The importance of the first step

[Martin Walsh]

Hundreds of companies in the UK operate a two tier workforce, virtually none ever commit to equalisation and many are in a much more profitable place than Royal Mail. Royal Mail imposed new entrants during the 2022 dispute.

This was done for a number of reasons the first is when the union rejected making Sunday working for old contracts mandatory and secondly to compete with the self bogus employment model which exists within practically every other parcel player in the UK which are undercutting Royal Mail in the parcels market.

The 9 month delay in introducing USO reform resulted in EP stating they could no longer afford Equalisation.

The CWU would not agree to USO without a first step and recommitment to full equalisation including a timespan for the next step and full plan.

We would have wanted more but the delay in USO and the fact that Royal Mail will at best break even for the last year and has meant this is all we can achieve in a negotiated settlement.

We have now made a full time job at 37 hours harmonised for old and new contracts. We protected the 3000 new entrants which have contracts above the 37 hours and they recieve the full pay rise and their pension is protected and we will bring them down to 37 hours without loss of pay.

The additional 1.75% for new entrants with the 3% will mean they are 7.1% away from parity of pay with old contracts on the national basic and 13.2% away from parity with the supplement.

We have bought their overtime down to 1.0 , old contracts are 0.98 for the first 10 hours. The rationale for this is new entrants do not get paid overtime until they work over 40 hours and very few work above 40 hours.

If you include Christmas then out of 28575 new entrants only 998 new entrants per week ever worked above 40 hours. If you removed the 4 weeks of Christmas this reduced to 566 new entrants working above 40 hours.

We have used this to fund some the improved pay rise for all new entrants so they have it all year.

We have also agreed to increase the average contracted hours of a new entrant from 31 hours to 35 hours.

This means that a current new entrant on 31 hours gets the 4.75% pay rise and then gets an additional 4 hours on their contract will receive their pay increase by £73 per week £3844 per year.

We will also change their gig economy contract and will try and secure them being allowed to work scheduled attendance overtime and TPM.

Then we have agreed the review terms which will agree the next step snd full plan on equalisation by no later than January 2027.

Look at BT ,BA and hundreds of other companies they have never achieved a first step or a commitment to equalisation.

Rejection of this won’t mean EP will put more money on the table it is more likely they walk away from equalisation all together.

Our membership levels for new entrants is at 54% whereas our membership records for old contracts are nearer 90%.

We believe that the first step and commitment to equalisation is crucial to it happening at all.

[Smoothbackground]

The NDG contract isn’t a “gig economy contract”.

Awful deal and awful justification. You haven’t protected our position. In fact, those of us on 40-hr contract are now anomalies, and managers at a local level — NOT at my office, I hasten to add — are using this to hasten the attrition rate.

You say you’ve now made the job a standard 37-hr job. You say you will “bring them down to 37 hours without loss of pay”. Where is this referenced? When will this aspiration of yours come to fruition, if ever, given there is no mention of it in your agreement? We on 40-hr contracts will still be providing 40 hours of labour even if your paltry deal is endorsed, right? Your idea of reducing us to 37 hours is just that — just an idea. The business haven’t agreed. The best we can hope for is another breadcrumb dropping from the CWU in 2027 which, inevitably, will push it back to 2029 or 2030.

You also say only 998 New-entrants do Ot every week at the 1.25 rate. That is a bit of a misleading statement, no? What about those only working only every other rest day, ie, doing one day of OT every fortnight? OT is the norm for new-entrants at my office, not the exception, and we all have become used to it. The real figure to be interested in is the money lost on a per-employee basis — for me, it is perhaps £4-5k per annum (haven’t calculated properly as it is too depressing). Bet RMG bit the CWU’s hands off when they sacrificed our OT rate!!

TBH, an immediate reduction to 37 hrs is the only thing that would level out the wider gap created and the significant loss of OT income. But that is, as I say, seemingly an aspirational target.

