NATIONAL BRIEFING ON 1 & 2 OCTOBER South west

[Geezer]

NATIONAL BRIEFING ON 1 & 2 OCTOBER

Although a long report , please take time to read it. There is much to understand and relate to our members. The CWU is at a critical juncture and if we don’t get it right , then the future will be grim indeed – worse than it is now !

The report includes the future for each function and what a new employee benefits package could look like.

A national briefing was held in Northampton to discuss the current position in relation to the Pensions dispute , the future for our industry and the Hooper Review which is due to report in the next 4 weeks or so.

Dave Ward DGS(P) introduced the briefing. He spoke about the ongoing work being undertaken with MPs, Government Ministers and members the Hooper Review.

At the same time Dave spoke about the problems in Royal Mail Group. The lack of leadership due to senior managers leaving the industry such as Tony McCarthy and Kevin Green , the deterioration in RMs financial position and the failure of their business plan to stabilise the industry has created an opportunity for the CWU. Dave said we now had an ideal opportunity to present a positive alternative based on a new way of running the industry , an end to Postcom, a new structure for the UK postal market and a settlement to the Pensions situation.

The CWU have held fringe meetings at both the TUC and Labour Party Conferences. It was noted that John Hutton (now replaced by our old friend Peter Mandelson !) the Business Minister had agreed that much of the CWU perspective was correct. Significantly Hutton also said a solution must be found to the pensions situation.

What is not clear is exactly what Hooper will say in the final report. Both Dave and Billy Hayes said it may not give us everything we want to see and therefore it would be vital that the National Union provides a solid and positive message to members.

For now, CWUHQ was everyone to push at getting MPs to sign up to EDM 2136 which calls for Government to support us in the pensions issue. Both Billy and Dave continue to meet Ministers and press our case.

Pensions is not the only issue

Discussion took place on the future for Royal Mail and in particular the planned closures of Mail Centres in the North West , Oxford , Milton Keynes, Reading and Coventry.

Without a move from RM to discuss this issue and what their strategy may be for the rest of the UK it was made clear that we could be moving towards a national dispute.

It was also clear that in the background the lack of finance for RM was leading them to focus more on delivery office closures both in order to rationalise the network and to realise cash from their property portfolio. Suggestions have been around for a while now of 1 in 3 offices closing.

CWU Strategy and Approach

Dave explained that :

1. We must recognise that the challenges are real and won’t go away. We have maybe 6 months following Hooper to get our messages accepted.
2. We must be positioned on the right side of the modernisation debate. We do agree change is needed , but not at any price.
3. Both pensions and the modernisation of the industry need to remain linked together as both depend on the outcome of Hooper to a great extent.
4. A new financial package must be agreed between Government and Royal Mail Group – RM themselves have already asked for £8.5 billion from the Government to cover pensions and modernisation !
5. A consistent message must be given to members. More direct comms will be sent to members in the coming weeks.
6. Industrial Action is NOT an objective in itself. It is a last resort if negotiations are not successful.

“Blue Skies” Thinking for Royal Mail

Bob Gibson , Martin Collins, Ray Ellis, Andy Furey and Terry Pullinger gave presentations on what a future for Royal Mail and our members could look like. It was made clear that these were discussion points only.

Delivery – Bob Gibson

 A fully integrated 7 day end to end service
 Innovative attendance patterns eg 4 or 3 day weeks and/or 9 day fortnights
 Better use of PT working and cross functional working eg hybrid duties between Mail Centres and Delivery Offices in order to maximise FT employment
 Better working environment – minimum standards must be in place for every workplace
 Better and genuine work/life balance for people
 Fewer Saturdays
 Agreed standards for work performance eg geo route agreed and properly implemented. It was clear that RM have messed about with geo route eg in other counties for instance walking speed is half the 4 mile per hour speed expected of UK postal workers
 Job security
 Modern equipment – take weight off the shoulder as a way to increase delivery span and so protect FT employment because of automation
 Sort out D2D – put this into workload and properly capture revenue from this area
 Ensure best practise use of new technology eg PDAs , track and trace etc
 Innovation in expanding the use of Callers Offices to promote RM to the public and businesses
 Enhance the way we serve large and small firms

The above generated much debate , some of it as follows as it was clear there are massive problems in delivery land !
In London only 4% are part time
Does anyone actually talk to postal workers and ask what they want !
What about a shorter working week ?
One hour contracts around + forcing people to move between offices as a condition of employment
Time to clock in and clock out – no carving up duties !
Longer delivery spans – split in to 1st and 2nd delivery ! Back to the future
Sort out the problem of cars on delivery

Processing – Martin Collins

Need to ensure the future of Mail Centres remains integrated with Delivery – no joint ventures. No more piecemeal changes – overall strategy must be implemented

What would a new national agreement look like for Mail Centres :

 Must have whole picture
 Must take into account the geography / best locations / capacity of each site
 Q of S / customer views
 Must take into account the social and economic impact of possible closures
 Savings must be captured and be bonus worthy
 MTSF improvements on ETE , being able to follow the work , more safeguards on what is a reasonable alternative job offer , being back Job Shop to provide assistance/expertise

Comment was made in response that no one really knew that mail volumes would keep on falling and this must be taken into account . DSA might be abolished or changed following Hooper which would impact on mail centre strategy.

