Someone just sent me this
Letter to Branches
No: 970 Ref: 601 Date: 4 November 2010
TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS
Dear Colleague
POL: SUPPLY CHAIN – PAY & CHANGE AGREEMENT 2010-11
I am pleased to report that the Postal Executive has unanimously endorsed our Supply Chain Pay & Change Agreement. The agreement, which is for one year, applies to all members working within CViT Depots, Cash Centres, Bureau, Coin Centres, Swindon Warehouse, Inventory Teams and Admin (including Head Office and the Customer Centre of Excellence, Newcastle).
Pay & Allowances
Our members will receive the following pay rises, backdated to 1st April 2010:
Current Pay Rate Agreed Pay Increase from 1/4/10 New Pay Rate
From 1/4/10
Crew
£420 2.9%
£432.18
Crew - night worker £512.40 2.9% £527.26
LGV £462 2.9% £475.40
LGV - night worker £563.64 2.9% £579.99
PA
£315 £10 per week
£325
PO £20,189 2.9% £20,783
LA1 £20,622 2.9% £21,229
SO1 (Swindon) £344.62 2.9% £368.88*
CL5 (Swindon) £18,725 2.9% £19,868*
* Includes bonus consolidation from 1st January 2011 – see further information overleaf.
All pay increases are consolidated flowing through to overtime, Scheduled Attendance and all allowances (except London Weighting which has already been up-rated by 2% in accordance with the Royal Mail Business Transformation 2010 and Beyond Agreement).
All arrears of pay, overtime, Scheduled Attendance and allowances will be backdated to 1st April 2010 and paid at the earliest opportunity following endorsement of the agreement by our members.
Shorter Working Week (Crew Grades and SO1s/CL5s)
• Crew: 1 hour reduction in the working week from 3rd Jan 2011
• SO1s and CL5s: 2 hour reduction in the working week, as follows;
o 1 hour reduction in the working week to take place as soon as possible following ratification of the agreement
o A further 1 hour reduction from 4th April 2011
Once the above is implemented, all CWU members employed by POL will be on a 35 hour net working week.
Lump Sum Payments of £1000 (All Grades)
A £1000 payment (pro-rata for part-time members) for all grades paid as follows:
• £400 Following ratification of the agreement by members
• £600 ColleagueShare dividend paid in April 2011
(Subject to delivery of change programme)
Bonus Consolidation (SO1s and CL5s, Swindon)
From 1st January 2011, the current bonus schemes will cease and be consolidated into a permanent non-pensionable pay supplement on top of basic pay. The value of these consolidations for full-timers is as follows:
• £740 per annum for SO1
• £600 per annum for CL5
The effect of consolidating the above bonus monies will lead to a positive flow through and increase to hourly pay rates and overtime, over and above the pay rise.
Change Programme: Inter Depot Services Review (IDSR)
POL Supply Chain has over recent years made many operational changes including network rationalisation, depot reviews, new customer requirements and the return of SafeNet trunking to Royal Mail. This has led to the need for Supply Chain to review the requirements for its own network and current customers and has recognised it needs to be able to have a customer offer that meets the needs of current and potential customers.
It is important for Supply Chain to continue to offer industry leading levels of customer service whilst remaining as competitive as possible on price. However, there is a determination by both Post Office Ltd and CWU that any agreed change that takes place in any form, will not compromise the safety of our employees / members.
The IDSR agreement enables the following:
• Single person trunking, on lower value routes, in line with the security risk assessment and to the agreed value limits as provided to the CWU at national level.
• Maximising hub distribution principles that facilitate effective distribution networks and early delivery of customer deposits in to the internal and external cash centre network.
Change Programme: “Proof of Concept Trial” – Cat VIII Vehicles
A “Proof of Concept Trial” will take place for Cat VIII vehicles to be operated in single person mode. The trial is restricted to a maximum of 20 CAT VIII’s and there is a commitment that these vehicles will operate on the basis of low value routes. A £43.22 weekly pensionable allowance and a £320 introductory one off payment will be made to volunteers.
The trial will have all the necessary protections and safeguards. These safeguards include the fundamental principle of “Volunteers” only being used in the deployment of this trial. Additionally we have deliberately excluded the high risk depots in Belfast, Birmingham, London and Manchester from the trial.
On a national basis there will be a jointly conducted process to identify both the routes and depots for the roll out of the trial. The Union will have full involvement throughout the trial including regular monitoring to determine success or otherwise and all information will be shared.
Details regarding the deployment and the implications of both the IDSR and the operation of CAT VIII’s through single person mode will be presented to the appropriate Representatives at the National Briefing (details below). This will include job losses, preference exercises and guidance for local negotiations.
Ballot Timetable and National Briefings
We will be holding two National Briefings to present and discuss the details of this agreement with Representatives. For POL employed Representatives, the cost of travel to the briefing will be met by POL. All other costs should be met by the Branch.
Details of these briefings and who should attend are as follows:
• PO/PA/LA Grades Representatives:
Tuesday 9th Nov, CWU HQ (Rooms 2 & 3) 2.30pm - 4.30pm
Territorial Reps, Area Reps and Cash Centre Unit Reps
• Crew Grades Representatives:
Wednesday 10th Nov, CWU HQ (Rooms 2 & 3) - 2pm - 4pm
1 Divisional Rep per Division, Branch Secretaries and Area Distribution Reps (with responsibility for Supply Chain Crew members) and Depot Unit Reps.
If you have any questions relating to the agreement, I would be grateful to receive these in advance of the Briefing to allow us to prepare a fact sheet if necessary.
Members in Swindon Warehouse will be briefed separately on site. This date will be confirmed in due course.
Ballot Details and Timetable
Due to the varying components of the pay and change agreement for the different grades in Supply Chain, we will, on this occasion, hold 3 separate individual members’ ballots as follows:
• Crew members
• Admin – PAs and POs, LA1s
• Swindon Warehouse – SO1s, CL5s
All three ballots will follow the same timetable, which will be as follows:
• Ballot papers dispatched: Monday 15th November
• Ballot closes: Friday 26th November
I would encourage Branches to start to plan to hold briefings with their members on the pay and change offer. If you require assistance from Headquarters in this regard, it is imperative that you advise the department as a matter of urgency so that we are able to assist you. Please contact Claire Bowers at
cbowers@cwu.org or by telephone: 020 8971 7361.
It should be noted that whilst I believe we have negotiated a fair pay offer for all our members in Supply Chain, we have still to conclude an agreement for our members in Crowns and Admin. We have made some progress with the Admin negotiations, and we are due to meet with POL again on 19th November. However, due to the ongoing losses being incurred by the Crown Network and the fact that POL continues to believe our Crown members are significantly overpaid compared to employees in similar job roles (notably WH Smith workers), POL refuses to offer any pay increase for our Crown members. Clearly, this situation cannot continue, and if POL refuses to acknowledge the hard work and commitment our members provide, particularly in the difficult economic environment, an industrial action ballot for our members working in Crowns is inevitable. Hopefully POL will consider its unjustified position.
Finally, I am confident that the Supply Chain Pay & Change Agreement will be well received by our members and Branches are encouraged to support this agreement. I would like to place on record my thanks and appreciation to our members and all Representatives for your patience whilst we concluded this complex and comprehensive agreement.
Branches are urged to ensure that this LTB is brought to the attention of our members in Supply Chain.
Yours sincerely
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
and that you had a pleasant time.
Has it got that bad that even the union is taking the p*ss out of us?
