CWU OFFICIAL UPDATE ON THE LONDON MAIL CENTRE REVIEW

[POSTMAN]

CWU OFFICIAL UPDATE ON THE LONDON MAIL CENTRE REVIEW
Produced by the London Divisional Committee of the Communication Workers Union

Dear Colleague

This document is a brief statement and outline of where we are as the London Division with regard the Mail Centre Review.

THE BACKGROUND

In line with the new National Agreement (2010 and Beyond Transformation Agreement), Royal Mail commenced a review of the London Mail Centres. This review commenced on the 3rd June 2010.

Royal Mail has given the CWU three options. All three of Royal Mails’ options close 2 Mail Centres, one of their options closes Rathbone Place and included within all 3 options are various delivery relocations and changes to collection hubs.

Royal Mail argues that outward traffic has declined significantly since 2006. In addition to this they state that traffic will further decrease within the next two years.

In addition to this, and whilst the inward has not seen anywhere near the same level of reduction, there has been some reduction and again Royal Mail believe that this will further decrease over the next two years.

Royal Mails’ 3 options mean that a significant amount of work will be sent from London to outlying Mail Centres in Croydon, Jubilee, Romford and Greenford.

One of Royal Mails’ options includes closing Rathbone Place and moving the W1 and WC Delivery Offices into the basement in the Mount together with any Distribution work currently performed on this site.

All three Royal Mail options will undoubtedly lead to a massive surplus of staff. Surpluses that will be bigger than anything London has ever faced in the past.

WHAT IS THE UNION`S POSITION?

The CWU does not believe any Mail Centres should close. Every time a Mail Centre closes in London it affects our Quality of Service. During the 90s and the last decade London has seen 7 Mail Centres close. This has already led to work being moved outside London to Greenford and Jubilee. This movement of work was done because extra capacity did not exist in London at that time. We are arguing that if capacity is now available in London then the work needs to come back into London from the outlying Mail Centres.

Further to this, we have some of the fastest growing developments along the Thames Corridor. We also believe that the Olympic Games in 2012 and the use of the Olympic sites after the games is a factor that has been ignored by Royal Mail.

It is consistently argued by Royal Mail that London Mail Centres are less efficient than others outside the Capital. However it is also often stated by them that London is the most cost effective to post local to local and that a significant amount of mail travels through London as it is the Capital City. It is the one of the leading world financial centres; it has over 100,000 businesses in just 650 square miles. As a cost centre London must provide a significant part of Royal Mail`s overall revenue and if the service declines as a result of poorer service how will that effect Royal Mail financially?

Royal Mail has also indicated one of the options is to close Rathbone Place and move the Delivery units into the basement of the Mount. EC deliveries, who have been in the basement since the closure of their own office have experienced some terrible working conditions in the past including pigeon infestation within the office and poor lighting as there is no natural light.

To suggest putting W1 and WC into the same poor conditions is something we are not going to accept. Unsurprisingly all the senior managers from Royal Mail Headquarters who currently work in Rathbone Place will be spared any transfer to the Mount as they will be given world class accommodation outside of a Royal Mail building.

However, the CWU`s major concern is that Royal Mail`s plans will create a surplus in excess of 1300 postal workers. In addition to this and under a separate Royal Mail project, Royal Mail is planning to remove the inward foreign work which is currently processed in the Mount Pleasant office and transfer it to Langley in Slough. This has the potential to affect the equivalent of 472 jobs in addition to the 1300 affected by the closures of two London Mail Centres.

Royal Mail has suggested that the majority of the surplus from closing the two Mail Centres could transfer from the London Mail Centres to Greenford, Romford, Croydon and Jubilee.

However Royal Mail has stated that the amount of jobs available in those Mail Centres will be based on the receiving Mail Centres productivity levels. Royal Mail is claiming that all London Mail Centres are less productive than the outer London Mail Centres, but they do not take into account the various factors that apply within central London. For example, there is not another Mail Centre in the country that processes 25000 Priority Services items like the Mount Pleasant Office does.

Royal Mail`s plan, in our opinion, has a very real possibility of leading to compulsory transfers and redundancies. Any compulsory redundancies would be at odds with the 2010 agreement and therefore completely unacceptable to the Union.

In addition it is our opinion that there will be a massive impact to our Delivery Units under walk sequencing. For example, the batch system will be affected if the mail is no longer coming from Nine Elms to Victoria Delivery Unit but instead, under Royal Mails’ plans, start coming from Jubilee at the peak of rush hour to transport work from the MPU to the satellite office. We believe that this will reduce the Delivery window, subsequently reducing full time jobs in Deliveries and reducing the ability to introduce improved attendances in line with the Delivery section of the agreement.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?

In line with the agreement, the CWU have been asked to give an alternative to Royal Mail`s options. The Union has until the 17th September to do so. Royal Mail is duty bound to give a response to the CWU option.

Royal Mail will then give the CWU their preferred option.

Next week we will be issuing a detailed communication on Royal Mail`s options and rationale as well as the CWU`s response.

The seriousness of the situation cannot be under estimated as the union does not believe that Royal Mail`s plans can be introduced without the real threat of compulsory redundancies, a worsening of the current service and a worsening of the terms and conditions of staff at Rathbone Place along with the rest of London.

final final version mail centres.doc

[baldrick]

So when are we going to hear what RM's proposals are - tomorrow (17th) or next week?

[Martin Walsh]

So when are we going to hear what RM's proposals are - tomorrow (17th) or next week?

By the end of the month we should have Royal Mail`s perfered option.

[resperin]

wont this effect those on delivery aswell, as the surplus of staff will be moved to delivery offices. those who are on Temp contracts wont have their contracts renewed as they will all become "surplus" themselves.
when are the mail centres going to be closed? if it all goes smoothly

[dazzlin72]

Looks like the RM are trying to see another 1700 workers approx out the door, by hook or by crook.

[postietaz]

:cfo

[adb2aber]

Our outward packet staff were told today that from Monday mail for W1 and W2-14 would be going sleeved together and WC1 and WC2 the same, is this going to have any impact on London? (I've not got the foggiest about how London is organised...) The start of things to come?

[SpacePhoenix]

Our outward packet staff were told today that from Monday mail for W1 and W2-14 would be going sleeved together and WC1 and WC2 the same, is this going to have any impact on London? (I've not got the foggiest about how London is organised...) The start of things to come?

That's probably the new scheme where most stuff will go into sleeves (stuff that goes via air will still have to go in bags) eventually all MCs will be doing the same