No. 39/15
Ref: 530
Date: 21st January 2015

To: Branches with POSTAL Members

Dear Colleague,

First Time Delivery/Delivery to Neighbour – Nominated Neighbour Guidelines

Branches will be aware of the revised National Agreement covering “First Time Delivery – Delivery To Neighbour” contained in LTB 385/14 and the ongoing work of the Safety, Customer Service & Quality Strand within the Integrated Delivery Programme.

As part of the work being undertaken by the strand which has seen the first time delivery rate rise to approximately 91% on a National basis, we have looked at introducing standard processes. This has identified a number of anomalies which are mainly down to placing too much emphasis on delivery OPGs and basically attempting to make them the scapegoat for failed first time delivery.

As a result we have agreed a standard process which involves Enquiry Offices collating information from customers when they collect a P739 item and asking them if they have a preferred neighbour which is then logged. This is designed to assist OPGs being able to identify an alternative delivery address to the original addressee which at the same time helps to increase the first time delivery success rate.

Whilst we have agreed to the attached guidelines, it is made clear to the customers when visiting the Enquiry Office that the acceptance of this information does not guarantee that delivery to their nominated neighbour will always be achievable. In addition we have also agreed that there will be no culpability associated with any OPGs if they fail to attempt or complete delivery to a nominated neighbour.

The process will be kept under review in the IDP Strand to monitor the number of requests, the success rate of first time delivery and also to enable any findings to be fed into the ongoing discussions around future software on the new PDAs.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 530
Email address: hnutley@cwu.org or Mstewart@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Bob Gibson
CWU Assistant Secretary – Outdoor

EASTERN 5 BRANCH
Annual General Meeting
The meeting will be held at the Peterborough Bowls
Club, Burton Street, Peterborough, PE1 5HA.
Sunday 25TH January 2015 10.30am

                                                                                 AGENDA

1.  APOLOGIES.
2.  MINUTES SILENCE.
3.  ADOPTION OF STANDING ORDERS
4.  MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
5.  MATTERS ARISING.
6.  SECRETARY’S ANNUAL REPORT.
7.  TREASURER’S ANNUAL REPORT.
8.  LETTER SECTION ANNUAL REPORT.
9.  OTHER ANNUAL REPORTS.
10.  MOTIONS (All Motions must be submitted to the Branch Secretary by
no later than 9am on Sunday 18th

January 2015. Any amendments to the
published motions shall be submitted to the Branch Chairman by no later
than 9.30am Sunday 25th January 2015

. Emergency Motions will be
accepted at the discretion of the Branch Chairman.)
11.  NOMINATIONS FOR DELEGATION TO TRADES COUNCIL
Huntingdon
Peterborough
Kings Lynn & District
Wisbech, March & District
CONSTITUANCY LABOUR PARTIES
Motions to be sent to:
Branch Secretary, PO Box 438, Peterborough, PE4 5PE
Or Email: branch.secretary@cwue5.org
EASTERN 5 BRANCH
COMMITTEE

Letter to Branches

 

 

 

 

No. LTB 643/14

Ref: TK/tm/PM

Date: 16th October 2014

 

 

To: All Branches

 

Dear Colleague

 

CWU Death Benefit

 

In accordance with the terms expressed in CWU Rule 4.1.11 Branches are advised that from the 1^st October 2014 the CWU Death Benefit payment will be increased to £745.

 

This information will also be published in the Voice.

 

Any enquiries relating to this LTB should be directed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department for the attention of Tony Kearns.

