London Mail Centre Dispute : Resolution

[POSTMAN]

London Mail Centre Dispute – Resolution





All Postal Branches will be aware that following the carriage at Annual Conference of the London Mail Centre Emergency Motion, Royal Mail and CWU faced the prospect of a major dispute with national implications over the very real threat of compulsory redundancies.



The week after Annual conference Royal Mail agreed to a period of fresh talks during which time it was accepted that there would be no movement of work and no notice of Industrial Action. In order to give both parties the space to resolve the dispute Royal Mail also agreed to extend the period that our Industrial Action Ballots remained legally valid.



We are now pleased to report that these negotiations concluded last Friday with a comprehensive agreement that was endorsed yesterday by the Postal Executive, the CWU London Divisional Committee and its Constituent Branches.



A full copy of the agreement is attached and the main points are as follows:-



Strengthened job security including a guarantee that Mail Centre Rationalisation will be completed in London with no compulsory redundancies.

Royal Mail has reaffirmed that this means existing full time employees who wish to remain in employment will be able to retain a suitable full time job and existing part time employees will be able to retain their contractual hours if they wish.


There will now be a new Joint Preference exercise that will finally allow all employees to select from the full range of options. This means no employee will be disadvantaged as a result of not participating in Royal Mail’s earlier and restricted VR Preference Exercise.



There will now be a new job matching process that will directly involve the CWU. For full time employees this includes agreed criteria for what will normally be deemed a reasonable job offer. The approach to job matching also explains how seniority will be used in each affected site.


There is an agreed People Plan that provides a wide range of support initiatives that will increase the choices and available jobs to CWU members.


There are improved terms for employees transferring to HWDC and the opportunity for employees transferring anywhere to now receive their London Weighting lump sums in one instalment up front. The agreed enhancements will apply retrospectively to employees who have already transferred to HWDC as part of the rationalisation programme.


Elements of Royal Mails operational plan have now been adjusted and delayed to enable more time to deal with people and quality of service issues.


The adjusted operational plan will now be subject to meaningful reviews at each site in advance of key phases of the operational transfer of work. These reviews will confirm that the job security commitments are being met at each stage and that quality of service can be maintained to enable successful transition.


Royal Mail/CWU support structures have been put in place that will ensure ongoing CWU involvement at all levels and oversee the Operational Plan as it moves forward.


Safeguards have been built in to ensure that future inward delivery mail arrivals will be consistent with all the delivery commitments within the Business Transformation Agreement.


On the basis of no compulsory redundancies and the agreed review criteria the CWU has confirmed we will support the adjusted Operational Work Plan changes.



Against the background of this dispute and the conference Emergency Motion that dealt with the threat of compulsory redundancies, CWU Branches will recognise the agreed Joint Statement breaks new ground on job security and strengthens the processes contained in the Mail Centre section of the Business Transformation Agreement. The Joint Statement also goes some way to addressing the issues contained in the Essex Amal motion. It will now be the intention of the Union to build on these improvements in the forthcoming national discussions covering all the issues contained in Emergency Motion E3 agreed at Annual Conference. Furthermore, we will immediately seek to ensure that other current and forthcoming Mail Centre Reviews can benefit from these developments.







In concluding the Joint Statement the Union also continues to recognise that developments across the postal Industry, over capacity within the network and the introduction of new machinery will continue to mean that Mail Centre Rationalisation is an ongoing issue. In the case of the London Review, on the basis that Royal Mail meet the job security and quality of service commitments, then it will eventually mean the closure of East and South London Mail Centres. The work from these Mail Centres will be relocated to Mount Pleasant and the surrounding four Greater London Mail Centres.



In summary, there can be no doubt that the resolution to this dispute provides further job protection, support and improved terms for CWU members as they go through a very difficult period of change.



We would like to thank all CWU Branches for their support in bringing this dispute to a satisfactory conclusion.

[hubbahubba]

will the terms of this agreement be backdated for the poor sods already relocated in other areas affected be MC closures?Nah,thought not...


p.s.

what about all the "other" NATIONAL issues that were lumped together in this package?

[wood]

National talks will be taking place this week about the other issues, Colleague share, Pensions, FTC and so on. This has not been forgotten and a motion was carried at Conference instructing the union (thats us) to carry on the fight.

