LTB 815/13 National Agreement Reached

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POSTMAN EDIT:PLEASE USE THE CWU LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE AGREEMENT...
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LTB 815/13 National Agreement Reached



No: 815/13
Ref: 21003
Date: 9th December 2013

To: ALL POSTAL BRANCHES


Dear Colleague
National Agreement Reached
The Postal Executive has unanimously agreed a proposed landmark Agreement with the Royal Mail Group entitled Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Term Success.
The proposed agreement breaks new ground in the UK by incorporating extensive legally binding protections for employees, alongside a legally enforceable commitment by both parties to exhaust new Industrial Relations procedures before either party resort to unilateral action.
The proposed agreement includes an improved 3 year pay and reward package for all Royal Mail Group employees (including Parcelforce and all other business functions) which is worth 9.06% based on the cumulative year on year effect. The pay increases flow through to all allowances, overtime and S/A rates in the normal manner and the 1st year increase of 3% will be backdated to the 1st April 2013.
Additionally, the parties have agreed that all Royal Mail Group employees will be paid a £200 lump sum before Christmas. This is a separate payment, in addition to the current Christmas bonus, and is not dependant on the overall agreement being endorsed. It will be paid to all current employees in post on 1st October 2013 in recognition of the contribution already made to business performance during the year.
In addition to the aforementioned the proposed agreement sets out an agreed strategy for growth, identifies the components of our growth agenda and the actions required to deliver it, this includes:
· The strategy to grow parcels, retain letters and sustain and grow the U.S.O
· New approaches to improved efficiency underpinned by the introduction of new employee incentive arrangements by April 2014, alongside reviews of business wide efficiency measures and targets to ensure these are realistic, achievable and sustainable in the workplace.
· An approach to create industrial stability with a re-launch of the IR Framework, reaffirmation of existing agreements, new mediation procedures and the introduction of new governance arrangements. These provide the Union with an unprecedented degree of access for CWU to influence the strategic direction and decision making within the company.
· Actions to deliver cultural change including a review of all existing employee engagement initiatives, to put in place new and more progressive initiatives that support shared objectives and a mutual interest culture. This review will include WCM.
· A joint programme of ongoing work covering all operational functions enabling the Union to shape and influence all aspects of the operation.
· A National joint review of delivery facilitated by ACAS that will enable us to address the concerns of delivery employees over the managerial approach to workload issues. Additionally, this will consider finding mutually beneficial ways to tackle the increasing variability of workload in the future.
Next Steps
There will be a National Briefing to explain the full terms of the Agreement on the 17th December, details of this will follow in due course.
The comprehensive nature of the Agreement, which includes a legal contract between the employer and CWU, means it will require effective communications and face to face briefings before undertaking our ratification procedures via an individual membership ballot.
The need to communicate effectively and overcome the logistics of Christmas also means it will not be possible to commence the ballot process until early January.

Conclusion
To fully understand the scope, magnitude and achievements contained within the proposed agreement, it must be viewed within the context of the unprecedented developments across the UK Postal Industry. Privatisation, competition and changing customer expectations in a digital world are all part of a rapidly evolving communications sector; and the CWU and its membership must fully embrace new strategies to create a growth agenda as a positive and necessary alternative to managing decline.
The CWU campaign against privatisation gave us a platform to deal with the impact of privatisation on our members' jobs, terms and conditions. We set ourselves the task of achieving groundbreaking legal protections for employees in respect of job security, the overall employment model and the corporate business structure that the RMG would operate under as a private entity. What has been achieved will provide CWU members with unprecedented protection within a privatised company and will also ensure that CWU structures are embedded within the fabric of the company.
This dispute presented huge challenges and we are confident that the groundbreaking nature of this agreement will provide CWU members with the strongest possible position to embark on what will be a new era for the UK Postal Industry.
We have attached to this LTB a copy of the main Agreement and the legal contract between the Employer and CWU will follow in due course. This will be supported by a separate communication explaining the legal context of the contract.

