CHALLENGING ROYAL MAIL ON ALL FRONTS

[fishtank]

Important Information Covering :

• PRIVATISATION & EMPLOYEE SHARES
• PAY
• WORKPLACE ISSUES
• THE BOYCOTT OF COMPETITORS’ MAIL
• PENSIONS
• THE PROSPECT OF A NATIONAL
INDUSTRIAL ACTION BALLOT

Dear Colleague,
Your recent vote in the consultative ballot is being acted upon and the CWU
will fight to protect your interests and the future of UK Postal Services.
There is a lot going on and this pamphlet covers the issues that will determine
your future.

Privatisation and Employee Shares – 96% of you opposed privatisation; we explain
what the Government did and didn’t say in their recent announcement and why
everything is still to play for.

Pay – 99% of you supported our pay policy; we explain the real Royal Mail pay offer
and why it was rejected.

Workplace Issues – 92% of you supported the policy of non-co-operation; we explain
why and how this must now be enforced consistently in every local unit and every
RM function.

The Boycott – 92% of you supported the boycott policy; we explain what really
happened in court and why the boycott is still firmly on our agenda.

Pensions – The current Royal Mail Group consultation is a sham. We are challenging
the legality and legitimacy of these proposals in light of the linkage to the original
State Aid Case and the promises previously made. It is important that you now register
your discontent and we ask that you fill in and send the enclosed postcard to the
company. We will also be organising workplace petitions to be sent to the trustees.
For DC Scheme Members (joiners from 2008) we are seeking improvements to your
pensions as part of our ongoing negotiations.

Next Steps
The company, Government and Regulator fear the role CWU will play in the coming
weeks and months. The collective strength you have already shown in the consultative
ballot is having an impact. It forced the company to make their first offer on pay, it made
the Government shift their position on Employee Shares and made the Regulator fi nally
acknowledge the threat posed by end-to-end competition.


In the coming weeks the union will prioritise negotiations on the crucial issues covered
in this pamphlet – but we cannot wait forever. If we do not reach an agreement on all
outstanding matters then we will hold a national industrial action ballot in September
at the latest. This ballot will also include an element that gives us the legal authority
to carry out the boycott of competitors’ mail. CWU Representatives from across the
country will meet on 31st July and 1st August to endorse these policies.

The CWU strategy hereon in will cover all eventualities:

• It remains entirely possible to stop the sale. Alongside the “Save our RM” Coalition,
the CWU will intensify the fi ght against privatisation in the coming weeks and months.

• The Government are showing signs of weakness by now openly talking about not
selling the whole of the company. If a sale were to take place it can be minimised to
the extent that a new Government in 2015 could still implement a change in policy.

• The CWU will continue to argue for a better alternative, a not for dividend company
where profit can only be reinvested back into the service and the workforce.

• Above all, whatever happens, we are determined to secure an agreement that
will go further than any in trade union history in protecting your interests for the
long-term foreseeable future. This agreement must be legally binding, enforceable
and underwritten by Government. It must ensure RM will never operate like its
private competitors such as TNT.

Unlike the vested interests driving privatisation, CWU is here for the long haul.
With your support we will shape a positive future.

Everything really is still to play for.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Ward Billy Hayes
Deputy General Secretary (Postal) General Secretary

PRIVATISATION

There are still major hurdles for the Government and the company to overcome before
any sell off can take place. Both Government and city investors remain nervous of market
conditions and the role CWU will play in the coming weeks and months.

People are becoming aware! There is growing public and political opposition to the sale and
the process for a privatisation on this scale is complex and nowhere near complete. This is
why the Government announcement could not confirm a definitive timetable or even how
much may be sold.

Privatising a company like Royal Mail, with nearly 400 years of heritage, tradition and public
service, is fundamentally wrong and unnecessary. The Government and Royal Mail Board are
deliberately framing this debate as though the company is about to fall off the edge of a cliff and can only be saved by private investors. This is total nonsense.

