The Future Of Quadrant

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Letter to Branches




No. 234/2012
Ref: 311.02
Date: 4th April 2012


To All Postal Branches with Quadrant Members
To Quadrant Area Representatives
To Divisional Representatives




Dear Colleague

The Future Of Quadrant

Royal Mall has announced that it intends to commence a new round of ‘Use it or Lose it’ revisions in all Quadrant Restaurants in each Region/Division.

The Regional/Divisional reviews will be overseen by the Regional Logistics Directors and CWU Divisional Representatives.

Royal Mall had intended to run these revisions in line with the 2007 ‘Use it or Lose it’ agreement (copy attached for your ease of reference) but with different guidelines in respect of a revenue vs subsidy criteria, as opposed to the current agreed criteria based on improved usage.

Whilst talks continue at National level however in regard to any new criteria, Royal Mall have now confirmed that all current reviews will be conducted under the full spirit and intent of the 2007 agreement, but that they intend to commence the revisions with immediate effect.

The confirmation that the 2007 agreement will apply is extremely useful and I take this opportunity to remind everybody of the following objectives of the 2007 Agreement:

The specific aim of this review programme is to improve and sustain the long term provision of catering facilities for the employees of Royal Mail Group. This initiative does not form part of any efficiency or bonus scheme within Royal Mail Letters operations.

To put in place a range of opportunities to enhance the service provision that will help to serve the customers better and to help improve the cost effectiveness of the subsidy.

It is accepted that despite the efforts of all parties, there may be some cases where sales equating to subsidy is not achievable. Providing the canteen facilities are well utilised then closure will not be pursued.

There is no question that these continuous and aggressive reviews are creating great uncertainty for the job security of our Quadrant members as well as devaluing the terms and conditions for our postal members. There is no doubt in our opinion that catering provision is part of Royal Mail member’s terms and conditions and should be protected as such.

Everyone can help protect both our Quadrant members and this very important aspect of our member’s terms and conditions by using these facilities. No one should be under any illusion that if you do not use these catering facilities then they will be lost, along with the jobs of our Quadrant members.

Branch Secretaries, Local, Area and Divisional Representatives are encouraged to work together to ensure that this message is delivered verbally to all Royal Mail and Quadrant CWU members as well as with reminder prompts such as notice board posters etc emphasising ‘USE IT OR LOSE IT’.

When speaking to the Quadrant members and explaining the efforts of the Union to protect their jobs we should also ensure that their membership of the CWU is up to date, as this could be extremely important should we need them to ratify the Union’s position going forward.

Should it become evident that conflicting messages are being used and that some Regions/Divisions are seeking to use un-agreed criteria for these revisions then the matter should progressed immediately via the IR Framework.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Terry Pullinger, Assistant Secretary, e-mail: dwyatt@cwu.org quoting reference number:311.02.

Yours sincerely




Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary


Programme of Reviews of Catering Services

Royal Mail Group reaffirms its commitment to the provision of subsidised catering and vending services.

Some of the canteens which are operated by Quadrant on behalf of Royal Mail Group are not financially viable due to the large disparity between costs and sales. This can be due to low customer satisfaction and usage, a reduction in the numbers of Royal Mail Group employees based at the site, or a misalignment of canteen opening hours to Royal Mail Group employee break times due to changing operational requirements, or a combination of all these.

This document sets out the agreed procedure for conducting a programme of reviews to identify canteens that fall into this category and to put in place a range of opportunities to enhance the service provision that will help to serve the customers better and help improve the cost effectiveness of the subsidy.

Royal Mail Group would like to get to a situation where overall sales equal or exceed the overall subsidy which it pays to Quadrant for provision of canteen services. However it is accepted that, despite the efforts of all parties, there may be some cases where sales equating to subsidy is not achievable. Providing the catering facilities in these units are well utilised then closure will not be pursued. Royal Mail Group will continue to review these units in search for improvement opportunities.

The specific aim of this review programme is to improve and sustain the long term provision of catering facilities for the employees of Royal Mail Group. This initiative does not form part of any efficiency or bonus scheme within Royal Mail Letters operations.



The Programme :

will identify canteen services that do not have an acceptable level of sales income compared with the cost of provision to a degree that it is no longer feasible nor cost effective to continue provision on a sustainable basis

will encourage the increased use of the service

aims to identify and introduce alternative options and services to attract and increase customers

modifies services as appropriate with the aim of providing a sustainable cost effective service

develops those opportunities in consultation between Royal Mail Group, its local employees, their local union representatives and Quadrant in its role as the service provider


The Review Process:

Quadrant will provide sales figures on request by Royal Mail Group

Royal Mail Group will advise and provide the relevant figures to the local employees and their local union representatives

In cases where all parties recognise that the sales v subsidy ratio of the service can be improved by changing the canteen opening hours without significant detriment to customer service, changes should be implemented as soon as possible.

