LTB 150/17 - Servest Cleaners Working in POL

[TrueBlueTerrier]

LTB 150/17 - Servest Cleaners Working in POL

No. 150/2017

10th March 2017

SERVEST CLEANERS WORKING IN POL

Dear Colleague,

The union has been informed by SERVEST that for economical and operational reasons, POL are to reduce the cleaning specification in Post Office units. Whilst the final details have not yet been communicated, it is believed that the changes will affect Saturdays and the least busy days of the week when services will be reduced in circa 80 units (to be confirmed).

Through dialogue with the Senior HR Business Partner in Servest, we have established that any changes/reductions in working hours will be dealt with under the agreed MSA Agreement for those members that were TUPEd over to Servest from Romec. Letters to staff and consultations with affected members will commence in the very near future.

Branches are advised that the Post Office has so far failed to engage with this union in regard to its plans to reduce cleaning services in the 80 units. ‎Obviously this is disappointing however it is equally not surprising in the current climate.

Consequently representations will be made to the Post Office to ascertain exactly the rationale for this new cutback which on the face of it is just another cost saving activity by the Post Office. We need to clearly understand if the Post Office’s plans impact on customer facing units and what will be the time delay between cleaning services. We also need to examine if there are any Health & Safety implications. We are certain our members will be unimpressed ‎by the prospect of working in an environment that is cleaned less frequently.

Lastly we intend to make it clear to the Post Office that if these changes are brought about by Executive Action, our members employed by the Post Office will be instructed not to perform any cleaning services that would ordinarily be the responsibility of the cleaner. Indeed cleaning activities are not included in the job description of any directly employed member working for the Post Office. So it would be completely inappropriate for management to attempt to replace trained cleaning services with ad-hoc arrangements. Any instances of this type of activity should be reported to Andy Furey's Department by emailing lsheridan@cwu.org

Any queries in relation to Servest members should be referred to the Outdoor Department reference 120.13, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org

Further developments regarding the above will be reported.

Yours Sincerely,



Mark Baulch Andy Furey

CWU Assistant Secretary Elect Assistant Secretary

[Snaggletooth]

When ROMEC provided cleaners for Crown offices, most of the cleaning products they used had orange & black warning labels on them. This means that staff need to have COSHH* training before using them. This came up many years ago when senior management tried to get clerks to clean the retail fittings, they backed down as soon as they realised they would have to pay for training and / or cleaning materials.

*Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health.