Not a CWU member myself. But if I were, it would be a big fact NO vote from me!

[carlosevenos]

Maybe they can reduce manager bonuses and pay outs to pay for this. They say they have no money, but if that were the case they wouldn't overpay managers and give out hefty bonuses all the time.
If they were also that skint, why are they still paying loads of money to coaching staff, who do nothing for their money. They should scrap that as well.

[billycat]

Martin I’ve asked this question but nobody has given me an answer the cwu have said if your on a Wallington week a four day week you will be able to remain on these duty patterns in the office I work at there are 3 nine day rural duties which ive been on for the last 20 months since the last revision I have quoted this to my manager his response was everybody has to be on the same duty patterns which could never happen at my office because there are a few duties that only work two days and four days advice please I need to remain on my duty patterns for personal reasons.

[Valentina@1]

Hundreds of companies in the UK operate a two tier workforce, virtually none ever commit to equalisation and many are in a much more profitable place than Royal Mail. Royal Mail imposed new entrants during the 2022 dispute.

This was done for a number of reasons the first is when the union rejected making Sunday working for old contracts mandatory and secondly to compete with the self bogus employment model which exists within practically every other parcel player in the UK which are undercutting Royal Mail in the parcels market.

The 9 month delay in introducing USO reform resulted in EP stating they could no longer afford Equalisation.

The CWU would not agree to USO without a first step and recommitment to full equalisation including a timespan for the next step and full plan.

We would have wanted more but the delay in USO and the fact that Royal Mail will at best break even for the last year and has meant this is all we can achieve in a negotiated settlement.

We have now made a full time job at 37 hours harmonised for old and new contracts. We protected the 3000 new entrants which have contracts above the 37 hours and they recieve the full pay rise and their pension is protected and we will bring them down to 37 hours without loss of pay.

The additional 1.75% for new entrants with the 3% will mean they are 7.1% away from parity of pay with old contracts on the national basic and 13.2% away from parity with the supplement.

We have bought their overtime down to 1.0 , old contracts are 0.98 for the first 10 hours. The rationale for this is new entrants do not get paid overtime until they work over 40 hours and very few work above 40 hours.

If you include Christmas then out of 28575 new entrants only 998 new entrants per week ever worked above 40 hours. If you removed the 4 weeks of Christmas this reduced to 566 new entrants working above 40 hours.

We have used this to fund some the improved pay rise for all new entrants so they have it all year.

We have also agreed to increase the average contracted hours of a new entrant from 31 hours to 35 hours.

This means that a current new entrant on 31 hours gets the 4.75% pay rise and then gets an additional 4 hours on their contract will receive their pay increase by £73 per week £3844 per year.

We will also change their gig economy contract and will try and secure them being allowed to work scheduled attendance overtime and TPM.

Then we have agreed the review terms which will agree the next step snd full plan on equalisation by no later than January 2027.

Look at BT ,BA and hundreds of other companies they have never achieved a first step or a commitment to equalisation.

Rejection of this won’t mean EP will put more money on the table it is more likely they walk away from equalisation all together.

Our membership levels for new entrants is at 54% whereas our membership records for old contracts are nearer 90%.

We believe that the first step and commitment to equalisation is crucial to it happening at all.

Absolute sellouts

[Pfrizzy10]

What’s the new rate for all of the halfwits coming into work early hours each week?

[Rommagic]

DM 26 will it save more then £300m a year?.

[Valentina@1]

When this doesn’t work and quality of service worsens RM will blame the union saying “it was your delivery model’…and the union will blame the members saying “well you voted for it”
Next step will be getting rid of letters completely,in comes owner drivers,CHECK MATE GAME OVER

Sad times

[scotchy1962]

The NDG contract isn’t a “gig economy contract”.

Awful deal and awful justification. You haven’t protected our position. In fact, those of us on 40-hr contract are now anomalies, and managers at a local level — NOT at my office, I hasten to add — are using this to hasten the attrition rate.

