CWU : Royal Mail 'historic advance' in work-life balance

Post by **POSTMAN** » 28 Sep 2018, 22:30

https://www.cwu.org/news/royal-mail-his ... e-balance/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Around 120,000 Royal Mail workers will benefit from a one-hour reduction or equivalent benefit to their working week from Monday morning.

The reduction, is the first stage of a scheduled flight path from 39-hour to a 35-hour working week and is a key element of the ground-breaking Four Pillars of Security national agreement.

“This move from 39 to 35 hours is probably the largest-scale shorter working week reduction agreement since the engineering unions moved down from 39 to 37.5 hours back in the 1990s, so it’s a hugely significant moment,” said CWU deputy general secretary postal Terry Pullinger.

The agreement to gradually reduce duty hours is our response to anticipate the impact of the fourth industrial revolution in respect of new technologies and protect jobs whilst also protecting this great public service. We are also carrying operation trials, which are aimed at increasing workplace efficiency so that there is no detrimental impact on customers and Royal Mail’s modernisation is advanced with mutual interest.

“While the reducing working week meets our members’ needs in terms of work/life balance, the methods trials in place in delivery offices and the piloting auto hours data capture and other initiatives are ensuring that our quality of service to the public is not only maintained but improved further,” Terry explained.

The union and the company have issued a detailed joint statement on the hour’s reduction, which sets out the specific arrangements in terms of duty scheduling and pay issues – which differ in some areas.

“Basically, the internal PSP system and various deployment variations – and of course the huge scale of this change – mean that some pay-related issues will be implemented immediately, while others will have to wait until the end October.

“And please contact your local CWU representative with any further enquiries.”

Andy51 · Post by **Andy51** » 29 Sep 2018, 13:54

Wow great been told come in later 12 mins a day why can’t it be at the end of duty rather finish earlier

chickenwittle · Post by **chickenwittle** » 29 Sep 2018, 15:27

The union got this in by agreeing to later start times and not earlier finishing times .

Post by **rambo1** » 29 Sep 2018, 17:12

Andy51 wrote:Wow great been told come in later 12 mins a day why can’t it be at the end of duty rather finish earlier

Just come in on time and claim an extra 12 mins at the end.

Dorset Plodder · Post by **Dorset Plodder** » 29 Sep 2018, 20:22

I think I must be missing something.

So we start 12 mins later.... BUT...... there's been no work removed from my Duty. I suppose I could use the over Running Procedure and leave 12 mins work behind?

I just feel a little bit unimpressed with it all...... A bit like if I'd voted for a Strike because someone was trying to steal my Pension....... and then being told I had to go back to work.... and they might be able to sort the Pension out sometime in the future!

That sort of feeling.

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 29 Sep 2018, 21:07

It's a bit disingenuous to call this historic or an advance in a job (delivery) that is based on an amount of work being completed rather than a fixed start and finish that you could get up from your desk and walk away from.

Yes you have a start and finish time but unless you have strong representation what you're actually getting if you want a better work/life balance is more confrontation with management, more stress and more job insecurity by painting a target on your back on a daily basis. this might suit offices with plenty full-time staff and loads of slack but what it will mean for most offices is more blood from the stone in less time.

This agreement also promised a culture change from management, when does that kick in?

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 30 Sep 2018, 12:22

It's sort of like the first scheme that RM brought out years ago before the current free shares scheme. The one where we were supposedly given shares in RM but at that time RM was still government run and the shares were non-existent. Or like the tale of the emperor's new clothes..........
Would have been much better if instead of this **** idea that the CWU just enforced regulations properly so we were all paid for all the time we work rather than doing work unpaid.