PEC REPORT MARCH 08

[lovejoy]

Members say No to Pension Changes

March 2008 Executive Council Report

Pensions

Most of you will now be aware that the consultation ballot over the changes to the pension scheme led to a massive rejection of Royal Mail’s proposals by 92% TO 8%. That’s an even greater margin than in the managers’ ballot. Unfortunately, this hasn’t yet stopped the business from ploughing ahead with their plans. What could be a bigger demonstration of the lie that they listen to what their employees say?

The Postal Executive met last Tuesday to consider the next steps. We accepted a document put to us by Dave Ward which outlined the strategy the Union would need to take. Although we agreed in principle to ballot our members for industrial action, we accepted that there was nothing to be gained by rushing into this and so a timetable has yet to be decided on. Although the rules of the pension scheme were changed on 1 April, most of our members won’t be affected until next April at the earliest and the later retirement age doesn’t come in until 2010. If possible, we would like to run a joint campaign with CMA/Unite. They too have rejected the proposals and are considering an industrial action ballot. Despite our well justified feelings towards them, a joint campaign would seriously undermine Royal Mail’s credibility and give us access to the much greater resources that Unite have.

We also need to step up our political campaign before any industrial action is mounted. We agreed to do this at the national briefing in Northampton but there is little evidence of anything happening on the ground. We always said that the issue of changes to our pensions was linked to the deal done between RM and the Government and the way the rules on competition were framed. If we can’t change those rules and get the deal re-negotiated then the current changes will be only just the start. The PEC agreed that we now need to step up the pressure on MP’s from all parties. We intend to write to all MP’s giving them our view on why and how the rules on competition should be changes and also explaining why the argument over our pensions is reaching crunch time.

The Union’s campaign committee will meet next week to plan our activities and how to best get our Branches and members involved. The PEC will also be meeting within the next two weeks to review the progress of the campaign and to see where we are with Unite.

Pay & Conditions

All bar 150 offices have now agreed their phase 2 revisions and the £400 is due to be paid on April 25th for those offices where agreement has been reached and progress made in implementation. An extension to the beginning of May has also been agreed for those offices still trying to negotiate a local deal. It’s fair to say the phase 2 revisions have thrown up some issues. In some offices where they have introduced longs and shorts, the overtime that used to be done on the Thursday and Friday has just been shifted to the Monday and Tuesday, defeating the object. It’s a fair bet that the same thing will happen with the summer staffing arrangements but we’ll have to wait and see on that. Management have also tried in some places to use phase 2 to lengthen the Saturday attendances but the terms of the pay & modernisation agreement stand in that offices can keep the Saturday times they had before. The strangest feature is where offices have reverted to earlier starts in delivery on their long days. Was it last October when management forced us all to start later or did I just dream that?

As most offices have now agreed their phase 2 revision we have agreed to start the process for phase 3, which involves trials on ways for covering of others. This involves an ideas generation workshop in each trial area on April 11th followed by a trial period lasting until early May. The results will then be examined at national level, options agreed and then each office will be expected to negotiate and agree local measures by 7 July. Once this is done, the 1.5% pay increase will be backdated to April 7th. In the meantime, the phase 4 workshops, discussing issues such as the IR Framework, the future structure of deliveries, processing and distribution and the various outstanding pay issues, have all started meeting. To be honest, at the moment little progress has been made on anything.

Vehicle Services Pay

Following the rejection of their pay deal by the members in Vehicle Services, meetings have taken place with the Reps to find a way forward. The Postal Executive have yet to get any reports of progress made but word from some of the Reps is that an attempt is being made to dress up the agreement with just a few minor changes. This is unlikely to satisfy the members but we’ll have to wait and see.

Vehicle Telemetry

Talks on implementing vehicle telemetry are still going on and progress is being made. The system is due to go live around July when the drivers of vans fitted with the equipment will be given keys that will identify who the driver is. At the moment, although information is available to show where the van is and what it is doing, the name of the driver is not shown. We agreed the procedure for the on-line drivers risk assessment and this is now being rolled out, firstly at the offices where telemetry equipment has been fitted and then to all other drivers, including those using their cars on delivery. This will give each driver a risk rating of low, medium or high and identify where further training may be necessary. Management have agreed to scrap their proposed new collision procedure and will instead re-launch the already-agreed RTA procedure, possibly under a new name.

As far as the telemetry system itself is concerned, we are still trying to deal with the implications to individual drivers and with the inevitable savings to the business that will flow from it. We want the business to accept that telemetry is a tool for improving drivers’ performance and safety and not for discipline. This means restricting the information available to line managers, some of whom would no doubt become obsessed with what individual drivers were doing. We are asking for drivers’ coaches so that if any problems are identified with individuals, these can be dealt with by one of their peers rather than a manager. We are also looking for a way of capturing the potentially large non-staff savings such as on vehicles, fuel etc, possibly with a new bonus scheme. Management are rather less than enthusiastic about this but whether it holds up the whole scheme remains to be seen.

