LTB 014/17 - JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE SORTING OF SPECIAL DELIVERY GUARANTEED (SDG) ITEMS IN YORK CONTAINERS EXTENSION OF USE

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LTB 014/17 - JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE SORTING OF SPECIAL DELIVERY GUARANTEED (SDG) ITEMS IN YORK CONTAINERS –EXTENSION OF USE

No. 014/2017

11th January 2017

For the Immediate Attention of All:



Postal Branches

Divisional Representatives

Area Processing Representatives



JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU COVERING THE SORTING OF SPECIAL DELIVERY GUARANTEED (SDG) ITEMS IN YORK CONTAINERS –EXTENSION OF USE

Dear Colleagues

Branches and representatives will recall that in May 2016, further to trial activity that had taken place and endorsement by the Postal Executive, the department communicated via LTB 309/16 the Joint Statement between Royal Mail and the CWU Covering the Sorting of Special Delivery Guaranteed (SDG) Items in York Containers.

Green Sleeved Yorks, secured using Unique Numbered SD seals, were used to ensure easy identification and security of this premium product stream and this new method was successfully trialed in Croydon, Manchester, Greenford, Newcastle and Bristol Mail Centres from October 15 to January 16.

The project eliminated a considerable amount of bag cutting and tipping in SD lockers, enhanced security and had no adverse impact on quality of service and was subsequently deployed at 24 Mail Centres in October 2016.

Further analysis and scoping has taken place since that time on the practicality of adopting the standard method on the Inward phase by dispatching SDG items to Delivery Units in Sleeved Yorks. The joint analysis which included a survey of current practice at all sites revealed that 21 Mail Centres are already dispatching SDG items to high volume Delivery Units in their catchment area in Red Sleeved Yorks, effectively adopting the method without one of the key elements.

Following full consultation with the CWU Outdoor department an extension of this standard practice has now been agreed to be deployed for the sorting and dispatching of SDG items from Inward Mail Centres to Delivery Offices.

The design principles already established and communicated via LTB 309/16 will be retained for the Inward operation resulting in a deployment of the standard method at 33 Mail Centres, including the 21 sites currently dispatching in Red Sleeved Yorks. 810 Delivery Offices served by those sites will receive their SDG items in Green Sleeved Yorks.

The remaining Mail Centre sites do not process sufficient volumes of SDG items to justify the change in method.

Given that on average Delivery Offices receive the equivalent of 1 York of SDG items, the introduction will have a minimal effect on Indoor workload in Delivery Units.

Attached for the information of Branches and representatives is the Joint Statement between Royal Mail and the CWU Covering the Sorting of Special Delivery Guaranteed (SDG) Items in York Containers – Extension of Use to allow the local activity to commence.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number: 709.03

Yours sincerely





Davie Robertson

Assistant Secretary