LTB 510/14 REPORT ON ROYAL MAIL GROUP AGM

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To: All Branches with Postal Members


Dear Colleague

REPORT ON ROYAL MAIL GROUP AGM

Further to LTB 426/14 which explained the Unions position in relation to the company's first AGM held on the 24th July, we have attached a short report summarising what took place.

As part of the CWU approach to the AGM, Branches will be aware that the Union asked some individual Representatives to attend and pose questions to the Royal Mail Board on Direct Delivery Competition, Executive pay and a new Company Charter. The attached report also provides the answers to these questions and the Union will now consider how we can use future AGM's to exert CWU influence on these issues and other important matters.

As previously explained, central to our approach is the continuing work being undertaken to explore the possibility of creating a CWU Trust allowing CWU members to vote en-bloc at future AGM's.

Save As You Earn (SAYE) - Scheme

One of the resolutions which was approved at this year's AGM authorised the company to set up an SAYE Scheme and we understand CWU members have now received information on this.

Royal Mail had advised the Union prior to their AGM that it would be offering this to employees and we understand this is a common practice for most private companies.

As with the initial offer of free employee shares, the Union is taking a neutral position and it is a matter for individual members as to whether or not they want to participate. However, it is important for anyone considering to do so, that they understand the scheme fully and the financial implications for them.
In the meantime, the CWU will continue to focus on establishing a new arrangement to allow employees who do have shares in the company to have a collective voice and we will keep Branches updated with progress on this.

Any enquiries on the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.


Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)


Royal Mail's AGM - 24th July 2014

Royal Mail's first AGM was held on 24th July in Birmingham. This note provides a short report of the meeting.

The AGM lasted for about an hour and around 100 shareholders were in attendance - fewer than Royal Mail had been expecting. Donald Brydon, the Chairman of Royal Mail, opened the meeting making some brief remarks on the last financial year, including a reference to the 'groundbreaking' agreement with the CWU, and Moya Greene then spoke for ten minutes giving an overview of Royal Mail's financial performance - she paid tribute to the hard work of employees and thanked the CWU and Unite for their contribution in her introduction.

Donald Brydon then opened up the floor to questions, beginning with those that had been pre-registered on the day - however, anyone in attendance was free to go over to the question point during the meeting and ask something that hadn't been submitted in advance. People were also allowed to respond to the answers they received with further questions or comments.

Donald Brydon responded to most of the questions, referring a couple on to Moya Greene. None of the other board members needed to respond or made any contributions. The majority of the responses were fairly short and high level. The questions also appeared to be from individuals - members of the public who had bought shares and had an interest in Royal Mail primarily as a customer or employees - rather than institutional commercial investors.

Because of this, the questions covered a wide range of issues from the use of bicycles on delivery rounds to philately, reflecting individual's particular interests, and did not have a great commercial focus as might have been expected.

Three CWU representatives asked questions on behalf of the union.

Firstly, whether the board would apply for a judicial review of Ofcom should it fail to act on competition; Donald Brydon said that Royal Mail needed to find out how Ofcom are going to respond before deciding what to do.

Secondly, whether the board had considered the recommendations of the High Pay Commission in setting executive remuneration; Donald Brydon said that they had considered these both in setting pay and in disclosing full details of executive remuneration in their accounts.

Thirdly, whether Royal Mail was committed to agreeing a company charter, as set out in the Agenda for Growth; Donald Brydon reaffirmed Royal Mail's commitment to this and stated that while some practical work had taken precedence over this recently, they did intend to have it agreed before the AGM next year.

A number of other interesting points were raised at the meeting.

A representative from Share Action - an organisation which campaigns on social responsibility - asked if Royal Mail would commit to becoming an accredited living wage employer by ensuring cleaners and contractors receive a living wage; Donald Brydon said that he would look into the issue.

An individual shareholder asked whether Royal Mail had considered having employee representatives on the board; Donald Brydon said that they had discussed it informally and that he was not opposed to it, but that there were no specific plans for this at the moment.

A number of people raised queries about the resolution on the agenda authorising political donations. Donald Brydon said that there was no intention to give money to political parties and that this was about ensuring that Royal Mail was authorised to engage in activities such as lobbying at party conferences and giving people time off for political activities, which could be legally classed as 'donations'.

An individual, who said they were a customer, asked why transformation of delivery offices not had not been completed; Moya Greene said that she 'fully expected new delivery methods to be in place everywhere' by the end of the year.

There was also a question about what level of expenditure there had been on world class mails - Donald Brydon said that this wasn't a separate business section but a 'way of thinking' so there was no specific budget for it.

Once the questions were finished Donald Brydon moved on to the resolutions which members were entitled to vote on. The results received from votes cast in advance of the meeting were displayed - around 60% of votes had already been cast, with each motion being overwhelmingly supported - and the meeting was then closed with individual shareholders present having voting cards to fill in and hand over.

Before and after the meeting there was tea and coffee - Moya Greene and other members of the board were talking to people from the audience and made themselves available for further questions at this time.

The results of the votes were published on the afternoon of the 24th, with each motion being carried. They can be found at the following link:
http://www.royalmailgroup.com/sites/def ... 202014.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;