[fishtank]

The overarching objective to deliver the transformation in London as elsewhere without recourse to compulsory redundancies is reaffirmed.

Additionally, given the unique circumstances of London and CWU support for implementation of the operational and people plans, Royal Mail confirm that London Mail Centre Rationalisation will be completed with no compulsory redundancies for permanent CWU represented employees.

Now....why doesn't it say that the full Mail Centre Rationalisation will be completed with no compulsory redundancies for permanent CWU represented employees?

Given that the cry on here was "Compulsory Redundancy is not a London Issue,it's a national issue it could happen to you" it would seem that it really is no longer an issue for London....and the rest can go f**k themselves.

[clashcityrocker]

Now....why doesn't it say that the full Mail Centre Rationalisation will be completed with no compulsory redundancies for permanent CWU represented employees?

Given that the cry on here was "Compulsory Redundancy is not a London Issue,it's a national issue it could happen to you" it would seem that it really is no longer an issue for London....and the rest can go f**k themselves.

I hope you are reading too much into that.
It is the London Mail Centre resolution - so it talks about London.
One would hope it would be used as a template for national negotiations.

[fishtank]

Well Clash...it says unique.
That doesn't usually lend itself to being used as a template.

[clashcityrocker]

It would be wrong for London to ensure there were no compulsory redundancies in London while leaving there colleagues elsewhere in the country in the merde.
I know it.
You know it.
And most importantly.......they know it.

Does the wording actually mean non CWU members could face compulsory redundancies?
I can't believe that either.

[pinewood]

always golden balls london get away with it again not the rest of us its put up or shove off

[Phantom]

This means f**k all!!! Mail Centre closures will go ahead and there will not be jobs for everyone so there WILL BE compulsory redundencies, RM will agree to owt to buy time and get on with the process of cuts and closures. The CWU have f****d up again.

[oldrangersW12]

always golden balls london get away with it again not the rest of us its put up or shove off

[Thehair]

Does the wording actually mean non CWU members could face compulsory redundancies?

The wording suggest they could, perhaps now is a good time to join the CWU.

Just a quick question though, Why would the CWU fight to protect non CWU members?

[fishtank]

It states CWU represented employees not CWU members in the same way that the BT2010 agreement states that This agreement covers employees in CWU represented grades in Royal Mail Letters Operations, Logistics and Network, Engineers, Fleet Maintenance Services and Royal Mail International.

That doesn't mean that the agreement only applies to members.

[britwrit]

So basically, it's the largest resign ever. And if you're already at Romford, Croydon, the inner London delivery offices, an increased chance for EVR.

Royal Mail will review the international migration plan to identify the opportunity to change the plan to try to avoid surpluses increasing using the agreed review process.

I wonder if this means that some international work will still be handled at the Mount? Right now, the business is renting a warehouse two miles away from HWDC to handle the overflow from the main building. Why go to this expense (along with hiring hundreds of casuals) when I'm sure there'll be plenty of space already owned by the company that could handle it?

[Lincox]

Just another agreement that Royal Mail will use to their own ends. What happened to all the talk from the Union about not agreeing with the Mail Centre Closures in London because it would mean a massive downgrading of the service etc etc.

[wandle]

Right now, the business is renting a warehouse two miles away from HWDC to handle the overflow from the main building

Now that's the kind of management decision the like of which costs this company huge sums every year Moya Greene or any of her cronies that may read this should try cutting costs by not renting unneccesary warehouse space, and firing those responsible for such decisions, instead of simply slashing more Mail Centre jobs to save the same amount of money

Why go to this expense (along with hiring hundreds of casuals) when I'm sure there'll be plenty of space already owned by the company that could handle it?

Well said, britwit.

They could use one of the smaller RDCs that Dingo says are cited for closure under RMs secret 'new' business plan. Surely RM need to have some spare capacity in the network to handle the huge increase in amazon packets around Christmas, which is set to be bigger again in 2011. The bad weather at Xmas 2010 was a gift for the RM top brass It gave them a ready-made excuse to trot-out to the media for the chaos experienced in some areas, when in fact lack of capacity in the network was more to blame. How will they explain a monumental disaster this year if the weather is mild ??