POST OFFICE: ADMIN & SUPPLY CHAIN PAY AND TRANSFORMATION AGR

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LTB 001/15 Post Office: Admin & Supply Chain Pay and Transformation Agreement


No: 001/15
Ref: 601
Date: 5th January 2015

TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS

Dear Colleagues

POST OFFICE: ADMIN & SUPPLY CHAIN PAY AND TRANSFORMATION AGREEMENT

We are pleased to confirm to Branches and members that on Monday 29th December 2014, the Postal Executive unanimously endorsed the Negotiators' Agreement to resolve all outstanding issues arising from the Admin & Supply Chain dispute. The agreement will now be subject to membership ratification via an individual members' ballot (see below for timetable).

Attached to this LTB is the formal agreement, together with two Appendices; Appendix A - specific to implementing change in Supply Chain and Appendix B - pay. Joint Statements for both Admin & Supply Chain were issued on Wednesday 31st December and are also attached.

Compulsory Redundancies

The agreement reached removes the immediate threat of Compulsory Redundancies and puts in place major safeguards whilst ensuring that agreed processes linked to MTSF are in place to introduce change.

The following is an extract from the agreement.

"The Post Office and CWU are committed to working together to deliver agreed change successfully and as speedily as possible, with the overarching objective being to do so without recourse to compulsory redundancies."

Undoubtedly, the Agreement reached provides us with the best chance of avoiding Compulsory Redundancies and of protecting the long term future employment of our members in Admin & Supply Chain.

Critically, the important processes of MTSF have actually been strengthened in some key areas with the introduction of "enablers" designed to help reduce the potential for unresolved surplus. These are as follows:

- The minimum compensation available is increased from 26 weeks to a full year
- Pay in lieu of notice (PILON) will be paid
- Pay in lieu of annual leave will also be paid
- Those wishing to leave the Post Office during the 90 day consultation period will - where it is operationally possible - be given the option of a severance payment equivalent to the number of days between the day of their departure and day 90.

Three Year Pay Agreement (Appendix B)

The pay agreement includes a revised pay offer as follows:
• Year 1 (2014/15) - A 2.1% consolidated increase, backdated to 1st April 2014;
• Year 2 (2015/16) - A 1.9% consolidated increase, effective 1 April 2015
• Year 3 (2016/17) - A 1.9% consolidated increase, effective 1 April 2016.*
*The consolidated increase for 2016/17 would be subject to a without prejudice joint review in the last quarter of the financial year 2015/16.

The percentage pay rises above now flow through to all allowances, with the exception of Year 1 for London Weighting which is actually increased by 3.9% (identical to the Crown office settlement for 2014). In addition, the overtime rate for Sunday working in Supply Chain is double time (2.0).

Implementing Change in Supply Chain (Appendix A)
Significant CWU involvement has been built into this important area of the agreement. Additionally, as part of improving Industrial Relations, the Royal Mail IR Framework Agreement (Area and Divisional Representative structures) has been restored. Furthermore, many Scheduled Attendance contracts, on which notice had formally been given following the one-day strike action, have been reinstated.

• Lump Sum Payment for Supply Chain Members
The £1400 lump sum payment (pro-rata for part-timers), linked to the introduction of Transformation in Supply Chain will now be paid to all members in Supply Chain simultaneously once all depot revisions have been introduced, which is expected to be by the end of March 2015. We were successful in getting the Post Office to agree to pay the £1400 as one payment, as initially the Post Office preferred position was to spread these transformation payments over the course of the three years.

Representatives Briefings
Two successful briefings for representatives with responsibility for both Admin and Supply Chain members were held on Tuesday 30th December and were well attended. Thank you to those who were able to make these important briefings.

Next Steps:
Ballot Timetable
The Pay and Transformation Agreement, which is being recommended by the Postal Executive, will now be the subject of an individual members' ballot; the timetable is as follows:

Ballot papers dispatched Friday 9th January (1st class post)
Ballot closes Tuesday 20th January

We have agreed with the Post Office that all arrears of pay will be implemented in the salaries / wages paid on Friday 30th January 2015, assuming there is a positive decision in the ballot.

Joint Preference Exercise
An integral part of the agreement was a new Joint Preference Exercise which will commence later this week and will take precedence over the earlier work which the Post Office had undertaken unilaterally. The new preference exercise will conducted in accordance with MTSF, will be the primary focus of all change activity going forward and will be extended to other agreed areas of the Post Office in order to maximise opportunities for VR bumping and redeployment.

Joint Manager / CViT Representatives Briefing
There will be a further briefing, to be held jointly with both Post Office depot managers and CViT Representatives in Wimbledon as follows:
Friday 9th January
11am - 3pm
Representatives invited to attend are:
• CViT Unit Reps
• Area Distribution Reps (with Responsibility for CViT)
• 1 Divisional Rep per division

It is vitally important that all CViT Unit Representatives attend this briefing, which will focus on the "Process for Change" in Supply Chain and in particular, will look at the need to introduce agreed duty revisions at the earliest opportunity.

Membership Meetings
Branches are encouraged to call membership meetings over the course of the coming days. Should Branches wish to have a Postal Executive member in attendance at the meeting, please urgently submit requests to Lea Sheridan lsheridan@cwu.org and we will try to accommodate Branches wherever possible.

Summary
We have made significant progress on all the issues in dispute and have shifted the Post Office's position in meaningful ways that will benefit our members, particularly in relation to what was a very real threat - Compulsory Redundancies. In view of the progress made, the Postal Executive considers the agreement is worthy of our Admin & Supply Chain members' support.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be directed to lsheridan@cwu.org or 020 8971 7361.



Yours sincerely


Andy Furey Dave Ward
Assistant Secretary Deputy General Secretary (P)