LTB 135/15 - Future of Romec

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LTB 135/15 - Future of Romec

No. 193/2015
Ref: PTC/RE/dj/335 or 120
Date: 24 March 2015




TO ALL BRANCHES WITH ROMEC MEMBERS




Dear Colleague


RE: Future of Romec



Further to LTB 078/2015 we attach a joint statement on the work of the independently chaired Royal Mail/CWU/Unite review to date and the next steps. As the statement indicates, the end of the six week period originally agreed for the review the parties had agreed to a second phase of discussions, with no predetermined date for conclusion. This will enable a further and more detailed joint analysis of the options. The objective remains to reach an agreed conclusion.


The talks to date have been frank and open and there seems to be a genuine willingness to explore the CWU proposal of Royal Mail self delivery of Facilities Management engineering and cleaning services through a wholly Royal Mail owned subsidiary company. Whilst our members in Romec are anxious for the uncertainty about the future of the company to be resolved, clearly we must take the opportunity of further detailed discussions to secure the best outcome for our Romec members.


We would like to take this opportunity to thank Branches and Representatives for their expressions of solidarity and support for Romec members – please ensure your Romec members are aware of the content of the joint statement and the ongoing commitment of the union to secure a solution which safeguards their interests.


Any enquiries should be addressed to Ray Ellis’s department, quoting reference PTC/RE/dj/335. Email address: rellis@cwu.org or Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 120. Email address: hnutley@cwu.org or Mstewart@cwu.org






Yours sincerely





Ray Ellis, Bob Gibson
CWU Assistant Secretary CWU Assistant Secretary

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Joint Statement: Royal Mail/CWU/Unite

Future Provision of FM services to Royal Mail

We announced on 5 February that a working group was being established between Royal Mail, CWU and Unite to look at two alternatives for the future provision of facilities management services to Royal Mail: Cofely acquiring Royal Mail’s share in Romec, and Royal Mail acquiring Cofely’s share. The working group has held several meetings under the auspices of Peter Thompson, an experienced mediator, and this has clarified many of the issues. To aid their understanding, the working group has held exploratory meetings with the senior leadership of Cofely and – with regard to a self delivered model – members of the executive team at BT Facilities Services.  It has also taken input from Romec management and senior union officials.

We said at the outset that we expected the working group to conclude its findings within 6 weeks. Much has been accomplished in this period, and at our last meeting on 12 March, we agreed that more time was needed to reach a conclusion. We agreed therefore that the talks should progress to a second phase. There is no predetermined date for this new phase of talks to conclude, although it is important to provide clarity as soon as possible. 

This phase will allow full consideration of the selected options before Royal Mail makes a final decision. This will include:

Each option’s ability to deliver Royal Mail Group’s FM requirements
A detailed evaluation of pros and cons of each option
Further discussion with Cofely to cover structure, costs and deliverability of such an option
Further discussion of the self-delivered option to cover structure, costs and deliverability
The timescale of this review period will be discussed as part of these further talks.

We know the importance of giving clarity to Romec employees about the future of the company, but rather than rush a decision we believe it is important to take the time to look at all the issues involved in the manner proposed. In the meantime, we jointly agree that the day to day focus within Romec should be on continuing to operate as normal.

A further statement will be issued in due course.


Martin Gafsen Ray Ellis Brian Scott
Peter Walls Bob Gibson Unite
Royal Mail            CWU            

24 March 2015