 2014 both the Indoor and Outdoor Department were presented with a proposal to include the use of Mini Yorks within the current operation and use on 7.5 tonne vehicles, primarily at Collection Hubs during Under the Roof operations and as such requested that they could be transported to the receiving Mail Centre as part of the despatch of mails.

It would be fair to say neither department fully understood the rationale for using Mini Yorks as potentially you decrease the amount of mail a vehicle can transport, however leaving that concern to one side we have made it clear throughout the discussions that the relevant safety concerns would need to be resolved before any use would be allowed.

As such both departments established a Joint Working Group to ensure that all of the relevant safety aspects had been considered as part of the proposed changes.

Following months of discussions around their use being safe and that all considerations around vehicle load plans and weight constraints had been factored in, the supporting materials were finally agreed with Royal Mail for their use within the operation.

Due to the voluminosity of the supporting material the guidelines have been placed onto the CWU website and access can be obtained through the link below.

 http://www.cwu.org/information-on-the-use-of-mini-yorks.html

In addition all of the supporting material can be obtained through the Royal Mail safety library which Area Safety Representatives will have access to, or through Royal Mail Safety Managers who have been informed that they should provide the materials upon request.

The materials show the respective load plans to be used when Mini Yorks are to be transported and the relevant straps to be used in the correct positions etc. Both departments wish to place on record their thanks to ASRs Tony Hayes, Paul Arandall, Steve Wyatt and Karl Maginn, who have been working on the process and materials for the departments.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 540/600

Email address: hnutley@cwu.org

Any enquiries to Terry Pullinger’s Office, quoting reference 714.14

Email address: dwyatt@cwu.org

Yours sincerely Yours sincerely

       

Mark Baulch Terry Pullinger

A/Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Election of National Representative Positions – 2015 

• CWU Youth Committee (Vacant Positions)

​

• Midlands Regions

• Scotland Region

• Wales & the Marches Regions

 

The NEC has agreed the election arrangements for the filling of the above National positions. Accordingly please find enclosed the regulations and nomination forms.

 

The Timetable is as follows:

 

Nominations open ​29 June 2015

Nominations close ​10 July 2015 (14:00)

Despatch ballot papers ​14 July 2015

Ballot closes ​31 July 2015 (14:00)

 

Any enquiries regarding this LTB should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237 or email address sdgs@cwu.org.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

Joint Statement Between Royal Mail And The CWU Covering The Customer Presentation Strategy – Deployment Of Multi Mode Feeders To Mail Centres With TOP2000
 Presentation Strategy – Large Letter Projects 

Joint Statement Between Royal Mail And The CWU Covering The Customer Presentation Strategy – Deployment Of Multi Mode Feeders To Mail Centres With TOP2000

 

Branches and representatives were advised in LTB 050/15 issued in January, that a joint trial had taken place at Home Counties North Mail Centre in relation to a possible upgrade to the existing TOP2000 throughout the Mail Centre network. The first element of this upgrade was the deployment of the Dynamic Tray Allocation (DTA) which was covered by a Joint Statement attached to the aforementioned LTB.

 

LTB 050/15 also advised that trial activity was continuing in respect of the Improved Feeder (MMF) and that this element should therefore not be deployed until confirmed by the department that its use had been agreed.

 

The department can now report that the Improved Feeder (MMF) element of the project has been successfully completed and following full joint evaluation it has been agreed as suitable for deployment and endorsed by the Postal Executive at its meeting of the 23rd June 2015. Attached for your information is the Joint Statement that has been agreed to cover the deployment of this software in TOP2000 Mail Centres.

 

I believe that the content of the attached Joint Statement is self-explanatory. However, Branches and representatives are asked to note that the upgrade activity may necessitate that the TOP2000 machine is taken out of service during the installation of the update for a period of up to 10 days, during which time there may be a requirement for the use of temporary diversions as part of the operational arrangements.  

 

It was against this backdrop that Disruption Planning Principles (Annex A of the attached Joint Statement) has been agreed to ensure that any temporary diversions in relation to this upgrade activity, where agreed, are developed and deployed jointly with the full involvement of local CWU and the principles of the IR Framework being applied. It should also be noted the diversion arrangements are specific to traffic that would normally have been processed through the TOP2000 machine in line with your local workplan.

 

 

 

 

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Terry Pullinger, Assistant Secretary, e-mail: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number. 712.05

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE CUSTOMER PRESENTATION STRATEGY – DEPLOYMENT OF MULTI MODE FEEDERS TO MAIL CENTRES WITH TOP2000

 

 

Background

 

The Agenda for Growth Agreement commits Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union to build on the shared vision of modernisation contained in the Business Transformation Agreement and work together in developing and implementing new business strategies. This commitment is the key enabler for Royal Mail and the Union to engage and develop mutual interest solutions that will aid/improve efficiency within the operation while responding to the needs of CWU represented grades.

