Agenda for Growth. Interim Arrangements

Letter to Branches

 

No:  089/14

10th February 2014

To:  All Branches with Postal Members

 Dear Colleague

 NATIONAL  JOINT STATEMENT – INTERIM ARRANGEMENTS

In recognition of the need for transitional arrangements before we can deploy the Agenda for Growth Agreement, in particular the new IR Procedures, the attached Joint Statement has been agreed between the National Parties.

The purpose of the Joint Statement is to set out the interim arrangements that will apply as the first step towards deployment.  This is designed to resolve, as far as possible, all existing disagreements and disputes, thus creating the right environment to launch the new deal.  These interim arrangements focus on a one off dispute resolution process to an agreed five week timescale which will commence on Monday 17^th February.

Please ensure that all CWU Representatives are aware of this Joint Statement and the interim arrangements and that where appropriate they fully participate in the process.  The Joint Statement does not alter CWU policy on World Class Mail and the Union will deal with this issue through the Joint Review of Employee Engagement Initiatives.

Now the interim arrangements are in place the National Parties are developing initial awareness training on the new IR Procedures and this will be cascaded to all managers and CWU Representatives as the next priority.

Further communications will follow on the awareness training, the approach to future efficiency, mediation and how the National Parties will take forward the overall ongoing programme of work.

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

Yours sincerely

                               

Dave Ward                                                             

Deputy General Secretary (P)   

Royal Mail/CWU National Joint Statement
Agenda for Growth, Stability & Long Term Success
Agreement

Interim Arrangements

Royal Mail Group and CWU recognise the need to put in place transitional arrangements ahead of the launch and ongoing deployment of the Agenda for Growth Agreement.  The purpose of these interim arrangements is to create the right environment for the new agreement to be launched in an effective manner. 

To facilitate this both parties will focus on resolving all current Industrial Relations Framework disagreements, outstanding Business Transformation Revision issues and any other disputes, by immediately utilising the following process over the next few weeks.

·         Week commencing Monday 17^th February to Monday 3rd March – In this time period functional Directors (Delivery and Processing) and CWU Divisional Representatives will meet and seek to resolve all disagreements that are at or have exhausted Stage 3 of the IR Framework.  According to current information there are 62 disputes in this category.  At the same time the functional Directors and CWU Divisional Reps will review where we have got to with other disagreements still in the IR Framework either at Stage 2 or Stage 1, with a view to re-energising the talks and encouraging the relevant parties to reach quick agreement.

Any issues that remain unresolved by Monday 3^rd March will be jointly referred to the Royal Mail National Directors/Geography Operations Directors and the relevant CWU National Assistant Secretary for immediate resolution.

·         Week commencing Monday 3^rd March to Monday 17^th March -  Any unresolved issues from the first stage of this process will be dealt with by the relevant Royal Mail National Directors/Geography Operations Directors and the relevant CWU National Assistant Secretary for resolution.

If any of the issues still remain unresolved at this level by Monday 17^th March, they should be referred to the Chief Operating Officer and the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) for immediate resolution.

·         Monday 17^th March to Monday 24^th March – The Royal Mail Chief Operating Officer and the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) will meet to resolve any outstanding issues and conclude the process.

·         In order for this process to be successful the national parties and all participants are committed to a pragmatic and mutual interest approach to resolving all existing issues in line with the spirit and intent of the new agreement.  During this period neither party will take unilateral action and the CWU confirms that it has lifted its policy of non cooperation.
·         All Royal Mail managers and CWU representatives responsible for carrying out this process will immediately prioritise meetings to undertake their role and fully participate and cooperate with the terms of this National Joint Statement.   

Mike Newby                                                   Dave Ward

Director ER/IR                                               Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Royal Mail Group                                          CWU

Increased BT profits

31^st January 2014

 For immediate release

CWU welcomes “strong” results from BT Group Plc

The Communication Workers Union today (Friday 31 January) welcomed results from BT Group Plc which shows an increase in revenue and pre-tax profit. 

  CWU will be entering negotiations with BT management in the next month about a pay claim for CWU represented grades.

 The results, released today, show a growth in revenue, a profit increase of eight per cent before tax and earnings per share up 12 per cent. 

 Andy Kerr, CWU deputy general secretary said: “It’s great to see BT performing well and this is good news for all BT employees who have worked hard to deliver the new services that BT offers.  This strong set of results, showing an increase in both revenue and pre-tax profit, and is testament to the talent and commitment of BT’s workforce.   

