Royal Mail's Plan to Phase Out Cycles - CWU Position

[TrueBlueTerrier]

27 September 2010

ltb 825/10 - Royal Mail's Plan to Phase Out Cycles - CWU Position and Support - Efficiency, Safety & Environmental issues:

LTB 825/10 - Royal Mail's Plan to Phase Out Cycles - CWU Position and Support - Efficiency, Safety & Environmental issues:
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No. 825/10
Ref C2/10
Date: 27 September 2010

To: All Postal Branches

Dear Colleagues

Royal Mail's Plan to Phase Out Cycles - CWU Position and Support - Efficiency, Safety & Environmental issues:

Earlier this month the Cycle Touring Club launched a "Keep Posties Cycling" Campaign. On 8th September a low key demonstration of around 10 people turned up outside Royal Mail Group HQ and handed in a bag of protest letters.

The Campaign drew some media attention in the press with Radio 4 and Channel 4 giving some coverage. The
CTC Campaign was supported by Labour Peer Lord Berkeley, Labour MP Meg Hillier and Lib/Dem MP Dr Julian Huppert (all three being members of the all party Cycling Group). The media attention aimed 'uniformed' and unwarranted criticism at both Royal Mail and the Union which was strongly rebutted a CWU Press Release and in subsequent press, TV and Radio interviews.

It was not the Union's idea to phase out Cycles or scale down their use but we support the initiative for some good reasons and of course it is part of Royal Mail's modernisation programme linked to the Business Transformation 20120 and beyond national agreement with the CWU.

Our position has been explained to the CTC. See below for your information correspondence with the three above mentioned politicians which is self explanatory. The Union's Press Release is on the CWU Website.

Yours Sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

27 September 2010

Our Ref: C2/10/dj/lh

Dr Julian Huppert MP for Cambridge
Meg Hillier MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch
Lord Tony Berkeley of Cranford
Houses of Parliament
Westminster
London SW1


Dear Julian, Tony & Meg,

Royal Mail's Plan to Phase Out Cycles - CWU Position and Support - Efficiency, Safety & Environmental issues:

Thank you for replying Julian which is much appreciated. I have now heard from Tony Berkeley and my secretary has arranged a meeting of Thursday 7th October at Westminster, I do hope yourself and Meg can attend.

You say our position conflicts with the comments of the posties you've been talking to! Well Julian - just how many have you actually spoken to? as there are 70,000 of them out on delivery rounds of which only around 15,000 at very most have a cycle to use but not all do and of those, for every one you find that loves using the cycle there's another to be found that hates the cycle and many don't use their allocated cycle at all! A fact, like others you will be unaware of no doubt.

In respect of those not wanting to change delivery methods from a cycle to other equipment - 'You can please some of the people all of the time or all of the people some of the time' but not both! You can only speak to a handful of postmen and women Julian whereas we in the CWU however speak to all of our members via the ballot box and direct communications to their homes.

The Royal Mail cycles strategy is only part of an overall, complex Modernisation, pay terms and conditions package Agreement which both modernises the business, improves efficiency, protects and increases full time jobs and enhanced pay and conditions over the next three years for all our members. Our postmen and women members voted overwhelmingly for the deal and none of them would trade the benefits of that agreement, which they gave a big YES vote to, for keeping their cycle! Obviously, some members want their cake and eat it!

However, it's not the end of the delivery cycle yet. Some postmen and women will in fact retain the cycle it has to be said but the equipment used on a delivery round will be fully assessed and matched against the delivery round on the basis of how that delivery round is today and moving on into the future. This will be assessed on the basis of suitability of the delivery round for using a cycle, looking at efficiency, load capacity, bulk, weight, safety, new products, operations and mail streams etc. The allocation of the delivery equipment, whether it be a cycle, high capacity trolley, electric high capacity trolley, lightweight trolley or a cycle will not be allocated on the basis of tradition and what happened in the past as has been the case for some time. Cycles are one small part of a major modernisation programme in Royal Mail and it is making a number of changes in delivery methods as part of a £2 billion modernisation of its entire operation. It is certainly not a straightforward switch from cycles to vans for those postmen and women who currently use cycles. This has been wrongly generated and reported in the Media, wrongly portraying both Royal Mail and the CWU as anti-Cycle, anti-Health, anti-Green etc which could not be further from the truth.

You will not know that as part of the same Modernisation Agreement we will be ceasing the use of 30,000 private cars used on delivery, currently in use 6 days of the week, 52 weeks of the year. Other official vehicles will also be phased out. The CWU is also supporting Royal Mail's plans to reduce Carbon Emissions by 34% by 2015 with a 10% reduction this year which comes on top of year on year improvements to date.

