Staffing levels for the Top 2000 Flats Sorting Machine

[Geezer]

Date: Tuesday, 2 November, 2010, 15:03

Ref PB/L19.16/ac/C



Dear Colleague



The Postal Executive at today’s meeting agreed the revised staffing levels for the Top 2000 Flats Sorting Machine (attached). These arrangements only apply to the machine in operational mode and do not apply for machine set up and clear down therefore the minimum staffing level is 8 during operational mode. This of course can be increased due to operational workloads and these are the minimum staffing levels and not the maximum. Negotiations regarding the deployment of the revised staffing arrangements must be carried out in line with the IR Framework and the MTSF Agreement in order to protect members’ terms and conditions if they are affected by this change. An LTB will be issued in due course however I wanted to ensure you were advised of these changes by CWU Headquarters rather than Royal Mail management. There will be communications for the deployment of the staffing arrangements for circulation, a copy of which has already been attached.



Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any enquiries.



Regards

Phil Browne

Acting Assistant Secretary



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14.10.10 Joint Communication for Deployment of Staffing Arrangements for Top 2000 (FSM) - Final Version



Joint Communication for Deployment of Staffing Arrangements for Top 2000 (FSM)


1. Introduction

The introduction of the new staffing arrangements for the Top 2000 (FSM) shall be introduced in line with the following deployment steps and managed locally.

2. Deployment

Step 1
Mail Centre Manager and Area Processing Representative to jointly review the updated Guidelines and to discuss the planned implementation of new staffing levels. At this step the following points will be identified;

a) Timescales for deployment.
b) Transitional changes (e.g. training requirements, people impact etc).

Step 2
Deliver WTLL session to ALL Top 2000 (FSM) staff prior to any changes being made. The purpose of this session is to update staff and provide a Q&A session and to ascertain whether there are any volunteers who wish to come off of the machine.

Step 3
Mail Centre Manager and Area Processing Representative to finalise new staffing arrangements.

Step 4
Deploy new staffing arrangements.

3. Involvement

The CWU will be fully involved in all discussions relating to the implementation of the new staffing arrangements.

The deployment of revised staffing arrangements will be in line with the IR Framework and MTSF Agreement.


Note: In line with Annex E of the Top 2000 Guidelines, Royal Mail International (HWDC) is excluded from this deployment.



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05.10.10 Annex E Staffing Top2000 Flats Sorting Machine


Annex E: Staffing TOP2000 Flats Sorting Machine

(Revised October 2010)

1 Background
Staffing levels on the TOP2000 FSM have been jointly reviewed between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union, as a result of the declining mail volumes. The revised staffing profile trial took place over 3 mail centres during August 2010. Considering machine performance data collected and Ergonomic, Industrial engineering recommendations and Operational feedback, the following guideline will be the new standard business practice setting the core minimum staffing levels for full and half machine configuration and will be applied at all T2K sites (this guideline excludes HWDC).

2 Skills/Training

Everyone working with the machine must get prior training so that they are fully conversant / able to perform all of the agreed Operational Grade tasks. To ensure these skills are maintained duty content should include a mix/rotation of the tasks, i.e.: no individual/duty should be scheduled to perform one of the identified Top 2000 responsibilities (Para 4) for the full duration of the shift.

All Top 2000 duties will be classed as Advance TPM and the appropriate TPM allowance will be paid.

3 TPM Tasks

The TPM tasks have also been jointly evaluated and specifically identified to ensure they meet the accepted criteria contained within the National TPM Agreement. These tasks are detailed in Annex F. Additional tasks may be considered in future to be appropriate for Operational Grades. However these will again be subject to joint evaluation prior to them being transferred from engineering responsibility.

4 Core Staffing Levels TOP2000

Detailed below is the minimum core staffing levels for the operation of the TOP2000 only.

4.1 Machine Set Up and Clear Down

The recommended number of staff for these two operations (full operational mode 10/half operational mode 5) however this will be subject to operational requirements taking into account safe systems of work.
4.2 Machine Operational Mode

Feeder Operators 4
Despatch Lane Operators 3
TOP 2000 Operator * 1
Total Machine 8


4.3 Single Input Line Operation

If the machine runs with only one input line it halves machine throughput. The minimum core staffing for this level of operation should therefore be:-

Feeder Operators 2
Despatch Lane Operators 1
TOP 2000 Operator 1
Total Machine 4

4.4 Meal Relief Cover

Four operators will also be available to provide meal relief cover on full machine operation. Three operators for Single Input Line Operation

The above staffing covers all of the duties for the machine and ancillary operation within the general machine boundaries (usually denoted by the barriers around the FSM area).

5 Mail Movement/Work Transfer Staff

Additional staffing will be required to move mail to and from the machine area work stores from elsewhere in the Mail Centre such as the Preparation and Despatch Areas. During machine operation this would normally be one person to move mail in and one person to move mail out. As workload will vary between Mail Centres, Shifts and at different times within a shift, these staff would take on other duties if no flats workload were available. As mail is currently moved between existing manual operations the only element of mail movement that should introduce new workload will be due to the work transfers.

Machine operators may also move mail outside of the machine area boundaries if the workload on the machine allows it to be done without affecting throughput.

*The role of the TOP 2000 Operator is to provide support to the FSM operation.