CWU REPS BRIEFING PACK FOR DISPUTE

[lovejoy]

On the 5th August we wrote to all members explaining the reasons why the Union had no alternative other than to hold a National Ballot for industrial action.

For CWU Reps and members on our email contact list, we recognise you need more detailed information to respond to Royal Mail propaganda and assist in achieving a ‘yes’ vote.

This document explains in more depth the events that have led us to this position – what the dispute is about – what is happening in talks and the outcome the Union is seeking.

Over the next three weeks we are asking for your support by talking to our members in the workplace and holding meetings to explain the Union’s position. We know from research that face to face dialogue is the most effective way of communicating. This will be supported by further direct communications to members’ home addresses from CWU HQ.

In the meantime, we must focus our efforts and convince our members to vote ‘yes’ because the issues in this dispute are fundamental to their future.

The document provides information on the following:

- Why a Dispute? Why Now?
- The Pay and Modernisation Agreement in Perspective
- What’s Happening in Talks?
- Royal Mail Claim 10% Drop in Traffic
- When we vote ‘yes’ what outcome is the Union seeking?
- Pensions
- The Government’s Role


Billy Hayes Dave Ward
General Secretary Deputy General Secretary (P)

Martin Collins Ray Ellis
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Bob Gibson Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary

The CWU has long recognised that the combined challenges of competition, pensions and the need to adapt to a rapidly changing world of communications means our members are facing change on a scale that is greater than any other current UK industry.

Government privatisation dogma and the recession has made the situation even more complex.

Against this background the Union’s key objective has been to tackle these unprecedented challenges in a way that is in the long term interests of our members and the service we provide to the public and business communities – not just the company.

From the outset we have been consistent in stating that building a modern and successful Royal Mail is dependent upon political and industrial solutions to the crucial issues of modernisation, pensions and competition.

However, despite the explicit commitments Royal Mail made in 2007 – that they would introduce change by agreement – that 2007 was not the end of the negotiating or agreement process on modernisation – it has become increasingly obvious in offices across the whole of the UK that the company has reverted to the attitude of “we make the decisions, you do as you are told”.

Furthermore, whilst the Government’s decision to step back from privatisation was very welcome – their current position of walking away from pensions and competition is a total abrogation of their responsibilities. Royal Mail’s response to this has been to see it as the green light to press ahead with imposing change on their terms and their terms alone.

The notion that Royal Mail can force through the sheer scale of change they are planning without national agreements to shape the future and protect, safeguard and enhance our members’ terms and conditions is not right. It is deeply unfair that postal workers are being treated in this way.

Even worse, this unfair treatment is being handed out by the same management team who have been roundly criticised by both the Government and the Hooper Report. The Government and Hooper’s public criticisms of Royal Mail included the following:

- That Royal Mail failed to engage the Union and the workforce.

- That Royal Mail’s numbers, finances and performance figures are not transparent.

- That Royal Mail’s management team do not possess the skills or expertise required to successfully transform the company.

We agree with the Government’s verdict. It is important that you continually make these points to our members.

It is against this background that the Postal Executive enacted our conference decision, supported by all CWU branches, to hold a national industrial action ballot. Prior to taking this decision the Union has tried every conceivable angle to bring about a fairer approach from the company.

In January 2009, the Union wrote to the Chief Executive calling for an industrial relations summit, following the criticisms which were levelled at both of our organisations in the Hooper Report. We knew then that it was essential we had a completely fresh approach to industrial relations. We accepted that the Union also had to look at itself. The Union’s initiative to improve industrial relations was rejected by the company.

In recent weeks, the Union has made a series of genuine offers in an attempt to avoid both current strike action and a national dispute. Included in these offers was the opportunity for sensible local change, a three month moratorium on strike action and managerial executive action, creating the environment for intense national negotiations to jointly move forward, at pace, the transformation of the business. All of these offers have been rejected by the company and we have no alternative other than to proceed with a national ballot and achieve a ‘yes’ vote.

In the meantime, the Union remains committed to finding a way forward through negotiation and the remainder of this document will tell you exactly what is happening.

We know the 2007 Pay and Modernisation Agreement was not popular – albeit it was supported by a 2:1 majority – this is because it dealt with difficult change. However, we were always clear that the changes we had to deal with were never going away.

