LTB 048/25 – UPDATE ON THE USO PILOTS

[POSTMAN]

https://www.cwu.org/ltb/ltb-048-25-upda ... so-pilots/

LTB 048/25 – UPDATE ON THE USO PILOTS
No: 048/25

28th February 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Update on the USO Pilots

All Branches will be aware that the CWU published two agreed-upon statements on the USO pilots before Christmas. We have now agreed on a further addendum which will apply to all 37 USO pilot sites.

The addendum and flowchart provide the parameters which all pilot sites should adopt to ensure they achieve the overarching objectives, which are:

• Pilot sites must achieve Ofcom’s quality of service target.
• On deployment, the workload must be fair, manageable and achievable, and solutions must address fatigue.
• There must be an opportunity to improve attendance patterns, including fewer Saturdays.
• There must be an improvement in confidence, trust and morale.

To ensure the above happens within each of the pilots, the union has agreed to the following:

1. Agreed an addendum to the original Terms of Reference.
2. A flowchart for resourcing the pilot unit before deployment.
3. The option of seven attendance patterns.

The addendum covers the following:

1. Mail Centres must ensure work compliance, including product segregation.
2. It is expected that there will be minimal impact on Mail Centres or Distribution. Any change required will be dealt with through normal weekly resourcing meetings.
3. The USO pilots must cover all daily duties, including having the appropriate reserve levels, with full-time reserves covering full time duties, and they must achieve Ofcom’s regulatory targets.
4. A total data verification process within the unit to ensure duties are achievable.
5. The opportunity to rotate from combined and all mail deliveries (core) can be introduced to reduce fatigue.
6. All employees will be encouraged to drive, but non-drivers will still have a full role. Non-drivers will still work on Saturdays against the scheduled workload within any of the listed attendance menu options.
7. There should be one overall office attendance as the USO pilots will be introduced based on a method change approach rather than a structural revision.

The method change principles are:

• Rurals will retain one-to-one deliveries Monday through Friday, with only Saturday’s schedule changing based on 1st class, parcels and tracked items.
• Firm deliveries will retain one-over-one Monday through Friday, with only Saturday’s schedule changing based on 1st class, parcels and tracked items.
• On all mail days (core), town and city routes will have two over-one deliveries Monday through Friday.
• Town and city will have two over 1st class routes (combined Monday to Saturday).

• 8.We also agreed that each pilot site could select from seven different attendance patterns. The Optimised Delivery Model reduces the number of people working on a Saturday. Any duty pattern with just one day off per week must change to one of the attendance patterns below.

The duty patterns available to select are:

• Two Saturdays off in any six weeks (in addition to a regular rest day during the week). Extra 8 Saturdays off per year.
• Two Saturdays off in any five weeks (in addition to a regular rest day during the week). Extra 10 Saturdays off per week.
• 9-day fortnight.
• 4-day week option.
• Wallington, plus an extra Saturday off.
• 13 working days out of 18 (Monday to Saturday) with 1 Saturday off every 3 weeks (only available to drivers).
• 17 working days every 24 (Monday to Saturday) with 2 Saturdays off every 4 weeks.

Each pilot site will understand the start and finish times before their vote, this means that individuals will be working their contracted hours over fewer days, so the days they work will be slightly longer depending on which options they select.

• 9.The agreed Terms of Reference ensure that no individual will be asked to move units during the pilot. Currently, there will be a surplus in 22 of the 37 sites.

The sites in which there will not be a surplus will need to ensure any vacancies are filled before the pilot goes live. This will allow part-timers to increase their contracted hours, including up to full-time on their existing terms and conditions. This will be done based on seniority, but it will also recognise that a non-driver cannot increase their contracted hours on a duty they cannot perform, such as a driving duty.

• 10.A temporary resign will be available before the pilot goes live, and a full resign will be available when Ofcom makes its formal decision.

• 11.Once the pilot has been deployed there will be an ongoing review to ensure that each pilot achieves the four overarching principles.

• 12It also lists the interfaces that will be fully involved within the pilot units.

It is important to remember that the CWU has not agreed to full USO reform. If we eventually decide this is the best option, there will be a national agreement covering this. Despite speculation, the only pilot site deployed is Newton Mearns DO in Scotland. Cumbernauld DO will go live on March 17th.

