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Duran wrote:Stephen. Thanks for that. I hope the response is that we will be pushing for the protected pensionable rights of all staff concerned .
Thanks again for the heads up.
I am sad to say think again.
I have had a reply from Terry Pullinger re Reserved rights and MTSF protected allowances for ex Cashco members in our MC. It took some reading, however it appears to me that it is saying (after all the nice words are stripped away) that mine and other ex PHGs allowances currently protected under the way forward agreement are to be sacrificed on the altar of collective bargaining in pursuit of the union's new pension proposal. Better news though for our MC EX Cashco members as it appears that those who transferred to the mail centre are uniquely protected.(see pages 2 and especially 3) Other ex Cashco members in other mail only had those protections for 3 years, yet for our MC the link was kept? He does however restate firmly that the higher basic pay of the ex Post Office employees (Cashco) should be the one illustrated in the illustrations sent to those members. So for our Ex-Cashco members, I would reproduce this letter in order to seek a new illustration. As for reserved rights Ex PHGs the Cwu may wish to sacrifice our rights on the bonfire of collective bargaining, but whether an employment rights lawyer would see it the same way is another issue. I await Royal Mail's response. Some thinking to do. A bit sad that members rights,like myself, who have been in the CWU for 38 years appear not very important.
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As you say. We may need as many reserved rights staff, to stand together and fight this legally as one. I have paid my union subs for over 32 years. Now that im in my 50's. If my union fails me and all the PHG's that lost their grade. I will turn to another union to fight my cause until retirement. Personally my penionable pay will drop by £140 per week. Not looking good for the final salary pension part.
What is important to recognise which puts another twist to this is that Royal Mail during the National Talks have said they want to remove all legacy payments. They pay around 29 million per annum in reserved payments from ICS/ PBS bonus , ex PHG payments , ex £6 driving allowance and a couple of other payments.
dingo wrote:What is important to recognise which puts another twist to this is that Royal Mail during the National Talks have said they want to remove all legacy payments. They pay around 29 million per annum in reserved payments from ICS/ PBS bonus , ex PHG payments , ex £6 driving allowance and a couple of other payments.
Thanks for the insight Dingo,
Can you confirm if you have heard that The Union will be fighting this ridiculous suggestion of a further attack on members rights or will we be taken down the winners and losers route that the union implied that it wouldn't go down.
These rights were also said to be protected under the way forward as "In perpetuity" which was a legal signed agreement.
Hello I am an ex cashco member from Hemel Hempstead cashco now at Jubilee MC and still on the same deal as your colleagues in Chester and I also know of a few more too. I think I got the wrong pension statement aswell because it said I would be losing around £5000 per year after the changes. What should we be doing?
Don't get me wrong - two wrongs don't make a right and if any member is looking potentially at a £5k drop in annual income then this definitely needs looking at.
But on the other hand, there is a bigger picture here. Members with 20 and 30 years to go before retirement - members who also don't benefit from the pensionable legacy payments - they have interests too. And the union has to represent their interests also. They are the majority.
The extra cost of the CWU pension proposal to RM is IIRC circa £100mil. Where is this money to be found ?
You might argue that as ex phg's are close to retirement (and their allowances are legally protected) then why bother cutting them. But I doubt RM will see it this way. And whilst it might stick in the throat of the CWU negotiators, I suspect they understand that there are financial constraints and imperatives implied by their Wage in Retirement proposal.
I too (potentially) will lose a legacy payment FWIW - but its a price I am prepared to pay if it means I get to keep a decent pension in retirement. That said, I'm probably further away from that retirement than many ex phg's on here.
I understand that the CWU should fight for the best pension they can for colleagues with lets say 30years left to work in the business. However. Just hear my point of view. For years senior men with over 30years service have been given pension forecasts based on their years service and pensionable pay. These colleagues set their stall out and plan ahead with that forecast in mind. Now within a few years of retirement. They are told well actually we want to cut that by 5k per year. How are these colleagues suppose to take a hit that big when for the previous 30 years they have been planning ahead. Junior men have time to look at options to invest for their pension. 30yr men don't.