There will also be further LTBs from the relevant National Officers positioning the functional elements of the agreement. Finally, a Representative Brief and initial letter to members' home addresses is also being prepared.
Any enquiries on the content of this LTB should be directed to the DGS (P) Department.
Yours sincerely


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







Ray Ellis Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary







Bob Gibson Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Enc:

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Summary of Pay and Legal Protections

Pay and Reward

The scope of the pay settlement covers all CWU represented grades within the Royal Mail Group (including Parcelforce and all other business functions). The details are as follows:-

2013-14

3.0% base pay increase, backdated to 1 April 2013.
£200 lump sum payment for each full time eligible employee (pro rata for part- timers) in post on 1 October 2013, in recognition of business progress. This will be paid before Christmas in addition to any Christmas bonus.
Additional increase in the over 10 hours overtime rate++.
Scheduled attendance payments during periods of annual leave will be extended++.

2014-15

3% base pay increase. New incentive scheme to be developed and introduced by April 2014.

2015-16

2.8% base pay increase. Subject to review, if inflation is below 2.3% or above 3.3%.

The increases over the three year period apply to the usual allowances and overtime payments etc. The cumulative year on year effect of these pay rises is worth 9.06%.

NB:

I. Inflation at the 1st April 2013 was 2.9%.
II. The £200 lump sum is in addition to existing Christmas bonuses, will be paid before Christmas and is not dependant on the overall Agreement being endorsed.
III. The additional 0.4% increase in the first year over the previous offer, will attract extra back pay of approximately £60 and will put approximately £90 ongoing into permanent pay.



Legal Protections

The legal protections cover job security and the employment model and business structure that the Royal Mail Group will operate under as a private entity. A summary of the main protections are as follows:-

The employer will not outsource, sell or transfer any other part of its business.

The employer will remain an end to end service provider and will not franchise out any part of its business or make any employee self employed.

The employer will not engage any new employees on inferior terms and conditions (no two tier workforce).

The collectively agreed terms and conditions of employees will not be worsened in any respect, or changed unless amended by agreement.

The overriding objective will be for the employer to deliver all future change without recourse to compulsory redundancy.

The employment model will remain predominately full time and the agreed resourcing mix will be monitored on a quarterly basis.

How long will the Protections Last?

The protections are made as an ongoing commitment subject to review and exceptional circumstances clauses. The first planned review is January 2019.

The positioning of the legal protections is fair to both parties. It means they are not due to end at any given time, but neither are they an open ended commitment, something which no business will ever sign up to.

[newtimes]

New approaches to improved efficiency underpinned by the introduction of new employee incentive arrangements by April 2014,

[dtrusdale2005]

so what about terms and conditions how long no mention of how long and it says £200 on october 1st 2013 thats been have they got it wrong

[Nondescript]

I must be really thick - I don't see a whole heap of difference between this agreement and the one we all voted against.
Start the doomsday counter: two years and approximately three months to minimum wage serfdom.. or am I reading it wrong?

[Theghost]

so what about terms and conditions how long no mention of how long and it says £200 on october 1st 2013 thats been have they got it wrong

Youneed to read it properly,It says £200 is for employees who worked for royal mail in october 2013,Basically if you started after this date you dont get it.

Also terms reviewed in Jan 2019,So 5 years.

[fishtank]

Can't get the full agreement to open...
Teebs....help!

[dtrusdale2005]

yes your right just read it before you messaged sounds best deal union could get for us happy with it

[frankieboy]

Same here, what's the difference between this and the other offer, ahhh yes the golden £200 carrot before Christmas. Bring on the vote.

[newtimes]

Same here, what's the difference between this and the other offer, ahhh yes the golden £200 carrot before Christmas. Bring on the vote.

its being paid before xmas and the vote is in January

[meweavy]

So 5 years protected terms and conditions, £200 back pay and just under 9% pay rise.
Sounds like an ok deal.
I will be voting yes to that.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Can't get the full agreement to open...
Teebs....help!

I keep running into an OLE error

(Bleeding Spanish practices again)

[TrueBlueTerrier]

So 5 years protected terms and conditions, £200 back pay and just under 9% pay rise.
Sounds like an ok deal.
I will be voting yes to that.

Ah the kerching attracts, the silent sound of turning pages to see if the agreement itself is okay does not draw many in.

[britwrit]

Glass half-full. But half-full. Doomsday to our terms and conditions averted for the medium term.

[newtimes]

So 5 years protected terms and conditions, £200 back pay and just under 9% pay rise.
Sounds like an ok deal.
I will be voting yes to that.

The cumulative year on year effect of these pay rises is worth 9.06%.