London Division- Vote Yes

[johnnyp]

Business
Transformation
2010 and Beyond
Dear Colleagues
From Friday 9th April ballot papers for the Business
transformation 2010 and beyond agreement will be
posted out to all CWU members. It is important that
everyone uses their vote but it is equally vital that any
uncertainties / rumours are cleared up before you make
your choice.
LAST YEARS DISPUTE
There is no doubt whatsoever that last year Royal Mail
made a calculated attempt to destroy the union in
particularly in London. Royal Mail at that stage was
saying that they did not need another national
agreement and that they were no longer going to pay
for change. Royal Mail then adopted a policy of
imposing revisions on a scale never seen before in this
business. They imposed in total 450 revisions
throughout the UK. However by far the biggest
imposition of change was in London in which we had 98
revisions imposed including the removal of 4 day
weeks.
The London Divisional Committee made up of all the
Branch’s endorsed a policy of industrial action. Your
support was incredible, not only in voting yes but in
taking strike action on at least 18 different occasions.
There is not a shadow of doubt that had London and a
few other areas not taken strike action when we did
then this union would have been destroyed and we
would not being talking about the merits or otherwise of
the new agreement today.
During the dispute you could see that both Mark Higson
Managing Director and Paul Tolhurst Head of Region
operations had an in built hatred of postal workers in
London and did not miss a media opportunity to
criticise or demonise London postal workers in the
hope that the rest of the country would not support a
yes vote in the national ballot.
Despite all Royal Mail attacks the membership stood
firm and eventually we forced Royal Mail into talks and
an interim agreement which provided the platform for
both a period of calm to allow for negotiations on this
national agreement and the resolution of the executive
action.
Unsurprisingly given the fact that the dispute last year
was probably the most bitter in a generation, progress
in resolving the executive action in London has been
slow. So slow in fact that there needed to be ACAS
involvement for progress in some offices,although we
still had not made any progress in the imposed Geo
route offices or on the 4 day week offices.
It has taken until late March to make some significant
progress on both the 4 day week offices and the geo
route revisions and a number of offices now have 4 day
week duties back and over 75 of the 98 offices now
have a resolution to the executive action.
We still have both the Docklands and Islington to
resolve but hopefully within the next few days we will
resolve them and the other remaining offices.
However there should be no doubt that without your
support and sacrifice this union would have been
destroyed. Each and every one of you deserves credit
for the fight you showed.
BACKGROUND TO THE AGREEMENT
This agreement has been negotiated against a
backdrop that is incomparable with any situation ever
faced by CWU negotiators. It is easy to pretend that
these factors do not exist but the reality of the
situation is that the future of our Industry sits on a
knife edge for a number of reasons.
Events outside of the negotiating environment have
included:
• The biggest Pensions deficit in Europe with the
projected gap set to top £10bn. Put simply if
Royal Mail was not owned by the Government
then it would have no viable future.
• A Worldwide recession – Members will see
friends and families losing jobs, taking pay cuts
and fighting for work. The recession has also
caused volume / revenue drops for postal
administrators across the globe.
• A possible change of Government – Members
have to consider the prospect that we could
soon be seeing a Tory Government and that a
three year signed deal will protect us against
their early attacks including a possible public
sector pay freeze.
• Competition – whether we like it or not, is eating
into the mails market and therefore attacking our
jobs and futures. Key changes in this agreement
like D2D will enable Royal Mail to fight back.
• Global Mail Volume Falls – Again it is hard for our
members – particularly in deliveries where RM
have pushed harder and harder for savings
recently – to see a loss of volume. Our Mail Centre
members however will see before their eyes the
changes due to DSA and a reduction in mail.
• Industrial Relations / TRUST – The whole agreement
hinges on improving relations at all levels. This will
be overseen by ACAS. Many members and even
CWU Officials will be thinking ‘here we go again or
we’ve heard this before’. The stark truth of the
situation now is that the company has
acknowledged that they cannot make the changes
needed to put the business on a sound footing
without the support of the trade union and its
members. These changes are not going to happen
overnight but the CWU are committed to eradicating
the bullying and intimidating approach to