The company has increased its profits by 60% to over £400 million, the workforce are
embracing modernisation and there are alternative social business models that can secure
investment without adding to Government debt or competing with the NHS. The truth is
privatisation is being driven by vested interests’ desire for short-term gain.

EMPLOYEE SHARES

The feature of the recent announcement was the Government reacting to your consultative
ballot and our collective strength by shifting their position on Employee Shares. Firstly, they
made them free – only a few weeks ago the Treasury were insisting you should pay for them
at a discount price. Secondly, they said you would be offered 10% upfront – irrespective of how much of the overall company may be sold. The Government and Royal Mail want to make free shares the focus of the debate and hope this will distract Postal Workers from the reality of what privatisation can bring.

The CWU is not going to engage in a token debate about whether or not employees should
accept free shares – instead we will focus on the crucial issues that will determine your future.

PAY

As a direct response to the CWU consultative ballot the company offered a 3 year pay and
conditions deal. This was their first offer and it was rejected for the following reasons:

• The pay element was not enough and neither was the money in years 2 and 3,
or the lump sum, guaranteed.

• The overall deal was laden with unacceptable strings, including the previously
rejected pension proposal.

• The so called protections on offer were not extensive enough, neither were they legally
binding or underwritten by Government. If there were to be a change in future ownership,
what Royal Mail offered was not worth the paper it was written on.

• The offer did not address our claim for improved overtime and scheduled attendance rates.

• The offer did not address our claim for improved bonus/incentive arrangements.
Instead the company now say that all future bonus arrangements will eventually be replaced by the Government’s proposal for free shares.

To be clear – the offer Royal Mail published in the press and in their internal communications
is long dead. The company have told the union they will be making an improved offer at
some point – the ball is firmly in their court and patience is wearing thin.
We have told Royal Mail we want a straight forward, above inflation deal that meets
the policy you endorsed by 99% in the consultative ballot. That remains our position.

PENSIONS

CWU members are entitled to feel surprised and angry that after Royal Mail said pensions were secure; they now propose further changes. The scheme is not in deficit – what the company want to do is use £2.2 billion of further assets that were set aside to fund the final salary link,to instead lower their own contribution and subsidise privatisation. For the company to present this proposal as some kind of benefit linked to pay is nothing short of scandalous.

The CWU questions the legality and legitimacy of these proposals in light of their linkage to the original State Aid case. We are in no doubt that the actions of the Government, Royal Mail and the Trustee Board are wrong and must be challenged. We have rejected the proposal and any linkage to pay.

The CWU has set a robust policy and this will be discussed with our Representatives on the
31st July 2013. We will also place an insert giving you more detailed information in the next
edition of The Voice.

If there was an opportunity to achieve enforceable, long-term guarantees to keep the Defined Benefit Scheme open and also gain significant improvements to the Defined Contribution Scheme, then the union would negotiate on such a proposal. But that is not the offer on the table. There are no guarantees, just well crafted get out clauses for the company. Neither has Royal Mail convinced us about the reasons why this has happened.

THE BOYCOTT

The boycott of competitors’ mail was part of an overall strategy to highlight the damage being done to UK Postal Services and CWU members’ jobs – we always knew a legal challenge was likely.

Having considered lawyers’ advice and the risk that an injunction could prevent future legal
industrial action, the CWU gave RM an undertaking not to trigger a boycott purely on the
basis of the consultative ballot result. But that undertaking also said we would now explore
if a boycott could take place as part of a legal industrial action ballot. An industrial action
ballot will include this option.

The boycott policy has already been effective in creating publicity and making Ofcom backtrack on further damaging proposals to USO service standards and commit to firmer monitoring of the competitors’ activities with a major review in 2015.

In recent months the company has performed a somersault; they have gone from being a vocal critic to a supporter of Ofcom’s wait and see approach. Meanwhile speculation mounts that a private Royal Mail may look to do a deal with the likes of TNT. Be assured the boycott remains on our agenda.

WORKPLACE ISSUES/NON-CO-OPERATION

You voted by 92% to support the policy of non-co-operation and we must now enforce
this consistently in every local office and every RM function.
It is the link with preparing for privatisation that means we must challenge Royal Mail over their future strategy and how this affects your daily workload.