You say you’ve now made the job a standard 37-hr job. You say you will “bring them down to 37 hours without loss of pay”. Where is this referenced? When will this aspiration of yours come to fruition, if ever, given there is no mention of it in your agreement? We on 40-hr contracts will still be providing 40 hours of labour even if your paltry deal is endorsed, right? Your idea of reducing us to 37 hours is just that — just an idea. The business haven’t agreed. The best we can hope for is another breadcrumb dropping from the CWU in 2027 which, inevitably, will push it back to 2029 or 2030.

You also say only 998 New-entrants do Ot every week at the 1.25 rate. That is a bit of a misleading statement, no? What about those only working only every other rest day, ie, doing one day of OT every fortnight? OT is the norm for new-entrants at my office, not the exception, and we all have become used to it. The real figure to be interested in is the money lost on a per-employee basis — for me, it is perhaps £4-5k per annum (haven’t calculated properly as it is too depressing). Bet RMG bit the CWU’s hands off when they sacrificed our OT rate!!

TBH, an immediate reduction to 37 hrs is the only thing that would level out the wider gap created and the significant loss of OT income. But that is, as I say, seemingly an aspirational target.

Not a CWU member myself. But if I were, it would be a big fact NO vote from me!

Smooth i have to say that although i haven't always agreed with you, i agree with this. The CWU have proved yet again that they have their finger nowhere near the pulse of their members or the non-members who they should be trying to attract in.
This company runs on o/t, FACT, it has done so since before i joined until after i left and trying to Quote the numbers that they say are doing regular o/t just reads as a downright falsehood. I have no idea why this union continue to shy away from real confrontation with the company apart from self preservation.
Throwing the new contract holders under the bus seems to be their way of trying to get a deal for members and trying to say lots of companies have two tier workforces doesn't cut the mustard either as by that way of thinking it also means lots of companies don't have two tiers.
Basically it's the same as last time with lots of excuses as to why you have to accept and how they have no alternatives.

[raXor]

The below are the only steps you need to follow if you're on a new contract and in the union:

1. Vote 'NO'
2. Cancel union membership.

[Smoothbackground]

Smooth i have to say that although i haven't always agreed with you, i agree with this. The CWU have proved yet again that they have their finger nowhere near the pulse of their members or the non-members who they should be trying to attract in.
This company runs on o/t, FACT, it has done so since before i joined until after i left and trying to Quote the numbers that they say are doing regular o/t just reads as a downright falsehood. I have no idea why this union continue to shy away from real confrontation with the company apart from self preservation.
Throwing the new contract holders under the bus seems to be their way of trying to get a deal for members and trying to say lots of companies have two tier workforces doesn't cut the mustard either as by that way of thinking it also means lots of companies don't have two tiers.
Basically it's the same as last time with lots of excuses as to why you have to accept and how they have no alternatives.

We agree 100% on this. To be honest, the whole situation is reminding me of that Stephen King film Needful Things!!

[SMS1969]

What’s the new rate for all of the halfwits coming into work early hours each week?

Zero

[Sean06]

The below are the only steps you need to follow if you're on a new contract and in the union:

1. Vote 'NO'
2. Cancel union membership.

Should have added (are you prepared to go on strike).

[A2B]

The below are the only steps you need to follow if you're on a new contract and in the union:

1. Vote 'NO'
2. Cancel union membership.

Should have added (are you prepared to go on strike).

Why? There's no vote for strike action

This is a vote on a proposed change in working methods that's it

[norris9]

46% of new contracted employees not being part of the CWU, yet the vast majority of them would obviously want equalisation =

That said, I'd assume with how high the attrition rate is for new employees - a lot of them only see this job as temporary so don't join the union. This is a low paying job typically with toxic managers harassing staff. There are plenty of good things about the job, but low pay and toxicity isn't a good combination in a world that's getting ever more expensive to live in.