 

Telephone:     0208 971 7237

Email:           sdgs@cwu.org

 

Yours sincerely

 

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

For instant updates: http//:www.cwu.org     email: info@cwu.org 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1RX Tel: 020 8971 7200 Fax: 020 8971 7300 General Secretary: Billy Hayes (www.billyhayes.co.uk)

Letter to Branches

 

 

 

 

No. 650/14

Ref: 732.02

Date: 20th October 2014

To:     All Postal Branches

Area Processing Representatives

Area Distribution Representatives

Divisional Representatives

Dear Colleague

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL PROCESSING AND THE COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION REGARDING PARCEL PROCESSING STRATEGY

The Union has recently been engaged in dialogue regarding the development of parcel processing strategy following the recent trial/proof of concept activity which has taken place at selected Mail Centres in line with previously agreed terms of reference.

The culmination of this activity has resulted in the business now looking to jointly expand the development/deployment of parcel handling technology including scanning and tracking across the Network.

A Joint Statement is attached which clarifies the current position going forward.

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 732.02.

Yours sincerely

Terry Pullinger

Assistant Secretary

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL PROCESSING AND THE COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION REGARDING PARCEL PROCESSING STRATEGY

Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union are working together in developing key business policies, mutual interest solutions and a new culture, which is at the core of all the commitments contained in the BT2010 Agreement and the recently endorsed Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Term Success Agreement.

Royal Mail and the CWU have been in discussion in respect of the Parcel Automation Project in relation to the Mail Centre network, which is part of the Royal Mail Parcel Transformation Programme. The aim of the project is to develop a future parcel processing plan, including automated and manual interventions for all bar-coded parcels in the Royal Mail operation. We have been fully engaged at National level on the scope and details of the project and a National Engagement Forum is to be established to enable detailed sharing of information. Existing National groups, such as the National Processing Group (NPG), Growth Forum and the Parallel Ops Executive will review the progress of the project.

Royal Mail is embarking on a tender process inviting machine suppliers to bid to provide Royal Mail with a parcel sorting machine solution and the project team are currently formulating a business case to secure the funding for investment. Supplier bids will be returned on the 29

th December 2014 and it is currently envisaged that a business case will be submitted to the Royal Mail Board in early 2015. If funding is secured, the intention will be to start deploying machines in 2015 with the aim of completing this activity in 2016. The introduction of scanners into manual parcel sorting is planned to follow a similar timeframe.

Even though Royal Mail has yet to pick a supplier or approve the business case some local planning and testing will be commencing in Mail Centres, which will follow agreed terms of reference for the activity with the CWU. This will be focussed on gathering information to inform the business case and the practicalities of deployment, i.e. where the machine will fit in the Mail Centre, what capacity is needed, how processes may change etc.

The Royal Mail project team, local management and local CWU representatives will work together to ensure we get local site specific information to inform the overall design and business case assumptions.

Against that backdrop it is acknowledged that the Parcel Automation Project is still at a very early stage with a significant amount of joint development activity to be concluded going forward. As the project evolves issues, such as Manpower Planning/Resourcing at affected sites, will require further discussion at the relevant phase of deployment.

We will of course update you further as the project progresses.

Andrew Forbes Terry Pullinger

Head of Processing Design Assistant Secretary

Royal Mail CWU

Date: 20

th October 2014

For instant updates: http//:www.cwu.org     email: info@cwu.org 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1RX Tel: 020 8971 7200 Fax: 020 8971 7300 General Secretary: Billy Hayes (www.billyhayes.co.uk)

Letter to Branches

 

 

 

 

No: 598/14

Ref: 21003

26th September 2014

 

 

To: All Branches with Postal Members

 

 

Dear Colleague

 

UPDATE ON NATIONAL TALKS – GROWTH, EFFICIENCY AND NEW INCENTIVE ARRANGEMENTS

 

Following the letter sent to the company on the 21^st July, the Union has continued talks with Royal Mail on a Joint National Statement that would bring together in a balanced way the issues of growth, efficiency and incentive arrangements.

 

The current position is that whilst progress has been made on a structured growth plan, it is still proving difficult to finalise an agreed approach to efficiency and incentive arrangements, given the continuing impact of direct delivery competition in both letters and parcels.

