PEC REPORT - UPDATE

[robd]

Reaching an agreement by 22nd January is still the target by all those involved.

However the talks have been hampered by the fact that two of Royal Mail"s lead negotiators who were frontng up the delivery talks and in charge of the processing talks were taken into hopstial last week, which meant that Steve Cameron Royal Mail"s other lead operations director was having to lead up two strands of the talks which slowed things down somewhat.

what you mean is steve cameron is actually holding the talks back,as northern territories director,he is used to getting what he wants,and in my experience completely ignores existing agreements.

[2old4this]

From what i've read so far the union is going to have an uphill struggle on their hand's trying to sell this. I really think more then ever now we returned to work far to early when we were striking, we should of held out longer I feel we would of had a good chance of a better deal then this one sound's.
In our office we were told stop using your car's and YOU WILL get duties put back in. Now they're talking of job losses, part-timer's, 2 to a van, and maybe longer delivery span's. I personaly feel as if we're going backward's not forward's with thing's like longer walk's and later Saturday's.

[Big Daz]

My D.O as from Tuesday morning will be getting walk sequenced mail for 4 weeks then back to walksorted untill summer/autumn 2011.

The MC are using a iLSM

[dvbuk55]

My D.O as from Tuesday morning will be getting walk sequenced mail for 4 weeks then back to walksorted untill summer/autumn 2011.

The MC are using a iLSM

That's a fairly certain prediction considering we haven't seen what the agreement has to offer, nor the supposed roll out of change or a timetable for it, so what do you base your prediction on.

[Big Daz]

Freedom of information request which said October 2011.

[The truth!]

Yes your right about Steve Cameron but remember he has a brief from above. Albeit he is an hardliner.

Royal Mail know after last years long runnning disputes that they have to deal with the union. Whilst they may be able to impose revisions they cant impose the scale of change they want to introduce without major unrest.

Of course they have a plan which should not give anyone any surprises ie less jobs , less mail centres , less RDCs, less cost and more productivity. There whole plan is worked around the introduction of the new plan , which means appoxmately 40% of mail will not go into your delivery office until it has been walk sequence from 0600. The other work will be available in your office from 0600 which will be seqenced. So in theory you should only have machine rejects, packets and flats to IPS. In Mail centres capicity will be created by only having one outward pass thereby removing any breakdown to either neighbours or distant. Whilst there will be more work to be done on the inward this allows for mail centre closures with some just turning into inward mail centres only.

Now if there is an agreement it will be a 3 year deal so not everyone will get walk sequencing , delivery methods , door to door into workload and the delivery revision at the same time. Some may get everything at once others one or two of the above at the same time.

[fishtank]

the truth! wrote
"Now if there is an agreement it will be a 3 year deal so not everyone will get walk sequencing , delivery methods , door to door into workload and the delivery revision at the same time. Some may get everything at once others one or two of the above at the same time."

This is very worrying.
I understand that walk sequencing cannot be rolled out simultanously but surely delivery methods,door to door into workload and the delivery revision must be.
Or are you telling us the "rewards package" for implementing these changes will also be subject to the same staggered effect.

[dvbuk55]

the truth! wrote
"Now if there is an agreement it will be a 3 year deal so not everyone will get walk sequencing , delivery methods , door to door into workload and the delivery revision at the same time. Some may get everything at once others one or two of the above at the same time."

This is very worrying.
I understand that walk sequencing cannot be rolled out simultanously but surely delivery methods,door to door into workload and the delivery revision must be.
Or are you telling us the "rewards package" for implementing these changes will also be subject to the same staggered effect.

The composure of the truths post are very familiar. As for the "rewards package" being difficult to implement - it will be like the last time, some of us had to accept everything for the reward and others were given the reward without the package being implemented. Now I just wonder who will have the whole five yards at once and who will be doing it piecemeal over the three years and what terms have been offered to get acceptance of, an as yet, undisclosed agreement.