Burslem

Six of the members suspended at Burslem have now been sacked, including both Reps and the health & safety Rep. It would seem that despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to their innocence of the charges levelled, the manager dealing with the cases was only prepared to see what he wanted to. The three Reps cases will now go to the National Appeals Panel and the three other appeals will be held following the decisions of the NAP. In the meantime, the Midland No. 7 branch has resolved to continue supporting the dismissed members financially pending their appeals so any support from outside would still be welcome.

Partly as a result of the Burslem cases, a meeting has now been held with the business to discuss a review of the whole bullying and harassment procedure. This didn’t come to any conclusions but further meetings have been planned.

Enquiry Offices

Royal Mail have started a project to look at enquiry offices in DO’s and the services they provide. This involved going to a number of offices, finding out what happens there and doing a survey of customers as to what they think of the service provided and what else they would like to see on offer. The aim is to standardise the services enquiry offices provide and to see if these need expanding. There’s only one problem with this laudable aim. That’s the attempts by management in the Manchester area and probably elsewhere to close the offices down at lunchtime. Seems to be a classic case of left and right hands. If anyone reading this has examples of this happening in their area as well, please let me know.

Labour Party

The National Executive, at it’s last meeting, passed a proposition on the Labour Party to go to Annual Conference this year. The proposition accepted that the Labour Party no longer adequately represented trade union members but recognised that for now and in the foreseeable future there was no credible alternative. It therefore called on the Union to become a more effective force in politics whilst still remaining affiliated to the Labour Party by -
Campaigning with other Unions, CLPs and organisations such as the Labour Representation Committee for greater accountability and trade union involvement within the Party policy making framework.
Limiting affiliation expenditure to the minimum necessary to operate effectively inside the Party.
Any further expenditure on the Labour Party to be strictly in pursuance of the interests of our members and CWU policies and campaigns. Such expenditure will be only made by agreement of the NEC.
Only those Labour MP’s who have a proven track record of supporting the CWU and its policies will receive our support.
Branches and members will be encouraged to play a greater role within the Labour Party in advocating CWU policies. Regular political briefings will be produced with suggested model motions and background material to facilitate this.

No doubt branches will be submitting further motions arguing for different policies. It should make for a very interesting session at Conference this year.


Pete Keenlyside
Postal Executive
2 April 2008

[donut]

Did i just read that right "we are not going to rush in to any timetable for industrial action".????
Hav`nt royal mail already imposed the changes to pensions !! they are not going to withdraw them now are they.

[Stormproof]

Enquiry Offices

Royal Mail have started a project to look at enquiry offices in DO’s and the services they provide. This involved going to a number of offices, finding out what happens there and doing a survey of customers as to what they think of the service provided and what else they would like to see on offer. The aim is to standardise the services enquiry offices provide and to see if these need expanding. There’s only one problem with this laudable aim. That’s the attempts by management in the Manchester area and probably elsewhere to close the offices down at lunchtime. Seems to be a classic case of left and right hands. If anyone reading this has examples of this happening in their area as well, please let me know.


Pete Keenlyside
Postal Executive
2 April 2008

Does anyone have this guys email address?

[DirtyHarry]

Most of you will now be aware that the consultation ballot over the changes to the pension scheme led to a massive rejection of Royal Mail’s proposals by 92% TO 8%. That’s an even greater margin than in the managers’ ballot. Unfortunately, this hasn’t yet stopped the business from ploughing ahead with their plans. What could be a bigger demonstration of the lie that they listen to what their employees say?


what skidmark wrights this stuff....how many of the 98percent of gravytrain lovers actually voice there opinion during the consoltation excercise.. im going to guess not many .yet there they are outraged at the outcome..

A few more nights at the adult literacy classes are in order. RM management material though.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Most of you will now be aware that the consultation ballot over the changes to the pension scheme led to a massive rejection of Royal Mail’s proposals by 92% TO 8%. That’s an even greater margin than in the managers’ ballot. Unfortunately, this hasn’t yet stopped the business from ploughing ahead with their plans. What could be a bigger demonstration of the lie that they listen to what their employees say?

A few more nights at the adult literacy classes are in order. RM management material though.

Definitely - most of his posts have a put down in them somewhere and that does appear to be Royal Mail managerial approach to everything.

Just in this post if he had typed:

Which union officer writes this stuff....how many of the 98 percent of those voting actually voiced their opinion during the consultation exercise.. I'm going to guess not many .yet they are outraged at the outcome..

same question just not as confrontational or abusive, and if he thought about what he was typing he would get more respect and less abuse in return.

I am never really sure whether to feel sad for someone who has to resort to some form of abuse when ever he types, or be happy that I don't have to deal with him in real life, just in cyber space.