 

As stated in LTB 594/14, next week we will be announcing a date for a National Briefing in October and we will be impressing upon the company the urgent need to conclude the aforementioned Joint Statement prior to the National Briefing. In the event that the issue of incentive arrangements remains unresolved by the time the Postal Executive meet on the 7^th October, then we will be considering other ways to achieve our objectives and fulfil the commitments made in the Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Term Success Agreement.

 

We are meeting Royal Mails senior management team next week and further information will follow in due course. Any enquiries on the above LTB should be directed to the DGS (P) Department.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Ward                                                             

Deputy General Secretary (P)

For instant updates: http//:www.cwu.org     email: info@cwu.org 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1RX Tel: 020 8971 7200 Fax: 020 8971 7300 General Secretary: Billy Hayes (www.billyhayes.co.uk)

Letter to Branches

 

 

 

 

 

No: 587/14

Ref: 60000

23rd September 2014

 

 

To: All Branches with Postal Members

 

 

 

 

Dear Colleague

 

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE – HOLIDAY PAY

 

In recent months the Union has been monitoring the developing legal situation on how holiday pay should be calculated in line with the Working Time Directive.

 

This involves three very significant Employment Tribunal cases in non CWU companies which have cast doubt over how an employer is required to calculate holiday pay under the European Working Time Directive. A previous decision that has stood since 2004, held that adhoc overtime did not need to be included in the calculation. However, this has now been contradicted both directly and indirectly in recent cases and the ET decisions in the three aforementioned cases have ruled that ad hoc overtime should now be included.

 

Although these ET decisions are not yet binding, the legal advice received from our lawyers suggests that ultimately, this is likely, though not certain, to be confirmed as the correct interpretation of this particular Working Time Directive.

 

These decisions could have very significant implications and may mean that for any holiday taken since 1998, current Royal Mail employees may have a legitimate legal claim against the company to up to four weeks worth of overtime payments (the directive only covers a four week holiday period) each year. A further issue that needs to be resolved legally is what reference period should be used for how any entitlement should be calculated.

 

As you can imagine employers across the UK have been strongly lobbying against this interpretation of the directive and the CBI are claiming that this would have a major detrimental effect on the ability of British companies to remain competitive.

 

 

 

 

The current position is that two of these recent ET decisions are being appealed against by employers and these appeals are pending. Additionally, a third case brought by a transport employee has been settled outside of the tribunal and we are trying to establish the basis of this settlement.

 

The whole subject matter is a very live issue and we can confirm that CWU has now lodged a formal claim for both future entitlements and back pay with the Royal Mail Group on behalf of all CWU members working for the company.

 

Following initial discussions with Royal Mail under the auspices of Bobby Weatherall PEC Member, who has been diligently following developments for the Union, we have now arranged a meeting with the company’s senior management team to discuss the basis of our claim and try to reach a settlement. Additionally, we are continuing to discuss with our lawyers the best way to protect the legal position of CWU Members, if necessary through the Employment Tribunal.

 

Further information will be sent out in the near future following our next meeting with the company. In the meantime, it is important that all CWU branches and representatives circulate the content of this LTB and convey the Union’s position to our members in all work places.

 

Any enquiries on the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department, quoting reference 60000.

 

Yours sincerely                                                 

 

 

Dave Ward                                                

Deputy General Secretary (P)                  

UNIONLINE POSTER – JUNE 2014

Letter to Branches

No. 561/2014 Ref: 216.01 Date: 4th September 2014

For The Immediate Attention Of All:

Postal Branches
Divisional Representatives
Regional Organisers
Area Distribution Representatives

Dear Colleague
Royal Mail Logistics –Professional Driver Opportunities (Class C+E Licence)

Please find attached a self-explanatory Joint Statement that has been agreed with Royal Mail Logistics in relation to recruitment opportunities for Class C+E licence holders.

Branches are requested to ensure that this LTB is given immediate circulation to representatives and that our members are made aware of this opportunity by way of the attached Joint Statement being given the widest publicity.

