LTB 1073/11 Indoor Mail Flow Improvement Process

[Geezer]

Letter to Branches




No. 1073/11 Ref. 230.03 Date: 19th December 2011


To: Branches with POSTAL Members, CWU Divisional Reps and Area Reps

Dear Colleague

Indoor Mail Flow Improvement Process

Further to LTB 1030 and the letter to Rob Jenson regarding the above, a meeting was held with Royal Mail on Wednesday 14th December where the Union put forward its concerns including the problems that had been highlighted by our Representatives from various locations.

We made the point very clearly that the introduction of new indoor equipment such as backless frames and mini Yorks is entirely negotiable and that this is in line with the Joint Statement signed on the 25th October 2011. Furthermore the same applies to dedicated sorters, porters and preppers. These issues had caused problems in some units where our Representatives had raised concerns and objections only for the IR framework to be ignored; which was not acceptable to the Union and is not what was agreed in the Joint Statement.

On top of this we have identified that there has been no safety concurrence carried out for any of the equipment and equally there has been no ergonomic study or fatigue study carried out to assess the impact of dedicating people to one indoor task. It is the view of the Union that this dedication to a particular task exacerbates the potential for problems associated with fatigue, RSI and stress.

In addition there has been no study work or observations carried out to establish planning values for the use of the equipment and any of the associated tasks. Neither is there any reliable evidence to show that these changes actually improve performance/efficiency. In essence the whole thing has been introduced on a wing and a prayer. To make matters worse an unagreed version of the IWT (V7.3 or v7 patch 3) had been introduced with no CWU involvement which in itself is contrary to the BT 2010 national agreement.

However whilst it was important that the Union had the opportunity to put its case forward about those issues listed above it was also important that we attempted to deal with them in a responsible manner and to this end the following was agreed.

• Paul Chapman will meet with Royal Mail management to establish and confirm what version of the IWT will be used for ongoing revisions and exactly what is contained within the ‘agreed’ version. It is the intention to remove patch 3 and discard it.
• All safety documentation associated with any indoor equipment will be completed and signed off, as will documentation covering space standards. The aim is to try and complete this before the Christmas break if possible.
• CWU ASRs will be fully involved in designing the floor plans for the office and no plans will be requested from NDC until the plans have been finalised and agreed locally.

• All planning values associated with any indoor equipment or associated tasks will be finalised with the involvement of the CWU.
• All data/information used to establish and verify the impact of the flow approach on performance/efficiency will be supplied to the CWU.
• A joint DRG/Outdoor Committee and C&D Directors meeting will be arranged for early in the New Year.

In addition it is also important that we jointly consider the impact of flow on fatigue, RSI and stress particularly where dedicated tasks have been agreed and introduced and deal with them accordingly, although we have made the point that we are not supportive of this approach and believe rotation of tasks alleviates the potential for these problems to occur and reduces monotony.

We also made the point for the sake of clarity that the CWU embargo on flow will remain until all the actions listed above have been satisfactorily completed. Branches and Representatives will of course be updated in due course.

In the meantime Branches are asked to adhere to the policy contained in the letter dated 2nd December 2011 and this LTB utilising the Industrial Relations Framework where necessary.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 230.03
Email address: hnutley@cwu.org

Yours sincerely


Bob Gibson
CWU Assistant Secretary

[POSTMAN]

Delivery offices in the trial have introduced six elements. These include using backless sorting frames, having dedicated sorters and porters,

https://www.myroyalmail.com/mrm/appnews ... aspx?i=506" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[woofwoof]

Delivery offices in the trial have introduced six elements. These include using backless sorting frames, having dedicated sorters and porters,

https://www.myroyalmail.com/mrm/appnews ... aspx?i=506" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

what a s**t 1 in 4
Postman Kevin Morgan, pictured, says: ‘I start work at 7am, work until 3.40pm for six days a week over a three-week period, then get the fourth week off.

[mondeoman1]

Delivery offices in the trial have introduced six elements. These include using backless sorting frames, having dedicated sorters and porters,

https://www.myroyalmail.com/mrm/appnews ... aspx?i=506" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"We also made the point for the sake of clarity that the CWU embargo on flow will remain until all the actions listed above have been satisfactorily completed. Branches and Representatives will of course be updated in due course."

This really is taking the p%ss, Royal Mail are walking all over us.

[dvbuk55]

P*ss up and brewery spring to mind........now if it was Greggs and pies........no problemo.

[POSTMAN]

Indoor Flow are subject to ongoing discussions.
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 42&t=42815" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;