 

In keeping with the National Generic Trial/Deployment Frameworks both parties have agreed to jointly identify potential ways and automated handling solutions to improve the flow of mail through Mail Centres from both a Health and Safety and operational aspect.  

 

Key components of the joint vision and agenda going forward include improving the function and operational capacity of the existing automation estate to support the increase in and protection of large letter volumes and to introduce changes that enable future product innovation to meet customer expectations. One such initiative is to develop improvements to the existing TOP2000 estate that will enable Royal Mail to automate unwrapped and plastic wrapped addressed items.

 

 

Introduction/Scope

 

It was jointly agreed to develop and test improvements to the TOP2000 FSM located at Home Counties North Mail Centre (HCNMC) that were designed to improve the flow of large letter traffic. This was extended to Preston and Jubilee Mail Centres to meet technical test requirements. The trial was conducted in line with the terms of the National Generic Trial Framework Agreement.

 

The overall aim of the trial was to test defined improvements to the TOP2000 through Improved Feeder (MMF) in a live operational Mail Centre environment.

 

The trial has now been reviewed and approved by Royal Mail and the CWU as ready for implementation.  

 

 

Operational Process

 

The Multi Mode Feeder upgrade on the TOP2000 enables the efficient and consistent processing of plastic wrapped, open, paper and mixed large letters mail, sorted into trays.

 

This change affects 26 Mail Centres with TOP2000 technology. The Proof of Concept machine at North West Midlands Mail Centre and HWDC are not within scope for the deployment. Annex A sets out the deployment schedule by Mail Centre.

 

There are no changes to the nationally agreed minimum TOP2000 staffing levels associated with the deployment of Multi Mode Feeder. Workload associated with the feeder improvement will need to be reviewed locally.

 

There is no change to the existing Standard Operating Procedure or Safe System of Work associated with this machine hardware change.

 

 

Deployment

 

There will be effective meaningful consultation between local management, CWU representatives and employees/members on the changes to be deployed. The introduction of any revised duty/attendance arrangements will be negotiated at local level in line with the IR Framework.

 

Training will be provided in the form of WTLL (Work Time Listening and Learning) created in conjunction with the RM Training and Development team along with on the machine coaching and relevant technical training for engineers provided by the supplier, cascaded across the Mail Centres by the Engineering Performance Managers and subsequently supported by Workplace Coaches. A comprehensive training plan has been created to ensure all operators and engineers are trained and that a training record is completed.

 

The deployment schedule will be managed nationally with Solystic. TOP2000s may be out of service for up to 9 full days during installation. It is acknowledged that operational arrangements may need to be realigned to accommodate any down time due to the machine upgrade being undertaken, which may include the temporary use of diversions, all operational arrangements will be developed and deployed jointly in line with the principles of the IR Framework.

 

In the event that diversions are required (in line with annex B) operational disruption plans will be developed at local level in line with the key principles at Annex B to ensure the plan minimises costs, there is no adverse effect on quality of service and earnings are not affected.  

 

The deployment schedule will be split into two phases. Phase 1 will be to all FAP2 Mail Centres and Phase 2 will be to FAP1 Mail Centres excluding North West Midlands Mail Centre and HWDC.

 

The deployment schedule will ensure local discussion prior to implementation and will take into account/focus on all possible concerns, risks or difficulties associated with this project. This will ensure any unforeseen employee concerns are also resolved as quickly as possible. Local parties will also meet regularly to monitor and review deployment arrangements. Any issues that are unable to be resolved locally will be progressed via the IR Framework Agreement.

CWU representatives shall be given appropriate release to facilitate this and enable them to consult with members on the proposed change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any questions of interpretation, implementation, or application of this Joint Statement shall be referred to the respective Headquarters for resolution.

 

 

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

CWU

Francis Williams

Head of Parcels Design

Royal Mail

 

 

Date: 26 June 2015

 

Annex A

 

Multi Mode Feeder Deployment Schedule

 

 
Note: The above schedule may be subject to amendment due to supplier (Solystic) requirements. Any changes to the anticipated schedule will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.

 

 

Annex B

 

Multi Mode Feeder Disruption Planning Principles

 

The aim of the mutual interest ‘avoiding disruption’ plan is to ensure realistic operational costs consistent with, protecting quality of service and maintain workplan to delivery units in the catchment area without impact on duty arrangements and earnings in the affected Mail Centre. It will be required to jointly review the agreed local arrangements during the upgrade period.

 

The maximum upgrade period will be 10 full calendar days. However, all diversions where they have been required will cease and traffic will revert to being processed at the parent Mail Centre as soon as the upgrade has been completed if this is earlier.

 

During the upgrade period in the event that additional adhoc resource will be required to support the operation, including the use of agency/casual workers, CWU graded staff will be given the first option to undertake these commitments in line with local resourcing principles.

 

To be clear these arrangements are specific to the traffic that would normally been processed through the TOP2000 in line with the local workplan.