LTB 426/14 Royal Mail Shareholder AGM 24th July 2014

[POSTMAN]

To: All Branches with Postal Members

Dear Colleague

ROYAL MAIL SHAREHOLDER AGM – 24TH JULY 2014

You will be aware that CWU members who are shareholders in the company recently received a letter from Equiniti, the Shareholder Plan Trustee, about the AGM taking place on the 24th July 2014.

The purpose of this LTB is to explain the approach the Union will be taking to the first AGM and the policy we are developing for subsequent years.



It is the view of CWU that we should seek to maximise Union influence at Royal Mail Shareholder AGM’s by creating a CWU Trust, enabling a collective en-bloc vote and a greater say for members on how the company is run.

Initial discussions on this commenced earlier this year with our Lawyers, as you can imagine this is far from straightforward and remains work in progress. We anticipate significant legal, financial and organisational hurdles to overcome alongside potential resistance from other company stakeholders.

A key issue will be the terms on which the current Trust, run by Equiniti, was set up as part of the original transaction by the Government and Royal Mail. Despite these difficulties we are determined to pursue the creation of a CWU Trust, albeit it would also ultimately require the support and consent of individual CWU members.

Given the scale of the work involved, our aim is to create the Trust by the time of the Royal Mail AGM in 2015 and we have now set up a dedicated project team to intensify work in this area. As part of this we will also look at how we can democratise the process to ensure proactive and informed decision making on future policy issues. Progress updates on this work will be the subject of detailed reports to the PEC and CWU Branches in the near future.

With regard to the first AGM on the 24th July, the Postal Executive have discussed what approach we should take in light of the commitments made under the Agenda for Growth Agreement and the current challenges facing the business including Direct Delivery Competition. We have also considered the time available and mechanics of making recommendations to CWU members on the motions tabled to the meeting.

Having taken into account all of the aforementioned we have agreed the following course of action for the meeting on the 24th July:

We will use this first annual general meeting as a learning opportunity to plan our approach in future years.

Selected CWU Representatives, who are also Shareholders, will attend and ask the following questions:

· Does the board remain fully committed to providing a 6 day universal postal service and given the threat posed by direct delivery competition, will it consider calling publicly for a judicial review of the regulators role if there is no intervention before the end of August 2014 on direct delivery competition?

· Has the company’s remuneration committee considered the recommendations made by the High Pay Commission and if so would it consider implementing these recommendations to ensure a fair correlation between the pay of senior Executives and the workforce?

· As part of the Agenda for Growth Agreement the company committed to negotiating a company charter which would set out its principles and values and how it would treat its workforce, does the company remain committed to placing a company charter before the Shareholder meeting in 2015?

For this year’s meeting, given time constraints preventing an informed debate, we will advise CWU members that the Union has a neutral position on the motions tabled at the meeting.



We have attached to this LTB a communication to CWU members explaining the Unions position on a future Trust and the approach to the Annual general meeting. We will ask CWU Representatives to distribute this in the workplace.

In conclusion, it can be seen from the content of this LTB that the Union is developing a progressive policy towards Royal Mail Shareholder meetings that will enable us to build influence, promote CWU policy, tackle controversial issues like company remuneration and continue to work in the interests of CWU members. In the meantime, please ensure the content of this LTB and the attached membership communication is distributed in all workplaces.

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



Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)








TO: ALL CWU MEMBERS

Dear Colleague

Royal Mail Shareholder AGM - 24th July 2014

If you opted to receive free shares in Royal Mail you would have recently received a letter from Equiniti, the Share Plan Trustee, about Royal Mail’s AGM on 24th July.

We are writing now to explain the Union view about Royal Mail’s first AGM and the policy we are developing for subsequent years.

The CWU want to maximise our influence at Royal Mail’s AGM by setting up a new voting trust which would enable CWU members to vote en-bloc at these meetings and ultimately give the workforce a greater say over the future direction of the company. This is far from straightforward and we face significant legal, financial and organisational hurdles alongside potential resistance from other company stakeholders.

We are currently consulting our Lawyers with the aim of creating the CWU Trust in time for the Royal Mail AGM in 2015. In the meantime, we will use the 2014 AGM as a learning opportunity.

With regard to the motions tabled by the company this year, given the timescales involved, which prevent an informed debate, the Union’s Executive has agreed not to make specific recommendations and will remain neutral. However, selected CWU Representatives will be in attendance and will ask questions on the following:

- The prospect of the company calling for a judicial review over the impact of direct delivery competition

- Consideration of the company implementing the recommendations of the High Pay Commission to ensure a fairer correlation between the pay of senior Executives and the workforce

- Royal Mail’s commitment to a new company charter

Finally, we will write to you later this year about progress on a CWU Members Trust.


Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)

[pop it in pete]

For this year’s meeting, given time constraints preventing an informed debate, we will advise CWU members that the Union has a neutral position on the motions tabled at the meeting.

How can you have a neutral position when the company is considering political donations (motion 16 at the AGM).

[TrueBlueTerrier]

For this year’s meeting, given time constraints preventing an informed debate, we will advise CWU members that the Union has a neutral position on the motions tabled at the meeting.

How can you have a neutral position when the company is considering political donations (motion 16 at the AGM).

Because the Union already make political donations so it would be "difficult" it they opposed it, a neutral position on this subject is probably the safest for the Union.

[pop it in pete]

For this year’s meeting, given time constraints preventing an informed debate, we will advise CWU members that the Union has a neutral position on the motions tabled at the meeting.

How can you have a neutral position when the company is considering political donations (motion 16 at the AGM).

Because the Union already make political donations so it would be "difficult" it they opposed it, a neutral position on this subject is probably the safest for the Union.

Yes I can see that but surely a semi government owned business has no right to make Political Donations. The Lib Dems/Tories are hardly going to oppose Mora wanting to make donations to them are they? However if the board were to fund the Labour Party do you seriously think the present government would let them?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Oh No I see your point and agree with it - in fact I voted no to that particular motion and I hope more than 10% do as well.