management that we have seen over recent times.
When considering the operational changes contained
within the agreement they must be judged both on their
own merit but also alongside the issues above.
REWARD
When compared against pay awards that are currently
being agreed in the public or private sector the reward
package on offer for CWU member stands out. The fact
that the UKs right wing press have labelled the deal as
a ‘Government and business sell out to strikers’
should go some way to highlighting to members the
achievements that have been made.
On Pay the 6.9% over three years (over 7% when the
year on year impact of the rises is added) gives
members the security of a long term deal as well as
raising basic pay in line with CWU Conference policies.
CWU members will see the following differences in their
pay packets across the three year period ….
OPG DELIVERIES – INNER LONDON WEIGHTING
Currently – £436.03
April 2012 – £488.38 (including delivery supplement)
plus one hour off the working week (worth an
additional 2.5%)
OPG DELIVERIES – OUTER LONDON WEIGHTING
Currently £412.26
April 2012 – 462.94 (including delivery supplement)
plus one hour off the working week (worth an
additional 2.5 %)
OPG MAIL CENTRES & COLLECTION HUBS INNER
LONDON WEIGHTING
Currently – £436.O3
April 2012 – £466.76 (including Mail Centre
Collection Hub supplement) plus one hour off the
working week (worth an additional 2.5% in cash
value)
OPGS MAIL CENTRES & COLLECTION HUBS
OUTER LONDON WEIGHTING
Currently – £412.26
April 2012 – £441.32 (as above)
OPG RDCs OUTER LONDON WEIGHTING
Currently – £412.26
April 2012 – £452.86 (including RDC supplement)
plus one hour off the working week (worth an
additional 2.5% in cash value.
LGV PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS CLASS C –
NETWORK
Inner London
Currently – £521.79
April 2012 -£569.74
Outer London
Currently £497.93
April 2012 – £543.68
MGV PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS CLASS C – RM
LETTERS
Inner London weighting
Currently – £471.18
April 2012 – £514.48
Outer London weighting
Currently – £494.95
April 2012 – £540.43
Reward outside the basic pay / shorter working
week includes an increase in maternity and
paternity pay for all members in Royal Mail.
The agreement also see’s the complete reshaping of
the colleague share scheme and the majority of the
payments are now linked to operational change
rather than business performance.
Lump sums on offer as part of this deal total around
£2500.
VOTE YES X
MAIL CENTRES / RDCS / VOCS / MDEC
Prior to the dispute Royal Mail embarked on a
rationalisation program for Mail Centres / RDCs / VOCs /
MDECs with absolutely no involvement of the CWU.
Sites were being announced for closure without
negotiation or consultation and any CWU counter
proposals were simply disregarded by the business.
The Business transformation 2010 and beyond
document puts the CWU right back in the room.
Negotiation, Consultation and involvement will now
take place at all levels. The CWU will have access to all
relevant data, be given the chance to counter any
proposals and to shape the future network.
It is a fact that in 3-5 years there will be less sites in the
Royal Mail network but the rationalisation framework
will protect members in these functions and give the
CWU at all levels a voice in the decision making
process.
There will be some very difficult situations for CWU
members working in Mail Centres / RDCs / VOCs /
MDECs over the coming months and years. This
agreement gives all members the protection of a
national framework and brings to an end a series of
local initiatives that were being used by the
business.
DELIVERIES
A lot of the focus of this agreement has fallen onto
deliveries. This is for two reasons. 1 This is the
function that will face the most change in day-to-day
working practices and 2 The CWU have faced up to
and dealt with every single issue on deliveries.
• Agreed Work Standards
Royal Mail using and manipulating delivery revision and
standards tools was at the heart of the dispute.
Workshops will now be rolled out across the UK and all
members will work to a nationally verified standard.
This brings to an end local revision tools and will give
postal workers the confidence to challenge managers
based on real agreed facts and figures.
• Six Step Revision Process
The revision process that was being used by the
business prior to the dispute failed to give even a
mention to the local CWU representative. The new
agreed process will see your representative fully
involved and signing off every single step.
Representatives will have access to all relevant data –
traffic, work standards, mail streams etc. The objectives
of the revision will now be driven by the staff with a nonbinding
preference exercise being conducted to seek
the priorities of the membership prior to the revision
starting.
• Delivery Methods
New delivery methods such as Car Derived Vans
(with nationally agreed guidelines protecting CWU
members from local interpretation), HCTs and electric