There remains a massive disconnect between the growth in packets and parcels and relentless Royal Mail budget cuts which bear no resemblance to the reality of your local environment or our National Agreements.

Six months on from Royal Mail’s announcement that they are now a parcels company, nobody
is any the wiser about what this means to your job, workload and the existing networks and
structures across the organisation. This is unacceptable.

Until we reach an agreement that influences all aspects of their future strategy and deals with all outstanding workplace issues, then the policy of non-co-operation must remain in place.
For the purpose of complete clarity, we are not asking you to take unofficial industrial action.
What we do expect is adherence to the following:

• No local unit should be supporting any further budget cuts, efficiency savings or revisions
outside of the BT2012 programme, or any revisions/savings not covered by existing
National Agreements.

• Due to our concerns over the possibility of new networks being used for parcel and packet
growth, we are not supporting any further Mail Centre or Regional Distribution Centre
rationalisation.

• Due to our concerns that the WCM National Agreement is being abused by Royal Mail,
we are not supporting any further savings derived from WCM.

• To implement the policy of non-co-operation, local units should hold a meeting with
the membership. If Royal Mail propose new budget cuts etc, a disagreement should be
registered with the appropriate Royal Mail manager, utilising the nationally agreed
Industrial Relations Framework procedures.

• If management ignore our agreed procedures, threaten or take executive action,
then the local unit should request a local industrial action ballot.

The CWU recognises that change must continue to evolve to create sustainable jobs.
But we will never accept company diktat.


EVERYTHING STILL TO PLAY FOR:

The Government announcement did not confirm a definitive timetable for privatisation.

A political fight is growing. Labour, SNP, Plaid Cymru, parties in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK are all now in direct opposition to privatisation.

A Special Parliamentary Debate will now take place on 2nd September and a BIS Select Committee Hearing has been arranged for 10th September.

An influential Tory Back Bench Pressure Group (The Bow Group),has now come out against privatisation.

An independent poll commissioned by the Tory Bow Group showed 67% of the public are against privatisation.

City investors are nervous of market conditions and the role CWU will play.

Support the campaign – see the union’s letter to Michael Fallon.
Visit cwu.org and saveourroyalmail.org

[knackeredneedadayoff]

does this mean lapsing should be stopped

[k979aaa]

does this mean lapsing should be stopped

Well that is an interesting one why should we all do lapsing if we are in disagreement with royal mail is this not the first battle ground someone needs to make a stand on this 1000 wildcat strikes in the offing!.

[mandelsons_toenail]

does this mean lapsing should be stopped

Good question

[fishtank]

does this mean lapsing should be stopped

Well that is an interesting one why should we all do lapsing if we are in disagreement with royal mail is this not the first battle ground someone needs to make a stand on this 1000 wildcat strikes in the offing!.

Lapsing is part of a pre-existing agreement.
As long as that agreement is being followed then the union has no issue with lapsing.
The union is not proposing to tear up all existing agreements.
That would be as bad for us as it would for RM if you think of 1 in 4 Saturdays,4 day weeks,SA Agreements etc....

[Danelectro]

does this mean lapsing should be stopped

Well that is an interesting one why should we all do lapsing if we are in disagreement with royal mail is this not the first battle ground someone needs to make a stand on this 1000 wildcat strikes in the offing!.

we do lapsing because its part of existing agreements.

[k979aaa]

does this mean lapsing should be stopped

Well that is an interesting one why should we all do lapsing if we are in disagreement with royal mail is this not the first battle ground someone needs to make a stand on this 1000 wildcat strikes in the offing!.

we do lapsing because its part of existing agreements.

As long as you have time remaining in your duty span of course.

[steven100]

Our office make us do lapsing before our delivery.

[hampshireman]

Our office make us do lapsing before our delivery.

You are not 'made' to lapse.. You accept it ; if you have time. No questions; no arguements.

If you do not have time? Then what is your answer?

For Gods sake ; do not be bullied