 “We will be negotiating with BT management in the near future about pay for CWU represented grades, and we’ll be looking to secure a fair deal that properly reflects the contribution BT’s workforce makes to the company’s ongoing success.”

-ends-

Notes to editors:

·         Detailed information on BT Group Plc’s results can be found here: http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/ShowArticle.cfm?ArticleID=42B944BD-9880-4DBF-8F0A-7F39DAF9F1D1

For more information please contact:

Sophie Kimber, Press Officer, tel: 020 8971 7267, mobile: 0779 3314249, e-mail:skimber@cwu.org

Kevin Slocombe, Head of Communications, mobile: 07714504413, e-mail:kslocombe@cwu.org

www.cwu.org www.cwutv.org Twitter: @CWUnews

Romec Strike Vote

27^th January 2014
For immediate release

 Romec engineers vote yes to defend job security

The Communication Workers Union has today (Monday 27 January) welcomed the decision by engineers, employed by the maintenance and facilities contractor Romec, to take strike action over attacks on their job security.
 Over 94 per cent of the engineers voting said yes to taking strike action.
Romec provides services for Royal Mail and several commercial customers, but, at the end of last year some of these contracts were abruptly terminated, potentially placing engineers’ jobs in jeopardy.
Romec is seeking to abuse TUPE legislation in order to avoid redeployment costs when moving employees out of the company. CWU has previously agreed a Managing Surplus Agreement (MSA) procedure with Romec. However, the company is now refusing to honour this long-standing agreement.  
The ballot closed today. The earliest that strike action could take place would be 3^rd February.
Ray Ellis, CWU national officer said: “Romec is seeking to abuse TUPE legislation to force long-serving, loyal employees out of the company in order to avoid redeployment costs. Romec has refused to honour its obligation to its employees and is now riding roughshod over employees’ job security. I fully support the engineers who want to take a stand over these attacks and hold Romec to the agreements they have made with the union. The company’s behaviour defies belief.
“Rather than discuss the potential staff surplus with the union, as it is obliged to do under the MSA, Romec unilaterally decided to allocate employees to artificially constructed duties to enable them to be transferred out against their will or face being treated as having voluntarily resigned without compensation.
“The MSA is the key agreement protecting our Romec members’ job security and Romec’s cynical attempts to bypass it show callous disregard to those employees directly affected and represent a threat to every Romec member.”
-ends-

For more information please contact:

Sophie Kimber, Press Officer, tel: 020 8971 7267, mobile: 0779 3314249, e-mail:skimber@cwu.org
Kevin Slocombe, Head of Communications, mobile: 07714504413, e-mail:kslocombe@cwu.org
www.cwu.org www.cwutv.org Twitter: @CWUnews

 

End Violemce Against Women!

Eliminating violence against women

26th November 2013
This week the CWU joined organisations all over the world in supporting International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

CWU leaders, Billy Hayes and John Baldwin answer UNI’s call to “Be man enough. Be a leader against gender violence”.

On a global scale the Equal Opportunities arm of UNI global union launched a video, entitled "Break the circle of violence", which focuses on the role of men in the fight against gender violence and aims to raise awareness about the campaign to address gender violence throughout the world. The campaign, called "Be man enough. Be a leader against gender violence" calls on the true protagonists of the campaign - men and women who, day in day out, struggle for a fairer and more equitable world for all - to be an agent of change and offers a host of resources and tools to enable action.
For more information visit Breaking the Circle.

Closer to home, the TUC marked the day by launching an anonymous survey to find out more about how domestic violence affects working life and the role that employers, colleagues and union reps can play in supporting those experiencing domestic abuse. The results from the survey will help trade unions develop policy and actions to support those experiencing domestic violence.
Take part in the survey >here<.

"We need to be proactive about curbing violence against women and exposing the atrocities women all over the world endure," said Linda Roy, CWU head of equalities.
Recently, the CWU welcomed new domestic abuse guidance launched by Santander UK as statistics revealed that over 7% of women and 5% of men report domestic abuse each year. An article in the latest issue of CWU's Women's Talk magazine reports that this statistic could be higher in reality as many cases in the UK go unreported.
Also reported in the latest issue of Women's Talk is a hard-hitting feature exposing the proliferation of physical and sexual violence against women in today's society. "This is a very real issue for some of our members," said Linda. "We endeavour to do what we can to make sure there are protections in place in the workplace so that victims of violence and abuse do not feel trapped by their circumstance and know they have somewhere to turn for help and support.