As always the department thanks you for your assistance in this matter.

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

Yours sincerely

Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary

Joint Statement Between Royal Mail Logistics And The CWU Regarding The Resourcing Approach For The Immediate Professional Drivers Recruitment And The Next Steps Regarding Driver Career Path and Diversity

INTRODUCTION

Royal Mail Logistics and the Communications Workers Union are working together to create a more sustainable workforce in the National Logistics Professional Driving Function. Both parties recognise that there is an immediate need to fill circa 200 Professional Driver jobs across the UK. The purpose of this joint statement is to set out the high level resourcing principles and timescales for this campaign, and to begin to lay the foundations for future aspirations for a driver career path and diversity process.

Against this backdrop our Joint Working Group has researched the issue of manpower in this area and have identified that there is an immediate business need to increase our Professional Driver resource. In addition to the immediate business need there is also a joint aspiration to create a sustainable driver career path balanced against business resourcing needs.

SCOPE

In order to achieve the immediate business need of circa 200 Professional Drivers a recruitment campaign commenced on 2nd September 2014. Access to this campaign is via the Royal Mail Internal recruitment website http://www.royalmailgroup.com/myjob quoting Role reference number RML058438. The closing date for applications is 23rd September 2014 and all applications must be made via the Internal recruitment website.

Initially we will be resourcing from suitably qualified Royal Mail Group applicants and criteria are in line with the Professional Drivers Agreement (PDA).

Internal Criteria

 Initially the selection will be from a list of suitable Royal Mail Employees who have applied via the Royal Mail Recruitment Website (IRIS) and who hold the relevant C+E licence.
 No current record on an individual’s licence of dangerous driving or drink driving (includes accident/speeding/tacho offence history).
 Less than 6 points on driving licence.
 Good conduct and attendance record, in accordance with Royal Mail Group policy. (Conduct at Category 2 level or 2nd Stage Attendance Warning.) Where the exclusion of an internal candidate on the grounds of Conduct or attendance would otherwise trigger external recruitment, the case will be referred to the National parties for review.
 Tie Break. Where two or more individuals are considered suitable for a lesser number of vacancies we will revert to Local Resourcing Area (see below) and Length of Service in line with the Way forward Agreement.
 Where there is no suitable internal candidate we will move to external resourcing criteria in line with the PDA.

Local Resourcing Area:

1. Applicants from the local resourcing unit.
2. A reasonable travel distance; reasonable is normally considered to be within one hour.
3. Outside the resourcing area other national people from anywhere in RMG.
4. Requests for Transfer by individuals with Special Circumstances will be considered jointly and prioritised on a case by case basis.

Monthly Pay

Professional Drivers are monthly paid. Therefore, in accordance with the Professional Drivers Agreement all successful applicants will be moved to monthly pay. There is a process in place to help people with the transition from Weekly to Monthly pay and further information about this is available through your HR team.

NEXT STEPS

Both parties recognise the need for on-going discussions to scope and create a sustainable driver career path to support the businesses resourcing needs. In addition we recognise there is a need to consider the diversity of our Professional Driving workforce and opportunities to add balance to the Professional Driver demographic profile. Therefore, we are jointly seeking to research and design a process that will enable us to sustain a Professional Driver workforce that is ready to meet our future resourcing needs.

 To support this initiative the Terms of Reference for this Joint Working Group are being drawn up.

 Royal Mail Logistics wishes to create a sustainable Professional Driving workforce and we will therefore run a separate campaign to identify individuals who are eligible and who wish to be trained to the required C+E Licence standard. This Campaign will be implemented once the direct recruitment campaign is underway and will be offered initially to those interested individuals who require the minimum amount of training to meet the full C+E standard. Further details of this approach will be shared when they become available.

Euan McMurdo Terry Pullinger
Director Assistant Secretary
Royal Mail Logistics CWU

Date: 4th September 2014