Clarification please: phase 2

[BELIAL]

Thought the £400 was dependent on agreement to phase 2. Just what does phase 2 encompass, cos we are being told no money till we agree to longs + shorts, summer lapsing, and as yet unspecified reduction in office hours. Thought summer lapsing was phase three and can't find any mention of the £400 being triggered by saving hours?

[k979aaa]

Thought the £400 was dependent on agreement to phase 2. Just what does phase 2 encompass, cos we are being told no money till we agree to longs + shorts, summer lapsing, and as yet unspecified reduction in office hours. Thought summer lapsing was phase three and can't find any mention of the £400 being triggered by saving hours?

Yep that's the deal sh*t deal sh*t life when it come's in and it will has in our office. Working us all to death in our place 3 left in the last month and more to come and we have not got the summer lapsing in yet!.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Phase 2 - Enabling local flexibility
In order to become a competitive and responsive business, while upholding high standards of employment, Royal Mail needs to be able to use its resources effectively, efficiently and to adapt at pace. All offices will jointly draw up an agreed plan to be implemented by the end of January 2008 to enable local flexibility.

Objectives
The plan will meet the following agreed objectives:

• To provide the best possible customer service.
• To continue to offer reasonable local earnings levels.
• To improve efficiency and company profitability.
• To create a more flexible working environment where the aspirations of employees and the company can be more easily met.
• To improve the local relationship between Royal Mail and CWU.
• To actively encourage the participation of employees in supporting change.
• Effective workload alignment
• To reduce the use of agency and casual staff.

The two key strands in this modernisation package are:

• New technology – As the new £1.2 billion investment equipment is rolled out; Royal Mail is committed to providing a comprehensive training programme to ensure a safe and effective operation and improve the working environment which will provide opportunities for new ways of working. In conjunction with this, CWU and employees will be fully involved in trial activities. There will need to be a generic deployment framework agreed by Royal Mail and CWU by the end of January 2008 to deal with the trialling and implementation of all new technology and automation.

• New ways of working – Employees will be treated fairly, with respect, and will be expected to be flexible. The opportunity to perform more flexible attendance patterns will be introduced to improve alignment to workload, increase efficiency and provide a better work-life balance for employees.

Enablers
The following enablers have been agreed nationally and will be deployed in each unit, to meet the above objectives. Discussion and agreement between Royal Mail and CWU representatives will take place to ensure safe, fair and sensible implementation of these taking into account local circumstances and the application where relevant of the MTSF agreement. This will be achieved in line with our agreed IR procedures, weekly resourcing meetings and the fresh approach described in the introduction to this agreement. There will be provision for review of the agreed local plans on a regular basis.

It is all about managers, reps and employees working together sensibly with a bit of give and take, applying equally to all. This is not about employees not knowing what job they are on, or when they start and finish from one day to the next. Nor is it about anyone refusing reasonable requests. Account should of course always be taken of individual circumstances.

• Longs and shorts – a structural change where the normal work pattern may be rebalanced across the week to reflect the traffic profile. For example individuals could be scheduled to work 7 hours on a Tuesday and 9 hours on a Friday. Total weekly contractual hours would not change.

• Variation of hours – Where necessary, for example when traffic volumes are unexpectedly high or resourcing issues arise, individuals may be asked and may themselves request to vary their duty times by up to 30 minutes on a swings and roundabouts basis. Again, individual circumstances will be taken into account and total weekly contractual hours would not change.

• Use of new technology – full cooperation and support for trials and subsequent deployment of new technology will take place, for example: iLSMs, walk sequencing, RDC automation, D2D automation, telemetry in area fleets, handhelds, collection handshake and materials handling. There will also be early deployment of flats automation, semi automated packet sorting and delivery method improvements.

• Efficient Summer staffing – each unit will utilise the opportunity offered by reduced traffic volumes to re-arrange responsibilities during the summer period. This will offer employees additional opportunities for leave during the same period.

• Working in nearby offices – Areas will identify and agree with the CWU locally a approach (which could include the use of volunteers and reserves) to working in nearby offices within employees’ contracted hours which will include travel times and appropriate travel and subsistence arrangements.

• Innovative Duty Structures: Units will take the opportunity to review existing duty structures and identify innovative approaches to meet the above objectives.

• Doing other work within your office: On occasions staff may be asked to undertake other work outside their normal duties. Employees would be appropriately trained, properly equipped and safe ways of working will always be in place.

.4 To support modernisation phase one and two:

• 50:50 productivity scheme as set out in the appendix of this offer
• £400 of the potential ColleagueShares dividend payment will be made in April 2008 to offices which have completed their deployment of the agreed unit plan in Phase 2 of the modernisation process.
• The remaining potential dividend payment from ColleagueShares scheme over this year and next, split as follows:
o £400 for achievement of Group profit in 2007/08
o £200 for achievement of the local target for 2008/09.
o £200 for achievement of Group profit in 2008/09

[BELIAL]

Thanks for that

Still can't see where it states each unit must cut x% of hours before they qualify for the £400 , would seem to conflict with "total weekly contractual hours would not change"

[Big Daz]

We have had 20 hours PUT IN and we have met the criteria for the £400.