Unless there is a real deal for ALL then it's a no from me.

[dvbuk55]

Freedom of information request which said October 2011.

But the information isn't yet available because the agreement is still under discussion, the roll out is under discussion and any promises made now must be subject to the agreement. There has been a post which suggests that some will be rolled out sooner than others and some rolled out piecemeal - BUT who is to know, at this stage, which area and when?

[Big Daz]

dvbuk

I can only tell you what RM have told me via a FOI request, however my area has always been scheduled by RM to be amongst the last to get sequenced mail.

Apparently Mr W's former DO is first in line.

It seems RM have a schedule already worked out which I presume was revealed to the CWU during talks.

I belive the machines are on order and the contracts signed so CWU gettinga say on where the machines are sited is not a goer.

For example two more iLSM'S are due in at peterborough to replace LSM'S and iLSM'S are capable in theroy of doing sequenced mail, we will see at my DO over the next 4 weeks if they are to the job.

[Big Daz]

I am writing in response to your request for information which was submitted online on 18th September 2009, in which you requested under the Freedom of Information Act, a response to a number of questions.




I will address each of your requests below, in the order that they appeared in your request:




“Please could you tell me when the mail for XXX will arrive sequenced for the 4 main delivery offices and what time of day it is likely to arrive at the delivery offices.”




“Will the 6am start time for your delivery staff change and if so will it be later or earlier.”




“Do you envisage a reduction in the number of OPG's and mangers working for Royal Mail in the xxx cluster?”




“What time period in the day do you envisage deliveries in urban and rural areas being made.”


The machines to sequence the mail for XXX Delivery Office are currently scheduled for installation in late October 2011 so this is when the unit will receive walk sequenced mail. Given that XXX is not scheduled to receive walk sequenced mail for another two years detailed deployment planning has yet to commence. Consequently we are unable to answer your detailed questions about potential impact on mail arrival times, number of employees, employee start times or effect on customer delivery times. When detailed planning for XXX and nearby offices commences we will of course be advising all affected parties of any changes before we proceed with implementation.




“What % of mail will be sequenced? Is this all types of mail [or?] all just letter size (smaller than A4)?”




“What are your plans for A4 mail - will this be sequence and/or walksorted?”


Our ambition is to sequence at least 75% of all letter mail up to and including C5 size. The precise target for the percentage of mail sequenced for Huntingdon and neighbouring units will be determined as a part of the detailed deployment planning that will take place nearer to the time of machine installation. With reference to A4 automation our plan is to automate the outward sortation process in Mail Centres and only where spare capacity exists then this may be used to provide some level of inward walk sorting to delivery units. We have no plans at this point in time to walk sequence A4 mail.




“If a OPG spends a hour sorting unsequenced mail into their delivery frame how much time do you envisage this reducing to once mail is sequenced?”


Our ambition is to sequence at least 75% of all letter mail up to and including C5 size. The precise target for the percentage of mail sequenced for XXX and neighbouring units will be determined as a part of the detailed deployment planning that will take place nearer to the time of machine installation.




The actual amount of time reduction following the introduction of walk sequencing will vary by delivery unit according to a number of factors at the time of introduction. These will include the amount of mail that is sorted to walk level by automation at the time of switch over to walk sequencing, the work rate of those involved in the preparation task, the mix of mail (i.e. proportion of letters, flats and packets) and the amount of other work such as processing redirections. As a result of these factors it is not possible to give you a precise figure on how much time will be saved upon the introduction of walk sequencing as this will vary by unit and indeed delivery routes within a unit.




“Will any savings arising from automation be invested into improving the terms and conditions of employment for OPG's and managers, especially the CWU desire for a shorter working week.”




Walk sequencing forms part of a suite of efficiency improvement programmes aimed at transforming Royal Mail into a profitable and successful enterprise capable of meeting the commercial challenges in an increasingly competitive market place. We already have an agreement with the CWU in respect of the implementation of new technology, including walk sequencing, as a part of the 2007 Pay and Modernisation agreement. We would expect any future changes to employees' terms and conditions to continue to be subject to negotiation with the CWU.