Some mentioned that already recruitment was becoming temporary and that FT recruitment was not happening in some areas eg Bournemouth

It was emphasised that a national strike ballot would have to take place if RM would not come to an agreement with the CWU. We could not leave people just wondering who would be next for the chop.

Network / Logistics –Davie Robertson stood in for Terry Pullinger

This part of the Business was the main revenue generating part of RM – moving mail was very cost effective and the RDC network provided excellent coverage across the UK.

However the increase in DSA had left much spare capacity in RDCs and this combined with increases in fuel costs meant pressure on the operation. RM increasingly view Network as a liability.

The strong view was that this part of the Group must become the “complete distribution company” – bulk and packets.

We needed to offer track and trace facilities , compete for external contracts , offer up our spare warehousing capacity to offer storage space and “pick and pack” services for customers.

Additional opportunities focussed on creating a complete mailing house operation , printing and mail merge products , stationary design and supply and archiving solutions.

Such innovation could win back DSA work lost and add value to RMs upstream operation.

Comment was made in response that we should be careful not to create a business that could be sold off separately. Other comment mentioned the utilisation of the rail network.

Post Office Limited – Andy Furey

It was explained that Government had systematically starved POL of business via withdrawing services and moving to the Post Office Card Account (POCA). As a result POL had lost around 5million customers and £400million in revenue. Much of the cash provided by Government - £1.7 billion – has only been used to close the Network and pay off subpostmasers.

No PO Network in the world makes a profit and it was necessary for Government to accept this and stop closing POs.

In 2008 some 1663 had closed with more to go to get to a total of 2500 closures. The Crown Office Network had gained some business which was good for our members. The Crown Office Network would stay , thanks to an agreement with POL as part of the strike action last year , at 373 until 2011.

Going forward we wanted : A Universal People’s Bank , POCA contract must be given back to POL when it comes up for renewal , the social network payment must be extended beyond 2011 and innovation such as a “one stop shop” for Government services must be introduced.

Finally, the CWU must be involved in the Crown Office Network talks beyond 2011.

Comment was made that closures also affected RM jobs , that it was nearly the case that more Crowns had been shut than under the Tories and that we should remember that we did not represent people in subs.

Other comment was about the role the Bank of Ireland plays in underwriting financial products for POL in the light of the crisis of the capitalist system (sorry , the “credit crunch”).

New Employee Benefits Package

It was explained that RM are still benchmarking against the private sector showing we are more than 25% over paid.

RM are always arguing that they cannot afford to pay for pensions and decent pay rises because of the postal market - however , the Hooper Review could change all this.

If the Government do agree to resolve the pensions issue by perhaps taking the deficit on themselves , this would free up about £280million per year.

The Colleague Shares was an agreement between Government and RM. This agreement could be torn up as the monies due to be paid could amount to around £5000 for each employee (pro rata PT). This money should be used for genuine pay rises and to protect pensions. Would the membership agree this though ? A ballot of members was hinted at to decide our position.

Automation must be tackled and a shorter working week was a large part of the answer. Our policy is to 35 gross (ie including meal breaks).

MTSF was discussed by Ray Ellis

It was clear this agreement needs to be updated and revised. A balance must be struck between those who want to leave those staying. We must favour those staying.

The tax free £30k needed upping as this was set a few years ago now.

Retraining must be a priority

Better definitions of reasonable alternative employment needed looking at to ensure people are not forced into unsuitable jobs instead of VR.

No compulsory job losses was non negotiable.

ETE (excess travel) must be extended beyond 3 years as must the overall maximum payment of £15k.

Again it was clear that Hooper was vital in realising much of the above aspirations.

There was lots of comment especially on the Pensions issue. Many were very critical of the campaign up to now. London was ready for a strike at any time on the issue and they called for comment from around the country. It was clear that if the chips were down , that Branches would support a strike and that our members would support.

Our Branch spoke in the debate and mentioned the drift and lack of direction , the fact that the pension changes were supported by CWUHQ and that we needed to be honest about what we wanted as Hooper may not give us enough for a final salary scheme to be reinstated. We would have to decide whether to accept something less or take on Royal Mail. We also asked that a further briefing take place once the Hooper comes out as now we had no information to base anything on.

Other Branches also asked for a further briefing. Dave Ward accepted the need for this and there was mention of a special conference to decide policy.

Communications to Members

Kevin Slocombe Head of CWU Communications spoke about the improvements made and the need to new thinking to reach out to members.

CWUTV was mentioned . Regular focus groups are held with members to discuss our message . The Union employs a private PR/Media company to help it improve and innovate.

It was again asked of Branches to get email addresses to the extent of 5% of every workplace. We need to do better as a Branch.

Conclusion

Overall there was much useful discussion, but also a feeling that we absolutely must fight to get our agenda implemented. If we don’t then we are simply accepting more of the same old shambles that is Royal Mail today and the same old disgraceful treatment of both members and the Union from an arrogant employer who simply views us as nothing more than a number.


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Branch Secretary

[Big Daz]

Another excellent report back, the third high quality report back ive now read, TBT post and the report back that the Sub Area Delivery Rep for my patch did.