LTB 183/14 Update

[Glenno]

Letter to Branches




No: 183/14 Ref: 21003 Date: 21st March 2014


TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS


Dear Colleague

Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Term Success Agreement – Deployment Update

The purpose of this LTB is to update CWU Branches, Representatives and members on some key deployment issues linked to the Agenda for Growth Agreement.

Joint Briefings on New Industrial Relations Procedures

All managers and CWU Representatives are due to attend Joint Briefings on the new IR Procedures prior to the official launch of the legal contract and new agreement. These briefings are well underway and are expected to conclude in early April 2014. It is essential that CWU Branches ensure their local representatives have attended their relevant briefing. CWU Divisional Representatives should be contacted for any enquiries on the outstanding briefings for your locality.

In addition to these briefings a Joint Booklet is being prepared for all Royal Mail managers and CWU Representatives to further highlight the importance of both parties understanding and abiding by the new procedures. The booklet will act as an ongoing reference to what has been agreed and will be distributed by the national parties in due course.

National Joint Training Programme

Separate from the briefings on the new IR Procedures, talks are progressing on a major Joint Training Programme designed to support the overall objectives of the new Agreement. This programme involves a significant investment from the company and will require three days of joint training being rolled out for every manager and representative over the next 12 months.

Mediation

We have made very good progress on how mediation will be deployed. A separate LTB will be issued next week covering the approach to the recruitment of internal and external mediators. This LTB will also detail the application process for internal mediators and the terms and conditions on how the role will be undertaken.





Interim Arrangements

The above mentioned process is due to conclude at the end of next week and the national parties are currently reviewing the progress made on outstanding disagreements and Business Transformation issues. The Postal Executive will receive a full report on this next week and further information will be published in due course.

The Growth Forum

The initial Growth Forum meeting has taken place and involved strategic discussions on the crucial issues that affect the future of the company and the workforce. Good information was shared on a range of topics including regulation. The national parties will now develop these meetings to oversee progress on deployment and determine strategies for growth. Next week the National Officers will also meet the Senior Royal Mail Operational Team to discuss the operational strategies required to support the objectives of the new Agreement.

Whilst these discussions are at an early stage, it is clearly apparent that the company are willing to utilise the structures within the agreement to provide the Union with a genuine opportunity to influence the future direction of the Royal Mail Group.

Summary

The content of this LTB demonstrates that there is a lot of work going on to build on the objectives of the Agenda for Growth Agreement. To support this it will be necessary for the Union to establish better and more co-ordinated reporting mechanisms on all aspects of the Agreement. As part of this we will be discussing with the Standing Orders Committee the opportunity for a full update session at this year’s Postal Group Conference. In the meantime, please distribute this LTB to all CWU Representatives.

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to the DGS (P) Department.

Yours sincerely



Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)