So with more postmen and women walking, pushing and riding, Lord Berkley's allegation in the press that the new strategy of scaling down cycle use will damage the fitness and health of thousands of postal workers plus increase both carbon emissions and congestion is totally wrong and he should apologise to both Royal Mail and the CWU.

For the same reasons and with the greatest of respect to them the Cycle Touring Club (CTC) and their "Keep Posties Cycling" Campaign, launched earlier this month with your support is based on a false premise. They are a leisure cycling organisation with no knowledge of the industrial matters and background to this issue and there should be no inference from the CTC or any organisation that we are not looking after the best interests of our members.

Finally, over the past 15 years, 13 cycle delivery postmen and women have been killed at work and thousands more injured as the result of road traffic accidents. There were nearly 1,100 injuries sustained by postmen and women on Royal Mail cycles last year representing a 15 per cent increase on the year before. We are looking for positive health and safety benefits from the Business Transformation 2010, Modernisation agreement with those who remain on cycle deliveries better trained in defensive rider techniques and better protected by the new risk assessment methods we've also agreed with Royal Mail.

Yours Sincerely


Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer


===================================================================================================
-----Original Message-----
From: Julian Huppert [mailto:jlh29@hermes.cam.ac.uk]
Sent: 19 September 2010 10:19
To: Dave Joyce
Subject: Re: Royal Mail's Plan to Phase Out Cycles - CWU Position and Support - Efficiency, Safety & Environmental issues:


Dear Dave,

Thank you for your email. I'm sorry I missed you when you were in
Westminster. I'd be interested if you could send me an email outlining
your position, as it conflicts with the comments of the posties I've been
talking to!

Yours,

Julian

==========================================================================================

Our Ref: C2/10/dj/lh


Lord Berkeley House of Lords
Julian Huppert MP House of Commons
Meg Hillier MP House of Commons
All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group
London SW1A OPW.

Dear Lord Berkeley, Julia & Meg,

Royal Mail's Plan to Phase Out Cycles - CWU Position and Support - Efficiency, Safety & Environmental issues:

I note that you have been supporting the CTCs "Keep Posties Cycling" Campaign and were in support of the protest outside Royal Mail Group HQ on 8th September. The people and organisations lobbying Royal Mail to reverse the cycles removal policy have done so without considering the people concerned or the Trade Union that represents them. To date no one involved in criticising and campaigning against Royal Mail's new Delivery Strategy and Business Transformation and Modernisation Plans has bothered to seek the opinion of the CWU, being the Trade Union that represents the Postal Workers concerned. Cycles are one small part of a major modernisation programme in Royal Mail and it is making a number of changes in delivery methods as part of a £2 billion modernisation of its entire operation. It is certainly not a straightforward switch to vans for those postmen and women who currently use Cycles. The Cycle Touring Club (CTC) are misrepresenting the facts on this matter.

The CWU fully supports the changes being introduced by Royal Mail for improved efficiency, safety and environmental performance. The charges that the new strategy of scaling down cycle use will damage the fitness and health of thousands of postal workers in wrong! The charge that the new strategy will increase both carbon emissions and congestion is wrong! The strategy will deliver improvements in these areas plus, most importantly improve health and Safety.

I would like to meet you to explain in more detail and put our side of the case.

I will be in Westminster, in Port Cullis House on Wednesday this week for a 2.30pm meeting of the Dangerous Dogs Group and if any of you are available to meet at say 1pm or 1.30pm, that would be an ideal opportunity for me to speak to you. Failing that can we arrange a mutually convenient date to meet?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

[Straight4ward]

and we accuse politicians of "spin"!

Half-truths, selective choice of statistics. I hope the Cycle Touring Club haven't swallowed this bull.

[Straight4ward]

Oh, and another thing. Where does the figure of 30,000 PCOD come from?

[axeman]

''''''representation''''''' bit of an utruth there from Mr Joyce sliped up there better look at his own H&S policy

[harrybean]

in our office if you use cars you go down the conduct code,we have over 300 posties.

[POSTMAN]

There is something not right with this at all,are we now sucking up to Royal Mail?
Also if posties have been going down like nine pins on bikes over the years,where's the union campaign and LTB's on it as we have had nothing (from memory) on here about it,apart from the helmet thing.
Brothermagrew any ideas?

And are you telling me that most posties want to ditch their bike and the way they work ie at their own pace ect in favour of the CDV and god knows who you will be partnered with thing.

I lost some respect for Joyce last year with the magnum shoes malarkey (old stocks to still be worn while they are phased out for the new stock) and more has been lost with this pile of shite.

[brothermagrew]

Changing times brother POSTMAN and as you and I know whether its CWU or Royal Mail statistics will be used in any such matters.