Drivers in need of help and a warning to other drivers !!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

he Data Protection Act regulates how your personal information is used and protects you from misuse of your personal details.

It provides a common-sense set of rules which prohibit the misuse of your personal information without stopping it being used for legitimate or beneficial purposes.

The details of the Data Protection Act are quite complex, but at the heart of it are eight common-sense rules known as the Data Protection Principles.

These require personal information to be:

* fairly and lawfully processed;
* processed for limited purposes;
* adequate, relevant and not excessive;
* accurate;
* not kept longer than necessary;
* processed in accordance with your rights;
* kept secure;
* not transferred abroad without adequate protection.

Organisations using personal information ('data controllers') must comply with these Principles.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/RightsAndRe ... G_10028507

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I have never read so much tosh in my life. This business provides our livelyhood, our employer, like all decent businesses need to verify our driving credentials. To talk about all drivers refusing, ok lets do this, and lets all face dismissal, because I for one know there is not enough walking duties to do this.

I am also concerned about telematery, but for no other reason, other than its new equipment (change). All our competitors use them, so why are we different.

I am also concerned about flexibility, but for no other reason, other than its doing things differently. Why shouldn't we flex to meet mail patterns. I can't understand why this is not what we do anyway.

Yesterday at 18:00, DHL delivered my new phone, great I was in, I had a chat with him, he said, he was working 10 hours that day, he was on less pay than we are, didn't have a great pension, and sick leave pay was a pitance, yet we complain.

Last night my shopping was delivered by tescos at 10pm, great, because I had booked this the day before, but could Royal Mail do similar things, I doubt it if some of the comments on here are representative of the place we work.

Please people lets wake up, things are changing all around us, if we don't, maybe we will be privatised with TNT signs over our DO's but I think we are at risk of dying as a business. Change is difficult but if you think Phase 2 is difficult, then as employees we have a long way to go because phase 3 & 4 are just the beginning.

Our office has agreed phase 2 and has a summer efficiency agreement, we will get our £400. We are also due a return of approx £200 from 50/50. This tells me that working with our employer clearly helps and delivers cash.

Everyone is aware we need to change, however we need to make sure that changes are not detrimental to the employee and that the changes they want will work and therefore benefit both sides. There is no point in blindly accept whatever RM decree otherwise why pay union dues, and if we had accepted what RM wanted back in April last year the changes would be in but you would not be getting the £400 bonus - well not for about 4 years under the colleague shares thingymebob.

[k979aaa]

he Data Protection Act regulates how your personal information is used and protects you from misuse of your personal details.

It provides a common-sense set of rules which prohibit the misuse of your personal information without stopping it being used for legitimate or beneficial purposes.

The details of the Data Protection Act are quite complex, but at the heart of it are eight common-sense rules known as the Data Protection Principles.

These require personal information to be:

* fairly and lawfully processed;
* processed for limited purposes;
* adequate, relevant and not excessive;
* accurate;
* not kept longer than necessary;
* processed in accordance with your rights;
* kept secure;
* not transferred abroad without adequate protection.

Organisations using personal information ('data controllers') must comply with these Principles.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/RightsAndRe ... G_10028507

One word HMRC!.

[POSTMAN]

You edited your post but others have 'quoted' it.
I don't agree with everything you say but that does not matter as that is why this board is here.
Don't be afraid to say what you think.

[jemima]

I have been trying to remember something I saw about this - I think there was a CWU letter to branches a while ago that mentioned something about licence checks. It was mostly about telemetry and it said there was no national agreement on licence checks so nothing should be done at branch level yet. But I don't remember exactly when it was.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I have been trying to remember something I saw about this - I think there was a CWU letter to branches a while ago that mentioned something about licence checks. It was mostly about telemetry and it said there was no national agreement on licence checks so nothing should be done at branch level yet. But I don't remember exactly when it was.

Good memory



No. 904/07
Ref: 300
Date: 12/10/2007

To: Branches with POSTAL Members

Dear Colleague

Vehicle Telemetry

Further to LTB 766/07 CWU Headquarters has received further enquiries as regards to vehicle telemetry and requests for an update from the meeting of the 3rd September. The Business has continued to install the hardware which will be required for a general roll out, which has caused understandable concern as to unilateral action. However, we have received assurances that the software will not be connected until our discussions are concluded. The latest exchange of correspondence is attached.

Background

Royal Mail’s proposal is to fit telemetry equipment to every RM vehicle operating from a Mail Centre and the vehicles working out of the 3 largest delivery offices in each AGM area. This equates to around 7000 to 8000 vehicles or between 20% - 25% of the national fleet. Vehicle telemetry equipment is already fitted by CWU agreement in the Network fleet under the RM name of DMS. While all new technology has potential risks it also provides potential opportunities and it is the objective of the Union to get an agreement with the Business that minimises the risks and develops those opportunities for the benefit of our members. The trial at Bradford showed that telemetry coupled with improved training and driver skills identified through a Driver Risk Assessment (DRA) process has the potential to produce substantial savings.

Telemetry - Share in the Savings

Potential savings will be initially generated through better utilisation of vehicles leading to a reduction in the overall fleet numbers, plus, those associated with better targeted driver training and coaching leading to reduced fuel costs, accident costs and maintenance costs. We see sharing these potential savings giving us the opportunity to create a bonus scheme, but at the moment this is something that is currently tied into the national pay talks. We did state at the meeting on the 3rd September that we see making progress in this area as key to us concluding an enabling agreement for telemetry.

