LTB 420/20 - CWU/Royal Mail National Terms of Reference - Uniform Pilot Footwear Panther Vulcano Boot

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LTB 420/20 – CWU/Royal Mail National Terms of Reference – Uniform Pilot Footwear Panther Vulcano Boot
No. 420/20

12th August 2020



Dear Colleagues,

CWU/Royal Mail National Terms of Reference – Uniform Pilot Footwear Panther Vulcano Boot

For some time now the Outdoor Department has been in dialogue with Royal Mail as part of the regular engagement on uniform matters regarding the need to update and refresh the current non-safety Magnum Boot which has been part of the footwear range for some 15 years.

As a result of these discussions an informal view was reached that the Magnum Boot would need to be replaced due to wider technical developments in footwear over the past number of years. This meant that the Magnum Boot had fallen behind many other boot options available ‘in the wider marketplace’ in relation to its weight, flexibility and comfort. Equally, it was noticeable that employees’ requests for the boot had been in decline over the past few years against newer footwear options which have been added to the Royal Mail range.

Whilst under normal circumstances a joint trial would have been developed in respect to a replacement option, this has not been possible in the case of the Magnum Boot. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly, the Magnum Boot itself has come to the end of its shelf-life and production and secondly, the current Magnum Boot production and supply chain which spans across China, Vietnam and Malaysia has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which has meant that the current stock supplies of the boot within Royal Mail is expected to run out in around March of 2021, with no opportunity to re-order supplies.

As such, the need to move to a replacement non-safety boot option has become pressing. Therefore, it has been agreed to pilot the Panther Vulcano Boot, which is based on the same sole and general design of the Panther safety Vieste Boot, a product that has already been trialled in the live workplace environment and is available within Royal Mail but currently only under the ‘safety’ footwear range.

The pilot is covered by the attached National Terms of Reference and will take place from September/October 2020 and will run for 12 weeks. A joint CWU/Royal Mail review will then be held on the pilot feedback in December/January set against the standard success criteria for footwear trials in order to resolve any issues highlighted and to move over to the Panther Vulcano Boot. Also attached is a photo of the Panther Vulcano Boot for your reference.

Whilst the Magnum Boot has been a feature of the Royal Mail footwear range for some 15 years and remains popular with a number of members, it has now reached the end of its shelf-life with no possibility of Royal Mail making further supply orders due to Coronavirus. As such, it is hoped that the pilot and switchover to the Panther Vulcano Boot, a new style and design of boot which has already been tried and tested within Royal Mail, will be seen by members as a further improvement in the current footwear range.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, reference 500, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Baulch

CWU Assistant Secretary

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http://www.cwu.org/wp-content/uploads/2 ... o-Boot.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Janet Brum]

Horrible

[k979aaa]

Red and white like clown shoes lets just hope it don't melt your foot off!

[Sugar]

Fu£k they look horrendous

How many years and how much money have this company fuc£ing wasted trying to get footwear that's fit for purpose for outdoor staff?

All the while staffs feet are getting $crewed up in the process. The mind boggles at who the jobsworths are sat behind desks coming up with these pi$$ poor alternatives whilst the simple straightforward answer would be to get in touch with a proper walking boot/shoe manufacturer and purchase directly from them. But no, as usual they over complicate the simple in-favour of short term savings whilst not seeing the long term damage poor footwear causes and costs the company.

Penny wise pound foolish.

[fb1969]

Can't see how that offers any ankle support at all, I wonder how deep the shag pile was in the office the trial was carried out in.

[RTP]

They don't look like they will let your feet breath at all and again there looks to be no cushioning in the sole, which as per usual will be rock hard in order to prolong the life of the tread.

Useless for our job.

[2yearpostie]

bugger the magnum boot is the only thing i get on with