The other pilot sites will be phased in from late March until the middle of May. The sites are being phased in because the flowchart attached to this LTB requires an 8-week process starting with data verification and concluding with the actual deployment.

Newton Mearns went live this week. The unit’s members chose to opt for two Saturdays off in five. They also introduced a further duty into the unit.

Whilst it is early days, the initial observation is that all the core mail walks have cleared with indoor support and very high call rates. This higher call rate, some above 90%, is down to the sequencing machine releasing work which should have been held upstream in the Mail Centre. Further work is being carried out in Glasgow Mail Centre to remedy this.

The combined 1st class/parcel routes on Monday and Tuesday completed the planned delivery spans early.

Cumbernauld is scheduled to go live on March 17th. They have also selected two Saturdays off every five weeks. Two duties have been put back into the unit, the indoor layout changes have been fully deployed and local parties are working together to continue to review the operation ahead of the go live date.

We intend to provide regular updates on the pilots moving forward, including members’ feedback from the pilots.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) department.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Walsh

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Davie Robertson

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Tony Bouch

Assistant Secretary

[ted_e_bear]

Good to have an update the attachments have details on how the different attendance patterns work

The duties put in I'm guessing we're reinstated lapsed duties.

Good to read that resigns are set in the criteria, I think previously it said they weren't needed which to me sounded wrong as there will be changes such as the reinstated duties, also we've people sitting on duties they've just been left on without being advertised, hopefully it won't be an option for management to ignore that and leave people on whatever the duty they're on becomes.

[tramssirhc]

The CWU can dress it up all they want. It's an attack on workers jobs that sees less workers doing more work. All in the pursuit of profit.

[SpacePhoenix]

Mail Centres (MCs) and Mail Processing Units (MPUs), must ensure full workplan compliance, product
segregation, appropriate labelling and accurate retention of deferred products at all times. Local Distribution
must also ensure that product segregation is not compromised. These disciplines ensure the correct presentation
of all products to Delivery Offices (DOs) in order to support the Optimised Delivery Model for USO pilot DOs and
protect service to our customers.

The trays of 1C and 2C will still have to go onto the same yorks as otherwise they'd take up too much room on the lorries. Think a 600 can hold a maximum of 9 yorks.

Seems like as far as it currently stands we'll sequence the mech as normal, anything released 1C or 2C will get sequenced.

Not seen any mention of 2C being sorted separately in inward MCs.

[Jb1969]

Mail Centres (MCs) and Mail Processing Units (MPUs), must ensure full workplan compliance, product
segregation, appropriate labelling and accurate retention of deferred products at all times. Local Distribution
must also ensure that product segregation is not compromised. These disciplines ensure the correct presentation
of all products to Delivery Offices (DOs) in order to support the Optimised Delivery Model for USO pilot DOs and
protect service to our customers.

The trays of 1C and 2C will still have to go onto the same yorks as otherwise they'd take up too much room on the lorries. Think a 600 can hold a maximum of 9 yorks.

Seems like as far as it currently stands we'll sequence the mech as normal, anything released 1C or 2C will get sequenced.

Not seen any mention of 2C being sorted separately in inward MCs.

15 & 21 for a 600!

[SpacePhoenix]

Mail Centres (MCs) and Mail Processing Units (MPUs), must ensure full workplan compliance, product
segregation, appropriate labelling and accurate retention of deferred products at all times. Local Distribution
must also ensure that product segregation is not compromised. These disciplines ensure the correct presentation
of all products to Delivery Offices (DOs) in order to support the Optimised Delivery Model for USO pilot DOs and
protect service to our customers.

The trays of 1C and 2C will still have to go onto the same yorks as otherwise they'd take up too much room on the lorries. Think a 600 can hold a maximum of 9 yorks.

Seems like as far as it currently stands we'll sequence the mech as normal, anything released 1C or 2C will get sequenced.

Not seen any mention of 2C being sorted separately in inward MCs.

15 & 21 for a 600!

Is the 21 figure for a 17.5 tonner?

[funkflex55]

In offices that have had revisions that mean already duties are unachievable within regular shifts will they be made smaller in order to fully clear 2/3 days mail 5 times over 2 weeks?

An option to be a driver getting in and out of a van to do 100-150.drops is not something that will reduce fatigue.

There's nothing in the above communication that will reduce fatigue. This proposal is all about making already over stretched posties do even more work. Then when accidents or mistakes happen they can be replaced with cheaper new starters.