Telemetry – Global Positioning System (GPS)

Most enquiries from Branches around telemetry express concerns around the real-time recording and monitoring of drivers doing their job using the GPS tracker facility which can produce a log of where, when, and how long each vehicle was in a location. While the Assets Director, Phil O’Gorman, was at pains to reassure us that the system was not being brought in for staff monitoring purposes; we made it known that we would require within any agreement a robust statement about guarding against it becoming a surveillance tool that would be used as a big stick to beat our members. This will also need to be covered off in an enabling agreement.

Telemetry – Driver information

When installed the system needs to be ‘switched on’ with a special key and the telemetry system transmits data across a satellite link from the vehicles own inbuilt management system, (the very same as F1 cars) this measures key indicators regarding the way a vehicle is being driven, for instance speed, harsh braking events, MPG, engine over revving etc. This data is captured and produces a printout which RM say will be available to all drivers. This will give each driver details of their own driving styles/issues.

Driver Risk Assessment & Driver Coaches

Driver Risk Assessment (DRA) will set a risk profile for each driver, low, medium or high risk. Under the businesses duty of care RM are legally bound to risk assess all hazardous activities, driving a vehicle being right up there with the most hazardous. It must take account of the ‘vehicle’, ‘the driver’ and ‘the journey’. The driver risk assessment process will include an online driver risk assessment and additionally take account of medical factors, licences held, training etc. This information will be used to decide on the best type adjustment to duty or driver training intervention, if required to improve safety. Our view is that the DRA process would be best administered by the creation of a CWU graded Driver Coach and we have proposed this to the business. We feel peer to peer training would deliver the best results. Although the business tried to separate telemetry and driving skill/risk assessments, at this time we feel they are intrinsically linked and as such should be covered by one agreement. We have not concluded an agreement on DRA and drivers should not get involved in this aspect.

Electronic Licence Checks

As part of streamlining the licence check system the business has proposed we move to electronic licence checks via the DVLA. To comply with the Data Protection Act this requires an individual mandate from each driver. Branches should not become involved in this aspect until there is national agreement.

Where Now

Like most technology the Business will get the best performance from their investment if they have the cooperation of the CWU and we will be submitting a draft agreement covering off the areas outlined earlier in this document. In the meantime, however, any attempt by local management to go live with the system without a National Agreement being in place should be notified to CWU Headquarters immediately, utilising the I.R. Framework, where necessary.

Further information will be circulated in due course.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 300.
Email address: hnutley@cwu.org

Yours sincerely


Bob Gibson
Assistant Secretary

[nobodies hero]

Is there now a national agreement on it, as that is dated october ?
cheers in advance

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Is there now a national agreement on it, as that is dated october ?
cheers in advance

Not yet AFAIK that's the last thing on Electronic Licence Checks that I can see.


Mind you the latest D2D agreement they have on the CWU Website is from 1995

[andy2007]

Well, I don't mind RM checking my licence directly with the DVLA. But I DO mind if my data including driving licence number etc will be available for release by a third party, over the internet, to anyone who happens to know the RM username and password! I haven't been asked to sign anything yet though.

The problem is, that they don't want to put the effort into doing the checks themselves. They want a third party to do it for them, and don't seem to care about the risks to our details.

Luckily, I'm not a Driver myself, so I'm not directly affected by this. But I do believe that it is totally unacceptable for ANY of us to be expected to sign away our rights to Data Protection. Particularly when there is so much Identety Theft and Online Fraud going on.

[bandit650]

From what i understand this is still rumbling on,i was talking to my friend on monday when he bought this up,hes a driver at the moment and is coming of driving soon,he was saying that in WTLL they had just had that morning about the tracking system and the licence checks and was quiet worried about somebody else having details of peoples licences also that they would be able to tell from these new devices where you was and how the OMV was being driven so on and so forth,i know he was'nt worried about where you are but the way the van or lorrie was being driven seemed to throw up alot of questions like how would they know that you had braked hard because you where driving poorley or because someone had done something silly like pull out in front of you or stepped of a pavement,they got very little feed back from the manager,the reason they are concerned is the type of managment they have in there,they would be quiet happy to use it as a black stick to beat staff with instead of what it is designed to do help the company save money.
Thanks thou i have now let him know that there is no agreement at the mo and should get the area rep involved,even if it is to alay any fears.

[k979aaa]

Their is news about this very subject on the cwu.org website and while it maybe reassureing i am not wholly convinced!.

[nobodies hero]

We have been told this is a national agreement by our reps today, the strange thing is we have had a letter about it as well from the reps and it says that rm will still need licence checks every six month's...whats that all about !!!!

Almost all drivers at wolves are still refusing to sign it at this point in time.

[opgpat]

Yesterday at 18:00, DHL delivered my new phone, great I was in, I had a chat with him, he said, he was working 10 hours that day, he was on less pay than we are, didn't have a great pension, and sick leave pay was a pitance, yet we complain.

DHL delivery/driving work, 10hrs a day or not, is nowhere near as demanding or damaging on the body as RM foot delivery work. If we are paid a bit more then I'd say that was absolutely fair.

By your reasoning we should accept poorer and poorer employment conditions just because as others suffer them? That is absurd.

[baldrick]

Maybe he should join a Union and fight for better terms and conditions.

[POSTMAN]

Yesterday at 18:00, DHL delivered my new phone, great I was in, I had a chat with him, he said, he was working 10 hours that day, he was on less pay than we are, didn't have a great pension, and sick leave pay was a pitance, yet we complain.

DHL delivery/driving work, 10hrs a day or not, is nowhere near as demanding or damaging on the body as RM foot delivery work. If we are paid a bit more then I'd say that was absolutely fair.

By your reasoning we should accept poorer and poorer employment conditions just because as others suffer them? That is absurd.

And i'm sure the DHL dude would complain if his firm started to make him drive more and do more work for his pittance pay,or slash his already pittance pension,or cut back on the poor sick pay.