It is worth noting that the rate of decline of mail volumes is accelerating and we are currently seeing mail volumes falling at around 10% a year. Every 1% loss of volume is equivalent to a loss of revenue of around £70 million annually.




I hope this information meets your requirements. However, if for any reason you are not satisfied with this response, you do have the right to request a review. If you wish to do so please set out in writing your grounds of appeal and send to the Head of Information Compliance, Royal Mail Group, Company Secretary's Office, 100 Victoria Embankment, LONDON, EC4Y 0HQ. An internal panel will then review the decision, and you will be advised of the outcome.




If you decide to appeal and are still not satisfied with our response you also have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:


Information Commissioner's Office


Wycliffe House


Water Lane


Wilmslow


Cheshire


SK9 5AF

[Cut Off King]

Almost every member in my office ( both the ardent cwu supporters and the disinterested union members ) could see that we called off the strikes too soon, Executive action is still in place, rounds are still unachievable and we have a big fat nothing to show for striking!

I have always supported the union through thick and thin, helping to gather support from the waverers in the office , defending the union from all angles to keep both support & moral up.

But I feel personaly let down by the CWU leadership ( not the rank & file members ) who were SLOW to react to RMs attacks, and even when they did respond, responded too weakly. They still don't get what the membership want even at this late stage! Yes your right we can't have everything that we want. But they should NOT be helping RM to shaft the members with a SH*T deal.

CLEAR LINES IN THE SAND should have been drawn BEFORE any talks were agreed to ( remember the strikes were hurting RM much more than they were hurting the varst majority of the members ) RM could only play hardball for a limited time before they would have to negotiate. By giving in too soon , the CWU gave RM the upper hand in negotiations again, letting them dictate the pace of the talks....(deadlines slipping).

Yet again we are going to be forced to accept a crap agreement.

Every post about the details of talks / agreement seems to be prepairing us for a poor deal.

I hope that I am wrong, but I don't think so

[dvbuk55]

dvbuk

I can only tell you what RM have told me via a FOI request, however my area has always been scheduled by RM to be amongst the last to get sequenced mail.

Apparently Mr W's former DO is first in line.

It seems RM have a schedule already worked out which I presume was revealed to the CWU during talks.

I belive the machines are on order and the contracts signed so CWU gettinga say on where the machines are sited is not a goer.

For example two more iLSM'S are due in at peterborough to replace LSM'S and iLSM'S are capable in theroy of doing sequenced mail, we will see at my DO over the next 4 weeks if they are to the job.

The FOI seems like a really good weapon - lets just ask them, under the FOI, what has been agreed in the discussion, how many D2Ds, how long the delivery span, how many part timers, how many jobs to go, how much they are prepared to pay for how many hours a week and bobs your uncle all our questions answered without the need for discretion.

[The truth!]

There are a number of reasons why things will be staggered.

The CWU have now got the new program of when walk sequencing will be deployed in all areas.

The CWU are awaiting on the office by office program for delivery methods ie car derived vans.

So for some offices they will not have later Saturday finishes until walk sequencing is installed.

The issue of door to door needs planning as they have to relaunch the product and from Royal Mail"s point of view simply paying a supplement without growing the ammount of items would be a cost risk for them as if its now into workload it effects your prep and over the ground time when planning revisons.

Now in terms of the benefits being staggered , no benefits have yet been agreed. But will they be linked to units achievements well possibly as this is the union has achieved this in the past.

But this detail is still being worked up.

[SpacePhoenix]

For example two more iLSM'S are due in at peterborough to replace LSM'S and iLSM'S are capable in theroy of doing sequenced mail, we will see at my DO over the next 4 weeks if they are to the job.

Walk sequencing can be done on LSMs. Possibly the LSMs displaced by the iLSMs might be installed into larger DOs to do walk sequencing.