Edit - The pilot will not show a true reflection of service where the staffing levels are not cut to what they will be after the pilots turn into reality. The excess staff will just mop up the failures and pilots will looks like a success.

[hans solo]

Reducing fatigue
What happened to the h&s walking limits
Surely cannot be expecting people to work for 6+ hours outside
What happens to our breaks

[Jb1969]

Mail Centres (MCs) and Mail Processing Units (MPUs), must ensure full workplan compliance, product
segregation, appropriate labelling and accurate retention of deferred products at all times. Local Distribution
must also ensure that product segregation is not compromised. These disciplines ensure the correct presentation
of all products to Delivery Offices (DOs) in order to support the Optimised Delivery Model for USO pilot DOs and
protect service to our customers.

The trays of 1C and 2C will still have to go onto the same yorks as otherwise they'd take up too much room on the lorries. Think a 600 can hold a maximum of 9 yorks.

Seems like as far as it currently stands we'll sequence the mech as normal, anything released 1C or 2C will get sequenced.

Not seen any mention of 2C being sorted separately in inward MCs.

15 & 21 for a 600!

Is the 21 figure for a 17.5 tonner?

Nope, we have 7.5 tonne vehicles that can carry 21 Yorks, with approximately 200kg less weight than a 15 York truck.
Gotta watch what your putting on it, easy to go over!

[GRS]

If I’m understanding it correctly rurals will maintain the status quo ie: everything goes every day. Is that correct?? If so surely that can’t be right, that means customers paying the same money for an item to be delivered get a premium service if the recipient lives rurally but a delayed service if that recipient lives in a town. That’s a 2 tier service but charging the same!!

[SpacePhoenix]

Mail Centres (MCs) and Mail Processing Units (MPUs), must ensure full workplan compliance, product
segregation, appropriate labelling and accurate retention of deferred products at all times. Local Distribution
must also ensure that product segregation is not compromised. These disciplines ensure the correct presentation
of all products to Delivery Offices (DOs) in order to support the Optimised Delivery Model for USO pilot DOs and
protect service to our customers.

The trays of 1C and 2C will still have to go onto the same yorks as otherwise they'd take up too much room on the lorries. Think a 600 can hold a maximum of 9 yorks.

Seems like as far as it currently stands we'll sequence the mech as normal, anything released 1C or 2C will get sequenced.

Not seen any mention of 2C being sorted separately in inward MCs.

15 & 21 for a 600!

Is the 21 figure for a 17.5 tonner?

Nope, we have 7.5 tonne vehicles that can carry 21 Yorks, with approximately 200kg less weight than a 15 York truck.
Gotta watch what your putting on it, easy to go over!

Our trucks must be a lot smaller. Fairly sure you can only fit 12 into one of our 600s. Our 17.5 tonners might be able to hold 21 yorks but I don't think they're long enough. Might be down to what the yards are like in the DOs covered by our MC. Some DOs they have to unload in the street as the lorries physically can't get into the yards

[ted_e_bear]

If I’m understanding it correctly rurals will maintain the status quo ie: everything goes every day. Is that correct?? If so surely that can’t be right, that means customers paying the same money for an item to be delivered get a premium service if the recipient lives rurally but a delayed service if that recipient lives in a town. That’s a 2 tier service but charging the same!!

They haven't thought it through properly have they, no surprise there, apparently same for hct duties it's almost as though they don't know what to do

[Alfietherat]

How can offices achieve a 4 day week when on a Saturday we would only deliver parcels and 1st Class Letters. I counted my amount of 1st Call Letters the last few Saturdays and there was not many manly dsa letters.

[SpacePhoenix]

How can offices achieve a 4 day week when on a Saturday we would only deliver parcels and 1st Class Letters. I counted my amount of 1st Call Letters the last few Saturdays and there was not many manly dsa letters.

Could be down to the timing of when mail is due to be automatically released by the DTS system, might have just worked out that very little has been due for automatic release on Friday nights.

[claretandblue]

How can offices achieve a 4 day week when on a Saturday we would only deliver parcels and 1st Class Letters. I counted my amount of 1st Call Letters the last few Saturdays and there was not many manly dsa letters.

You would be doing 2 duties worth, and Saturday would still probably be a shorter day than the rest.