Too answer his question I did and so did about 100 in my office.

[Stormproof]

how long have you worked for RM canttypeorspellandshoutsalot?

[DirtyHarry]

A few more nights at the adult literacy classes are in order. RM management material though.

Definitely - most of his posts have a put down in them somewhere and that does appear to be Royal Mail managerial approach to everything.

Just in this post if he had typed:

Which union officer writes this stuff....how many of the 98 percent of those voting actually voiced their opinion during the consultation exercise.. I'm going to guess not many .yet they are outraged at the outcome..

same question just not as confrontational or abusive, and if he thought about what he was typing he would get more respect and less abuse in return.

I am never really sure whether to feel sad for someone who has to resort to some form of abuse when ever he types, or be happy that I don't have to deal with him in real life, just in cyber space.

Too answer his question I did and so did about 100 in my office.

Same here, teebs.....Myself, and the vast majority of my office colleagues, had no problem agreeing to reject RM's pension proposals. Our friend, canthrowatantrumANDSHOUTS, has just got to be an office DIM.

[dvbuk55]

I would imagine an alternative PEC report would read something like:

Royal Mail are pis*ing up our backs constantly and we don't like it too much but hey we haven't got a clue what to do about it so we are going to get even more involved with the Labour Party - who are pi*sing up our front. No worries about the pension the changes only came in yesterday and we had the consultation and ballot and nobody likes it but let's not rush into anything - we had a year to think about it and the later retirement only starts in 2010. Now for summer efficiency - it's only a bit more work, we won't have to do it, so no problem - oh and covering for sick and absent friends well that will only be a bit more work as well as the summer efficiency - it's a breeze. We've not discussed D2Ds yet but be sure we'll let you know when the shafting begins and you get a bit more work. Phase 3 trials have to be completed pretty sharpish because RM want to be up and running ASAP it will only involve a bit more work. Monthly pay and annualised hours are something we need to get a grip of because we don't understand how it works but it will probably be just a bit more work. We had thought of starting the negotiations for 2009s pay rise but we haven't actually secured 2007s yet so as usual we'll just take whatever we're given. All in all a pretty successful year.

[baldrick]

Enquiry Offices

Royal Mail have started a project to look at enquiry offices in DO’s and the services they provide. This involved going to a number of offices, finding out what happens there and doing a survey of customers as to what they think of the service provided and what else they would like to see on offer. The aim is to standardise the services enquiry offices provide and to see if these need expanding. There’s only one problem with this laudable aim. That’s the attempts by management in the Manchester area and probably elsewhere to close the offices down at lunchtime. Seems to be a classic case of left and right hands. If anyone reading this has examples of this happening in their area as well, please let me know.


Pete Keenlyside
Postal Executive
2 April 2008

Does anyone have this guys email address?

It's pkeenlyside@cwu.org

[TrueBlueTerrier]

OK cantypeANDSHOUTS I will make it simple as you appear to have overlooked my earlier response.

If you want people to think and respond to your posts as you claim may I suggest you stop the abuse. Your points may be well thought out and add to the discussion if you stopped calling people muppets, skidmark etc.

Just look at FOzzies posts, he presents a different opinion on here usually although not exclusively pro Royal Mail, yet he gets lots of respect and nearly everyone seems willing to read his posts and even concede some of his points. I personally would prefer to have a lot more F0zzies on here, than have everyone slavishly following the Union. Yet you ruin your arguments by resorting to abuse

Of course, if as I suspect, you are here just to wind people up then keep on going and I will ignore your Troll postings. If you change I may even start discussing things with you rationally like we did in one thread.


Edit because we typed the posts at the same time.

So in your mind to call people names is acceptable because its your opinion. Perhaps you are not aware that fascist parties and tyrants such as the Nazis and Hitler used this tactic with Eastern Europeans and Russians and started calling them "untermenschen" in their propaganda.

[Stormproof]

How many years have you paid into the pension, canttypespellandshoutalot??

[TrueBlueTerrier]

well tbt you've hit my most favorite subject..HISTORY. at this moment i am reading STALIN the court of the red tzar by simon sebag montefiore and therefore well aware of the extremist parties of all European countries in the early 20th century usage of classifying certain groups for political purposes and would be more than happy to discuss this book further with you..myself of coarse i was not attacking a whole race ,creed or political party but the individual whom is not (probably )a member of this site and seems to be the actual one attempting the propoganda by further demoralizing everone who reads it..couldnt simply say the result he felt it necessary to blame royal mail,call them liers (if they are or not will be for my own mind to decide)for forging ahead with their plans..plans that further on in the artical are sadly lacking by anyone in the union.

Now that's what I prefer a reasoned argument with no abuse. Long may it continue. You have earned my respect and I hope others just for this one post even though I don't agree with your stance on the unions propaganda its nice and refreshing to see it presented without resort to name calling.