LTB 223/25 – NATIONAL BRIEFING – UPDATE ON NEGOTIATIONS WITH ROYAL MAIL GROUP/EP GROUP

[POSTMAN]

https://www.cwu.org/ltb/ltb-223-25-nati ... -ep-group/

LTB 223/25 – NATIONAL BRIEFING – UPDATE ON NEGOTIATIONS WITH ROYAL MAIL GROUP/EP GROUP
No. 223/25

15th October 2025

TO ALL POSTAL BRANCHES

Dear Colleagues

NATIONAL BRIEFING – UPDATE ON NEGOTIATIONS WITH ROYAL MAIL GROUP/EP GROUP

An online National Briefing will be held on Monday 20th October from 11:00-13:00.

It is crucial we deliver a full and comprehensive update on:

• New Entrants’ Terms and Conditions

• CWU / EP Agreement

• USO

• Quality of Service / OFCOM fine

• Compensation for CWU members and representatives targeted during and after 2022 dispute

• Membership engagement plan

We ask all senior representatives to treat this as a priority engagement and stand down all other planned work.

Following the national briefing we will be embarking on an extensive membership engagement exercise which will include workplace meetings, written updates, and a live broadcast.

The link for the national briefing will be shared privately with Branches before the end of the week.

Yours sincerely



Martin Walsh / Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (Postal) / General Secretary

[Valentina@1]

Looks like sh***s hit the fan

[goldy2007]

I think most posties just want the truth and are able to make decisions on the their own and future of the RM and the job it will become

Nothing worse than being gas lighted or strung along

If the union hasn’t got any influence or can do no more then say so

[oypostie]

It is crucial we deliver a full and comprehensive update

Yes it is but i bet you won't

[Playmail]

Any news

[hans solo]

You just knew f**k all would happen

[worktotime]

same s**t different day and its 3 - 4 month since the last update where we got told nothing so i wouldnt hold your breath , they will probably drag it out till thursday and do a live facebook thing to tell us how hard talks have been and how grateful we all should be to them for them begging for some scraps from a piss poor agreement they sold to members , and this part 2 of there agreement should have been sorted by the 2nd September so they cant even stick to that , but my main concern is that when the company got fined the company put a statement out saying that the trials are working and improved the service ? and it would be rolled out nationally in the new year so i think they need to tell us what the f**k is going on .

[Neverwasadoor]

There’s an update (sort of) on the CWU Facebook page.
Posted about 35 minutes ago.

[ted_e_bear]

There’s an update (sort of) on the CWU Facebook page.
Posted about 35 minutes ago.

Yeah this is it

UPDATE FOR ROYAL MAIL GROUP MEMBERS

CWU members will be aware of a communication issued yesterday by Royal Mail confirming they will no longer be seeking any further deployment of USO reform until 2026. This is a position the union communicated many weeks ago and it has now been confirmed openly by the business. This is welcomed. Our priority now will be fixing the issues in the USO pilot units. We want to make it clear to members that we will not be reaching an agreement on Royal Mail’s ODM model. It has failed.

At the same time, they point to these USO negotiations and their complexity as one reason for the delay in the implementation of resolutions for all outstanding issues from section 5 of the EP Group / CWU agreement - which of course includes the first step in equalising new entrants’ terms and conditions. We do not accept this position.

We are also extremely concerned at the continued degrading of quality of service across the UK which culminated last week in a record £21m fine from OFCOM. Every CWU member will know the reality is even worse than this with mail failures being in many cases underreported. This lack of honesty and integrity from Royal Mail continues to be a major concern for everybody who cares about the future of the business.

The CWU will continue to make the case in negotiations for the full implementation of the EP Group / CWU agreement at the earliest opportunity with any overdue issues like the new entrants’ terms and conditions being backdated as appropriate.

We will also be directly engaging the government now on the lack of progress since the EP Group takeover, the need for a complete overhaul in the way OFCOM regulate the postal industry and how we level the playing field and tackle unfair competition.

Our Postal Executive have agreed an extensive engagement plan with our members and all these issues, and we have today shared this with our branches.

In the coming days and weeks, we will directly engage with local representatives and members to ensure you are a key part of how we challenge Royal Mail, truly re-set employee and industrial relations and rebuild quality of service in our workplaces.

Our final message today is to thousands of new entrants across the country - the best way of delivering equalisation is by you joining the CWU. The company have already shown that if they believe they can avoid improving your terms and conditions they will. We will hold them to the words we have secured, and we will deliver fairness - every new entrant that joins strengthens our hand.

The CWU

[Playmail]

This is gonna go on for months now it'll be April when it all kicks in to gears

[Valentina@1]

So basically,there is no update

CWU will do what they’re told anyway

[Smoothbackground]

Looks like the CWU are belatedly realising they have been well and truly played like a fiddle yet again — the strongly-worded statement gives that away. Do they really think there will ever be industrial action again?!?!

[toonshola]

Well it’s taken the CWU a while but I think they may finally be realising that the foreign Billionaire wants to make money. He doesn’t care about quality of service, he doesn’t care about staff well-being, he doesn’t care about equalising new entrants into better terms, he doesn’t care about dodgy Dave’s crazy schemes of expanding the role of postal workers and us all becoming carers for the elderly and vulnerable on our rounds. He wants maximum number of parcels coming through the network for as little cost as possible.
The amazing CWU-EP group agreement that the union keep heralding as our saviour isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. It’s not legally enforceable, it’s just a hopeful
Wish list that was never going to happen.
Pretty clear what’s gunna happen after Xmas, Royal Mail will start implementing their uso plan by executive action and we will be stuck with the union trying to rally us into more strike action. All downhill from here.

[Mr Rush]

Our priority now will be fixing the issues in the USO pilot units. [The] ODM model [...] has failed.

So if you're in a pilot office you're stuck with it through Christmas? If I may borrow some words from Dick Nixon...

Fate has ordained that the men and women who participated in the ODM pilots will stay on the ODM to rest in peace. These brave men and women know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice. They are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for the limits to workloads.

[GaryLawler]

Looks like the CWU are belatedly realising they have been well and truly played like a fiddle yet again — the strongly-worded statement gives that away. Do they really think there will ever be industrial action again?!?!

If I'm right in thinking, you're not in CWU, But would you be willing to strike?