HCTs will be rolled out across the UK. This will achieve
two major longstanding CWU Conference polices –
Taking weight off the shoulder and banning cars on
delivery. This will improve the safety of our members as
well as protect jobs.
• Attendance Patterns / Saturdays
The original position of the business was to maintain
standardised attendance patterns with all staff
working until 3pm on a Saturday. The negotiators
have now developed a menu of options for duty
sets that include 4 day weeks, 9 day fortnights and
M-F duties. As well as this the agreement contains
a commitment to a minimum of 1 in 4 Saturdays off. It
is our opinion that there is no reason why units should
not be looking to better this using the menu of
options and other new ideas. There is still a myth
circulating that everyone will be working until 3pm on a
Saturday. This is simply not true with the majority set to
finish by 2pm.
D2D / DELIVERY SUPPLEMENT
There is no point hiding from the fact that in the short
term there will be some financial losers from the D2D
payments ceasing. What is not debatable however is
that moving D2D into workload is the right decision
to make. We know that walk sequencing and the
changes in mail streams will result in a fall in workload
in delivery offices. The choice for the CWU was to
stand by and see walks made part time and jobs go
out of the industry or to put D2D into workload and
work with the company to grow this product. More
mail = More jobs.
In London due to the fact that that door to door has
been the subject of poor quality a lot of areas in London
are now struggling to receive one item per week. Royal
Mail wanted the union to turn off the product
completely in the areas which had the worse quality as
Royal Mail were having to pay compensation for the
failure to deliver the door to door product.
Last year the business turned away £30-40m worth
of D2D contracts due to the cap. No trade union can
continue to defend that position. How can anyone
OPERATIONAL CHANGES
justify turning work away against the current
economic backdrop? The whole culture of D2D must
now change. It will be treated the same as any other
item.
As well as now getting paid for D2Ds in time there will
also be a new delivery supplement for ALL delivery staff
of £20.60. Unlike D2Ds this will be paid 52 weeks per
year and will rise with every pay increase. The 20.60
is made up of all monies currently being paid out to
members on D2D (an achievement because the CWU
has managed to get Royal Mail to pay twice for the
same mail – time and money) and the Early Shift
allowance. The reason the Early Shift Allowance was
moved into the 20.60 was because that money is dying
out of the Industry every year. With each person that
leaves follows the money. The New supplement will be
paid to all new entrants and be a continuous cost to the
business.
There is some confusion around the supplement being
pro-rata. The reason for this is that it is a supplement
and not a D2D payment. Part-time members will be
paid for D2D items in exactly the same way as FT
members –in time. Also PT members will make up the
majority of the difference (and in some cases more)
with the hourly rate increase when the FT members
get a shorter working week.
Members will be worried that managers will force you to
absorb D2D or continue to do it in your own time. This
will be covered off in the six step revision plan (with
D2D being an agreed part of the traffic measurement)
and each office will have to agree interim measures to
deal with D2D prior to the first revision.
The decisions that have been taken on D2D were
not easy and it is recognised that some members
are not happy with the short term financial loss. We
ask that you look at the agreement as a whole and
back the Union’s decision to put job security ahead
of what is basically an unguaranteed overtime
payment.
SUMMARY
It is now the turn of the membership to have their say.
The Unions negotiators have reached a final position.
The PEC has overwhelmingly backed this
agreement as have the vast majority of branches.
We simply ask that you take the time to read through
the whole document (copy available from the branch)
and take into account all of the factors surrounding this
agreement. Ask yourself what other trade union has
secured a 3 year pay deal this year? What other trade
union has negotiated a shorter working week with no
loss of pay? What other trade union has secured a
commitment to no compulsory redundancies?
It is clear that if it was not for the strike action in
2009 then this Union and your voice would have
been destroyed. Whatever your thoughts on the
agreement, what is not in doubt is that Royal Mail
never wanted to be where we are today. Their vision
was one of continued change without agreement or
reward. We have moved them dramatically and that
is down to your action.
Thank you as always for your continued support.
Please use your vote and vote YES.
Your Branch Recommends
That You Vote
YES
Ballot Papers Dispatched
9th April, Closes 23rd April