The agreement rewarded our members for change through enhanced basic pay, lump sums and local bonus opportunities whilst protecting earnings and allowances.
It gave area and local reps the right to jointly introduce flexibility on a fair basis, utilising the IR framework, allowing us to develop innovative attendance patterns whilst maintaining shorter Saturdays. The Union accepts that given Royal Mail’s abuse of the flexibility arrangements that this must now be reviewed.

Crucially, it provided the framework for further national negotiations and further national agreements on modernisation. These were intended to cover the future of Mail Centres, the Network and Delivery. A review of job security, further enhancements to terms and conditions whilst shaping what our members’ jobs would look like in a highly automated environment.

Whatever people’s views are, the fact remains had Royal Mail fully and fairly deployed the 2007 agreement, both in spirit and content, we would not be in the position we now find ourselves in.

What was not in the 2007 agreement – or any agreement with the Union – is Royal Mail’s totally unrealistic budget demands, which came forward at the same time as the company put off investment in proper modernisation and walked away from virtually all national agreements.

Contrary to what Royal Mail claim, every single office in the UK contributed savings as part of Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the agreement. Royal Mail HQ signed off every single office in the UK as having implemented the agreement via their own robust audit process. The company only began to state that some offices had not participated in the agreement when the Union reacted to management’s unrealistic budget demands and their refusal to negotiate Phase 4 of the deal. Currently there are over 400 offices that have requested local industrial action ballots. Virtually all of these offices are in this situation because they supported the Union’s policy of non-cooperation when Royal Mail broke our agreement.

It is also worth pointing out to our members that Royal Mail wrote to every single employee thanking them for their efforts in fully deploying the agreement which resulted in them outperforming all of their financial targets.

Another example of where Royal Mail were in breach of the national agreement is when it announced further Mail Centre closures in the North West even though it had committed to reaching national agreements with the Union on the future of Mail Centres. This still remains a crucial issue in our dispute.


Royal Mail claim there have been 50 meetings with the Union this year. This is irrelevant. The Union discusses many issues with Royal Mail – but there have not been 50 meetings or anything like it to resolve this dispute. The truth is it would not matter if there were 150 meetings – Royal Mail are only prepared to consult and not negotiate with the Union.

What they mean by consultation is “we make the decisions, we tell you what is going to happen and the fact that we met you means we can now proceed with implementing change at local level”. This is how Royal Mail conducts themselves at meetings. It is part of the strategy they have been pursuing in recent years to de-recognise the Union.

However, in recent weeks due to increasing industrial action the company has been forced to shift their position. As reported in LTB 716/09 they have now finally accepted that Phase 4 of the Pay and Modernisation agreement did explicitly commit the company to further national negotiations and further national agreements that will shape how we take forward modernisation.

Whilst this represents progress, we have been here before and everybody needs to see visible evidence that the company is serious about negotiation and reaching urgent national agreements. This is why we have made a fresh offer to the company for intense national negotiations to take place over the next four weeks.

In the meantime, the company are continuing to proceed with imposing change at local level and the Union must continue to do everything possible to achieve a ‘yes’ vote in our national industrial action ballot.


Royal Mail are trying to justify their actions by claiming that mail volumes have declined by 10%.

Given the rollercoaster ride of recent years where Royal Mail continually claim a succession of fantastic turn arounds followed immediately by the next crisis, it is difficult for anyone to believe what the company say. This time around is no different.

Back in May the company said it had just had its best operating performance for years. They wrote to employees saying that had out performed all of their financial targets and returned an overall profit of £321 million.

Less than two months later they now say the company’s fortunes have dropped off the edge of a cliff.
The convenient round figure of a 10% volume loss is the latest strap line for all managers to justify yet more attacks on our members’ jobs, pay and conditions. Yet, at no stage has the company provided the Union with any proper information that could be fairly validated. Remember this is the company who have been severely criticised by Government and Hooper for not being transparent over their numbers.

Remember that only a few weeks ago this is the same company that was reported in the press for fiddling performance figures in order to achieve managerial bonus payments. A number of very senior managers were suspended in the West of Scotland and this remains the case. Furthermore, we understand Postcomm investigations are spreading to other parts of the Northern territory. We believe we have not heard the last of this particular management scam.

So What is the Real Position with Volume Decline?

The Union accepts that there has been some volume decline, but it is difficult to quantify exactly how much and we believe it will vary from function to function and office to office.

It is likely that the recession has had a short term impact on volumes, but it is too early to say the extent to which this trend will continue.