"I would encourage all CWU members, men and women, to support the global movement to curb violence against women - watch UNI's video and make use of their tools and resources and take the TUC survey.
"Every little bit goes a long way to raising the profile and importance of this campaign," she stressed.
Read Women's Talk Autumn/Winter 2013 for more information and visit the Equal Opportunities section of the website for helpline numbers, fact sheets and more.

Royal Mail update

Letter to Branches

No: 780/13 Ref: 21003 Date: 26th November 2013

To: ALL POSTAL BRANCHES

Dear Colleague

National Dispute

As explained in LTB 771/13, the Postal Executive met yesterday to receive a further report on progress in national negotiations.

As a result it was agreed that we should provide Branches, Representatives and Members with a brief summary of the current state of play in national talks, as well as explaining our next steps.

To do this we are using the headings contained in the agreed CWU/Royal Mail Joint Statement of the 30th October 2013.

The current position is as follows:

1. Legal Protections

We have now secured extensive legally binding undertakings from the employer on all the issues put forward by the Union. These protections will extend beyond 3 years. There are a couple of final points to resolve and we do not anticipate these preventing an agreement being reached.

2. Pay

We are currently considering an improved closed offer from the company.

3. Pensions

Negotiations have been concluded on pensions and we have secured legally binding commitments on the future of the RMPP alongside additional improvement to the Defined Contribution Scheme. The company has accepted that a pension’s agreement will be balloted on separately.

4. Industrial Stability, New Culture and Agenda for Growth

We are in the process of finalising a section on Industrial Stability which strengthens the existing IR Framework with new mediation procedures. The agreement will not include any commitment to binding arbitration or a no strike deal. The new approach will also offer CWU unprecedented access to business structures and provide the opportunity for real influence on the future direction of the company.

5. Delivery Workload Issues

Whilst some progress has been made there are still difficult areas to resolve and a fresh approach is being considered.

6. Future Parcels and Letter strategy

Drafts have been exchanged and we are confident that there are no issues that will prevent us reaching an agreement on future strategy.

7. Company Charter

The company has accepted the principle of a charter setting out the values on how Royal Mail Group will operate in the future. Drafts have been exchanged and we do not anticipate this being an issue that will prevent us reaching a final agreement.

8. Ongoing Programme of Work

We do not anticipate any issues preventing us from reaching an agreement in this section.

Next Steps

In providing branches with this summary it can be seen that real progress has been made and that the differences between us and the company have significantly narrowed from the outset of this dispute.

We understand that CWU members will be concerned about the length of time that it is taking to finalise an agreement. However, turning elements of a collective agreement into what will become a legally enforceable contract is a complicated process. It also has to be recognised that the issues involved in this dispute are in themselves wide ranging and in some cases were always going to be difficult to resolve.

The current ballot extension period continues until 23.59 on Wednesday the 27th November 2013. In our last LTB we explained that this was the last extension permissible in law. However, upon further clarification between the lawyers of both parties, it has now been confirmed that the ballot can be extended in law and remain legally valid until the 3rd December 2013, which is the last date that 7 day notice of Industrial Action can be served.

Having carefully considered the situation and the fact that in the overall negotiations good progress has been made, the Postal Executive has agreed to the company’s offer to extend the ballot until the final permissible date.

We are confident that negotiations will conclude during this period and that a final agreement will soon be placed before the Executive Council for endorsement in the very near future. The Postal Executive will meet again on Monday 2nd December 2013.

Please ensure the content of this LTB is circulated to CWU members in all workplaces.

Any enquiries on the content of this LTB should be directed to the DGS (P) Department.

Yours sincerely



Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)


Ray Ellis Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Bob Gibson Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

TUC Domestic Violence Survey

Domestic violence may happen behind closed doors but it has far reaching consequences and is known to have an impact on the working lives of those living with an abusive partner. The TUC is conducting a survey to find out more about how domestic violence affects working life and the role that employers, colleagues, and union reps can play in supporting those experiencing domestic abuse. 
We would like to hear from anyone who has either experienced domestic violence themselves or has a friend or colleague who has experienced domestic violence.
The survey is entirely anonymous.
You will not be asked for your name, contact details or any information which could be used to identify you or your employer.
Please take a few minutes to share your experience with us and please do pass the link on to any friends or colleagues who might want to participate.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/domesticviolenceTUC
The survey will close on 1^st February 2014. 

Other update

Issued: 24 November, 2013

 

Renationalise. Do it please Mr Ed.

Please read this and sharehttp://labourlist.org/2013/10/labour-should-stick-to-the-centre-ground-and-advocate-renationalisation/.