[postghost]

yada yada yada

VOTE NO!!!

[johnnyrocker]

So why havenet we seen the Area Reps in our offices telling us what a good deal it is. London Split by any chance ???

[Steviea34]

So why havenet we seen the Area Reps in our offices telling us what a good deal it is. London Split by any chance ???

On permanent release - keeping their heads below the parapit

[POSTMAN]

My rep has had a branch meeting,if we at our place wanted the ADR to come and talk to us he would do it no probs.

[apple]

in London due to the fact that that door to door has
been the subject of poor quality a lot of areas in London
are now struggling to receive one item per week. Royal
Mail wanted the union to turn off the product
completely in the areas which had the worse quality as
Royal Mail were having to pay compensation for the
failure to deliver the door to door product.

can someone enlighten me about this extract then?
it's not a go at London per say as i guess other areas have the same poor quality, so under the new agreement these areas will have D2Ds then to bring them in line with the top 10% or will it be the case that the delivery supplement will be paid for them doing no D2Ds

[wakkono]

even when you take into consideration the whole deal its still crap when most guys on delivery are standing to lose £500 plus a year. I didnt lose several days pay to offered a deal that loses me money,makes me work later on the weekend and means i could go into work and find my round thrown out made to deliver it and back for 40 mins break and then have to do another 3/4 hours walk...ill be ok though cause there will be no weight on my shoulder!!!

CWU has pressed the self destruct button with this deal....how many other unions have agreed to a pay freeze??...loads ....how many has agreed to a pay cut?? the CWU,cheers guys

My extra d2d money will now be paid to other posties who wont even have to deliver 1 d2d! work that one out guys

VOTE NO !
perhaps then the CWU will actually consult with there members who pay them each week and find out what the real issues on the ground are

oh and yes the 7% over 3 years wont be paid cause of the clause in year 3...its not definate

[Big Daz]

in London due to the fact that that door to door has
been the subject of poor quality a lot of areas in London
are now struggling to receive one item per week. Royal
Mail wanted the union to turn off the product
completely in the areas which had the worse quality as
Royal Mail were having to pay compensation for the
failure to deliver the door to door product.

can someone enlighten me about this extract then?
it's not a go at London per say as i guess other areas have the same poor quality, so under the new agreement these areas will have D2Ds then to bring them in line with the top 10% or will it be the case that the delivery supplement will be paid for them doing no D2Ds

The supplement is not for DTD, the amount of DTD that comes in has zero impact on the supplement.

RML/CWU are committed to pushing up service quality , so in time places with low amounts of DTD will see them rise. RML need to show customers that they are a good choice for leaflet delivery, that is the first mountain to climb.

[Steviea34]

in London due to the fact that that door to door has
been the subject of poor quality a lot of areas in London
are now struggling to receive one item per week. Royal
Mail wanted the union to turn off the product
completely in the areas which had the worse quality as
Royal Mail were having to pay compensation for the
failure to deliver the door to door product.

can someone enlighten me about this extract then?
it's not a go at London per say as i guess other areas have the same poor quality, so under the new agreement these areas will have D2Ds then to bring them in line with the top 10% or will it be the case that the delivery supplement will be paid for them doing no D2Ds

The top ten percent will not include D2D measured as at present this is not measured workload, so when it becomes measured & D2D will need
to be done in London & elsewhere the performance gap will remain, the only thing to drive units towards the top 10% will be a reduction in
work hours

[DirtyHarry]

I had three lots of shyte this week.

[Glenno]

DH can u imagine what it would be like with 9 maybe in sleeve maybe not??????????????..and then
a day specific??

[Martin Walsh]

I had three lots of shyte this week.

You told us that first London members would reject the agreement and then your branch would reject the agreement . Both time you have been wrong . I will answer the other points when I have time !

[banner18]

Quite a strong article, some good points

[axeman]

he no doubt meant the members not wards go for's 'dingo'

[Martin Walsh]

he no doubt meant the members not wards go for's 'dingo'

Maybe axeman your someone who never fight against any thing ? Axeman in all your postings you have never suggusted your up for any fight . Surprise me what have you ever improved in your office with or without an axe ?