LTB 815/13 National Agreement Reached

[postiel]

not a chance in hell
most people on here would sell their kids for £200

[newtimes]

Superficially, and without having read any references to B and H, it sounds pretty good. The only worry for me is the scope of the "exceptional circumstances" that could give RM cause to wriggle out the binding agreement. Sounds a bit vague, are they the same exceptional circumstances in a previous agreement that managers use to get people to work for free?

Ha, I see they've got rid of the exceptional circumstances bit from the flexing, and also that it can be balanced out within "5 working days" rather than in the same week.

Point of Clarification on 30 mins Flexibility

Both parties re-affirm their commitment to the 30 minute flexibility arrangements within the Pay and Modernisation agreement. The following provides clarification of the agreed approach.

Where necessary, for example when traffic volumes are unexpectedly high or resourcing issues arise, individuals may be asked and may themselves request to vary their duty times by up to 30 minutes on a swings and roundabouts basis. Individual circumstances will be taken into account and total weekly contractual hours will not change. This means that individuals may flex their duty times by up to 30 minutes on any given day and this will be balanced either way over the next 5 working days. However this period can be extended by local agreement. A local record will be kept. Any requirement to change times of attendance or flex will take into account individual’s personal obligations and responsibilities.

So does this mean then that if you are given an "impossible" delivery time on a given day - for the sake of argument take today, Monday, our P&L delivery was due out the office at 09:00 with a finish time of 13:35, never ever achievable anyway but I digress, if we go over apart from bringing it back we can flex our time by adding 30 mins on and then finish 30 mins earlier another day? Or just cut off and bring it back, which we do, even when they know we can't complete but expect us to anyway.

nice one wabbithunta

[WornOutPosty]

I've scanned through it, it looks OK in parts, other parts are a bit open to abuse I think. Does this mean after the vote (if it's a yes) it all kicks into action more or less right away? I.e the backdated pay and so on?

[Theghost]

Lets remember this £200 is a gimme.
So you can still vote against the deal in January,The £200 is still given before xmas regardless.

[cloherty1976]

I see we are getting paid 6 weeks holiday money if you work for Royal Mail core operations if you get 6 weeks leave I see. Does that mean working for network section am I included in this ?

[cyclemech1]

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.

All you need to know in four words.

This and the get out clauses for RM should there be 'exceptional circumstances' should worry every single one of you.

Think we got shafted in BT2010?, you aint seen nothing yet!

[pudz1224]

i don't think thats the worst deal i have ever seen in 21 years there. Just our delivery colleagues get a benefit of reduced work loads and this bullying thing gets sorted aswell. As for the extra 200 i hope they split it it into one this week and the original 200 on the 20th. if they pay it all at once we will get hammered by the taxman especially if there is overtime on that wage

[fishtank]

Since the delivery section is more or less "we'll look at this and set up a joint group for that" you do wonder what took them so long...
Somebody once said it was complex,It isn't complex at all it's just full of big words and little else.

[BernardBresslaw]

Wow someone has bagged a hefty bung for agreeing to a no-strike clause. This whole farce is bordering on the scandalous now, and I'm convinced that high ranking members of the CWU are in Royal Mail's pockets.

Shameful.

Still people, even on here, are blinded by pound signs, so expect it to be voted in.

[tommytucka]

i don't think thats the worst deal i have ever seen in 21 years there. Just our delivery colleagues get a benefit of reduced work loads and this bullying thing gets sorted aswell. As for the extra 200 i hope they split it it into one this week and the original 200 on the 20th. if they pay it all at once we will get hammered by the taxman especially if there is overtime on that wage

Tax is the same whether one week or two, it's cumulative over 12 months

[TrueBlueTerrier]

if they pay it all at once we will get hammered by the taxman especially if there is overtime on that wage

It does not matter when they pay it to you - you will pay the same tax on both £200s whether paid together or not. This fallacy on you are hammered more if you get paid more is rubbish. If they paid you your annual wage on 1 Apr every year you would pay the same tax as you do now, its just spread over 52 weeks that all.

[cityfc]

i don't think thats the worst deal i have ever seen in 21 years there. Just our delivery colleagues get a benefit of reduced work loads and this bullying thing gets sorted aswell. As for the extra 200 i hope they split it it into one this week and the original 200 on the 20th. if they pay it all at once we will get hammered by the taxman especially if there is overtime on that wage

In the long run it makes no difference, you still pay the same amount of tax whether it's paid in one go or over 2 or 3 weeks.

[dougfunny892]

What are the new efficient ways of working going to be?

[mightymetro]

Seven weeks to reach an agreement that is exactly the same as the last one but tied up with a different ribbon!
The offer last time was £300 this has gone down to £200 but the £100 saved has gone to subsidise the 0.04% in the first year. I have read the whole agreement and yes there is still a no strike clause. Absolutely shocking, the union should be ashamed of themselves.

[freelunch]

It's been like watching an epic movie, trying to catch every twist in the plot, listening to the narrator (dingo) pop up once in a while to give some important background info.....
You're all set for the final scene, nervous, tense, waiting and........ and...........
IS THAT IT?

The ending needs to be re-written.
Damp squid springs to mind