Royal Mail Group and its union representatives will document those changes and advise Quadrant of the intentions so that Quadrant can promptly communicate with its employees and union representatives

Other measures may be necessary to improve the viability of the canteen service. Royal Mail Group will invite local representatives from the CWU and the CMA to a meeting to explain the situation, and aim to identify reasons for low usage and opportunities to increase sales such as introducing trolley services, hampers and ‘grab and go’ products, where applicable

Royal Mail Group will prepare a brief for use at WTL&L sessions. Copies will be provided to local union representatives. It will include advice on setting up a local focus group to discuss potential improvement opportunities and carrying out a low/non user questionnaire if it is decided that this would be useful

Royal Mail Group will incorporate all opportunities in a written action plan that will state the minimum acceptable level of sales

These measures will be trialled and the duration of the trial should not exceed three months, unless there is a marked improvement shown in the last month, in which case, extension should be considered and agreed by all parties concerned. If the situation deteriorates after month one or month two the trial may be ceased.

Progress will be reviewed at least monthly, with the action plan being revised as appropriate. Weekly sales figures will be provided to assess progress.

At the end of the review process, the outcome will be jointly assessed. Royal Mail Group will then decide whether the service will:

continue in its current form
continue in its modified form
be withdrawn

Royal Mail Group will advise Quadrant of its decision. Royal Mail Group will then communicate the decision to the other parties involved.

If the service has been modified it will be reviewed after a period of 3 months to assess the success of the change and if any further action is required.

Royal Mail Group will involve Quadrant at all appropriate stages of the procedure. Any consequent changes to Quadrant’s workforce structure will be dealt with under separate procedures agreed between Quadrant and the CWU and the CMA.









Paul Jobling Terry Pullinger
AGM HCW Assistant Secretary
Royal Mail Group CWU

Date Date





Joint Statement between Parcelforce Worldwide and the CWU Regarding Stage 2 of the 2011 Past and Continuing Reward Agreement


The 2011 Past and Continuing Reward Agreement carried the following statement:

‘The target for an unconsolidated lump sum per person, pro-rata to less than full time staff, is £400 that could be achieved at incremental stages but both parties recognise that this is dependent upon the additional initiatives identified being able to deliver savings/benefits, which would be shared, to support this payment’.

Parcelforce Worldwide and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are pleased to confirm that following continuing discussions under Stage 2 of the agreement regarding the progression of the initiatives agreed in October, that £200 of the lump sum element will be paid in February 2012 pay. We agree that as sufficient progress has been made overall and coupled with the outstanding performance achieved over the peak period, it is agreed to release the part payment of the non consolidated lump sum.

The principle of the lump sum element of the pay deal was to share in benefits when the savings had materialised. Both parties have reviewed the progress that has been made against each of those initiatives and we are continuing with important discussions both finalising current and also scoping further initiatives on the Progressive Agenda. As a consequence we are also pleased to announce that we have agreed sufficient progress on further initiatives to enable us to confirm that the balance of the outstanding lump sum payment, i.e. £200, will be paid in March 2012 pay, thus completing the outstanding £400 from this year’s pay deal.

Both parties are committed to a period of intensive activity to ensure that the full benefits of these initiatives are delivered in a timely manner.





Terry Pullinger Peter Fuller
Assistant Secretary Operations Director
CWU Parcelforce Worldwide

[DirtyHarry]

Righty-ho, the CWU is on the case, eh?

Bye, bye, Quadrant.

[DGP1]

With the prices they charge it can only be a good thing, if it was subsidised then maybe more people would use it but if it's cheaper (and lets face it - better quality) to go elsewhere then we will............as for the majority of DOs without canteens, not something we ever had and therefore never miss, 3 vending machines is what we have and then the prices are near that of the local garage and well above the local Tescos and Sainsburys.

[celerycelery]

Later starts have screwed the canteen big time. Nothing used to be open when we were ready to have a meal break so everyone used the canteen. Unfortunately now when your break is 8.30 to 9am ish every bakers/shop in town is open and have better deals than the canteen does.

[demon]

later starts have not screwed the cannteen the s**t food and high prices have need to get someone in who can do the food at a much better price ouroffice 1 egg 1 bacon and a bun with butter 2.00 cafe round corner 2 eggs 3 bacon and a sausage 1.90 full english 3.80 with tea say no more