The issue of volume decline must be put into context:

1. The introduction of competition has definitely had an impact on volumes in what is known as the upstream end of the market i.e. Mail Centres and Regional Distributions Centres. However, it appears Royal Mail take no account of the fact that all of the competitor’s mail still has to be delivered by our members.

2. Royal Mail has changed the items per kilo figure which is the key figure involved in reporting overall volumes of mail. This means, when they compare this year with last year they are not comparing like for like.

3. Even if 10% volume decline was accurate, to assess the impact this has on our members’ workload you must also take into account the decline in jobs. Royal Mail claim there has been over 40,000 job losses. A 10% volume loss set against a 30% loss in jobs means postal workers are now working harder than ever.

It really is important that our representatives take time to explain these issues to our members and raise them in front of management when Royal Mail hold their propaganda sessions.


Firstly, we will continue to do everything possible to secure an agreement without the need for further national strike action. This is why we have made an offer to the company to intensify negotiations over the next four weeks. Gaining the support of our members in a national ballot always strengthens the hand of our negotiators.

The dispute is about issues that are fundamental to the future of our members, the Union and the company. The dispute is about issues that affect every CWU member in whichever function they work in.

It is about whether you will have a decent job or whether the company turn Royal Mail into a part-time industry and eventually move to compulsory redundancies.

It is about whether or not we can reach an agreement on a fair process that deals with potential office closures and maximises the choices that are available for our members. This is particularly relevant to Mail Centres where the company are planning more and more closures over the next couple of years.

It is about whether you are fairly rewarded for change or whether management continue to attack our members’ terms and conditions.

It is about whether work rates are fair and measured in an objective way so that people can actually cope – or whether Royal Mail continue to impose their own version of work rates linked to increasingly unrealistic local budget demands.

It is about what type of job you will have when the company introduce new machinery. It is about reaching agreement for new mechanisms that make deployment of local change fair.

It is about whether or not the CWU – an independent Trade Union – continues to represent our members in the workplace.

To resolve this dispute it is vital the Union achieve national agreements on a range of crucial issues that will shape and take forward modernisation. This is what Royal Mail signed into in 2007 and we must make them honour those commitments. The national agreements we are seeking cover the following issues and will impact on every CWU member in whichever function they are working in:

1. A new job security agreement:

Our members are facing change on a scale that only comes along in one or two industries every 30 or 40 years. Therefore it is essential that we achieve a new job security agreement that reflects the scale of change we are all facing. The current MTSF agreement will not deal with these issues.

Furthermore, we need a job security agreement that ensures management do not turn Royal Mail into a part-time industry. Without the right agreement we know that at some stage the company will move to compulsory redundancies.

• We want an agreement that ensures there are no compulsory redundancies.
• We want an agreement that can sustain full time jobs with an agreed ratio on the mix between full time / part time employment.
• We want the ability of local offices to negotiate the resourcing mix particularly when vacancies occur.
• We want improved terms and procedures that can deal more effectively with Mail Centre / office closures. We want agreed criteria to ensure that any potential office closures are not just done at the whim of management.
• We want alternative job offers to be realistic, taking into account age and work experience and distance to alternative work places.
• We want easier access to VR through jointly agreed procedures that must be followed and offered at the end of revisions – not as Royal Mail currently do to determine how many jobs they can get rid of at the beginning – without paying any regard to the workload of those who remain.
• We want an agreed range of standardised contracts of employment moving away from Royal Mail’s current zero hour contract approach.
• We want to develop training packages for those volunteering to leave the business.

2. The Future of Deliveries, Mail Centres and Network:

We need a shared vision of what modernisation really means and a clear and joined up operational plan – not Royal Mail’s current piece-meal approach.

We want agreements that influence what jobs will look like, in all functions, in what we know will be a highly automated environment.

We want agreement on a new delivery model that should be heavily influenced by our own delivery blue print which puts our members’ jobs, workload and customer services at the forefront.

The future of Mail Centres must be resolved or Royal Mail will continue to close offices at their whim without taking any real account of the impact this has on our members’ lives.

We want an agreement on Network ’09 and we must build on our vision for the Network to grow and take advantage of new work opportunities.

3. Improved Employee Benefit Packages:

In recent national agreements Royal Mail has continually signed into commitments that in return for change our members will receive further enhancements to their terms and conditions. We must ensure that Royal Mail honour these commitments – the alternative is Royal Mail will drive down pay and conditions.

• We want a modern approach to pay and we will continue to prioritise basic pay as well as looking to maintain earnings levels.
• We want a 35 hour working week. This is necessary to protect full time jobs, cope with the physical demands of the job and ensure all of our members receive their share in benefits from new automation. We are willing to explore with the company how this can be done without adding to existing costs.
• A modern business requires modern and improved attendance patterns. We want you to have more quality time away from work. We must find an acceptable solution to on-going problems with Saturday attendances. We believe it is possible to reach agreement on attendance patterns that maintain a 6-day service but ensure there is a resourcing mix which allows our members to enjoy weekends off.
• We want local change to be incentivised so that you can share in the savings made.
• We want to introduce best UK practice for maternity / paternity leave and therefore enhance family friendly policies.
• We want to review remaining colleague share monies to ensure that these are not used as a substitute for the fundamental improvements to the terms and conditions that you deserve.


We know the issue of pensions remains hugely important to CWU members and that many people are still angry about the changes that were imposed in 2008.

The Union remains determined to secure a better deal for our members and also ensure that the burden of an ever-increasing pension deficit is removed from the company. However, we accept that a solution can only be found with the intervention of Government.

In September 2009 the Trustees are due to announce the results of the next valuation of the scheme. This is expected to show that the deficit has grown to a figure in excess of £10 billion. The Post Office Chairman has already stated in the press that without Government intervention the only answer to this problem is the total closure of the existing pension scheme and its replacement with a cheaper alternative. Similarly, we know the Government are waiting for the announcement on the next valuation to renew the threat of privatisation and further attacks on our members’ pension arrangements.

The reality is: If we don’t make this an issue then we can be sure both the Government and Royal Mail will. It is essential that our representatives convey to our members what is likely to take place in the next few weeks with the announcement of the next valuation. This will undoubtedly receive media coverage and will be used again to blackmail our members. This is why pensions will form part of this dispute. We want our representatives to prepare our members in advance for what is likely to take place in September.

The Union has already taken the initiative and has offered both the company and the Trustees the opportunity to hold a joint press conference with the Union where all parties join together in pressurising Government to intervene. Further information on pensions will be sent out in due course.


It is important that our representatives understand what has happened in discussions with Government in recent months.

When the Government announced that they intended to implement all of Hooper’s recommendations and proceed with part-privatisation of Royal Mail, the Union were invited to a meeting with Lord Mandelson. At that meeting Lord Mandelson told us that Government were prepared to negotiate and resolve pensions and regulation and also ensure that the company engaged in immediate negotiations on modernisation – but the price for this was that we had to accept privatisation.

We responded by making it clear that we could not accept any proposal that privatised the company and that we would campaign to ensure the Government maintained its manifesto commitment . We also said that we expected the Government to accept their responsibilities and intervene on pensions and regulations whilst ensuring the company engaged in meaningful negotiations.

During this meeting Lord Mandelson continued to press the Union to accept privatisation and told us that industrial relations would improve and be far easier if we were part of TNT – the Dutch postal company. He also made it clear that he had no confidence in the current senior management team and told us they would be replaced in due course. We continued to state our opposition to privatisation.

As our “Keep the Post Public” campaign kicked in and following further discussions with Ministers, it became clear there was a split in Government and that this would eventually lead to the Government stepping back from privatisation. However, what has taken place since is that the Government have abrogated all of their responsibilities by refusing to deal with the issues of pensions and competition, which it previously accepted had to be tackled if there is any chance of building a modern and successful Royal Mail.

We know the Government’s most recent actions and criticisms of the Union are related to the fact that we defeated them on their privatisation proposal. We recognise that many of our members feel badly let down by this Labour Government. Having created many of the problems that the industry now faces, it cannot be right that they now walk away.

In the next few weeks the Union will be building on the success of our “Keep the Post Public” campaign to ensure that the Government finally accept their responsibilities and resolve the issues of pensions and competition. As part of this we will be ensuring that a fresh debate on the future of Royal Mail takes place at this year’s Labour Party Conference. Further information on our on-going political campaign will be sent to representatives in due course.

[Wessex]

Thank God for the Union.
I'm glad that the cwu wont be fooled this time in suspending ia while meaningful,read meaningless,negotiations take place allowing rm to regroup and attack like 2 years ago.This time we will fight to the death :mfo