LTB 741/15 Post Office: Crown Office Opening Hours Christmas Eve - Forrmal Trade Dispute and Industrial Action Ballot

[TrueBlueTerrier]

No:741/15

Ref: 110
Date: 19th November 2015

TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS

Dear Colleague

POST OFFICE: CROWN OFFICE OPENING HOURS CHRISTMAS EVE - FORMAL TRADE DISPUTE AND INDUSTRIAL ACTION BALLOT

Further to LTB 492/15 dated 27th July, Branches will recall the Post Office has previously communicated to staff that the closing time on Christmas Eve will, for this year and beyond, be 16:00. It is widely known by customers that Crown Offices have closed at 12:30 on Christmas Eve for decades and our members have quite rightly viewed this "concession" as a small reward for the hard work they put in during the traditionally busy period leading up to Christmas.
Conference Policy

As a consequence of the Post Office's imposition, the following motion was carried at our Annual Conference 2015 and policy was unanimously established:
"This Conference notes that POL have served notice, that on Christmas Eve this year all Crown Offices will be required to stay open until 16.00.
Unless an agreement can be reached to maintain the status quo by 30th September 2015, a national ballot for industrial action will be called for the affected members.

The Postal Executive is instructed accordingly."

Negotiations
It appears the Post Office has received feedback that our members are understandably angry over the decision to close at 16:00 on Christmas Eve. At the Post Office's instigation, we agreed to meet with them last week to discuss this matter, with the aim of reaching an agreed way forward. A further meeting was also held yesterday, Wednesday 18th November. Discussions with the Post Office have now concluded without reaching an agreement not least due to the dogmatic stance of the Post Office in only being prepared to recognise our members' efforts in a one-off payment for this year alone.

Management Communications
Shortly after our meeting yesterday, the Post Office published a communication (attached to this LTB) under the name of Roger Gale, General Manager, Crown Network, which outlined a "sweetener" put forward by management as compensation for the 16:00 closure as follows:

• A one-off payment of £50 (the full amount also to be paid to part-timers). This would mean the principle of a 16.00 closure would apply for future years.
• For this year only - 3.5 hours Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) to be taken from 4th January 2016 - 31st March 2016 at a time to be agreed with the Branch Manager.

Formal Trade Dispute - Strike Action Inevitable
The Postal Executive supported the negotiating team's rejection of the £50 offer as "paltry" - the Post Office then increased the offer to £100 with the conditionality the Postal Executive recommended it to our Crown members. Given the members have enjoyed the 12:30 closure for over 40 years, the negotiating team pursued a Postal Executive policy that an agreement would have to provide our members with benefits for years to come. It is therefore important to note that the rejected £100 offer was for this year only and members will be expected to work on Christmas Eve (where it falls on a week day) until 16:00 in future years for absolutely no additional reward. The Postal Executive as a consequence has unanimously endorsed a national ballot for industrial action for Crown members in keeping with conference policy.

Accordingly, I wrote to Neil Hayward, Group People Director yesterday to inform him that in the absence of an agreement, a formal trade dispute now exists between us and we will be instigating a ballot for Industrial Action across the entire Crown network. This letter is also attached to this LTB for information.
This will not be the first time our Crown members have had to resort to strike action over Christmas Eve. In 2004 the Post Office attempted to impose a 16:00 closing time and this was met with an overwhelming YES vote for strike action. Following the strike action on Christmas Eve 2004, the traditional 12:30 closing time was restored in 2005 and our members have enjoyed this benefit ever since.

Next Steps
In the absence of a meaningful agreement covering this year and beyond, we have to press ahead with an industrial action ballot in line with conference policy. It remains our aim to conclude an agreement over Christmas Eve arrangements without recourse to strike action. However, for this to happen, the offer on the table would have to be significantly improved by the Post Office, including staffing being undertaken by volunteers.

It is our understanding the 16:00 closing time has not yet been communicated to customers; it is therefore not too late for the Post Office to reverse this appalling decision and to reinstate the 12:30 closing time that our members so thoroughly deserve.

In the meantime, it is imperative that Branch Secretaries (with Crown members) liaise with their Crown Area Representatives to ensure that all members know how vital it is to vote and vote YES for strike action to protect this long standing and well-deserved tradition on Christmas Eve.
Further developments, including a ballot timetable will be reported in due course.

If you have any questions in relation to this LTB, please contact Lea Sheridan - lsheridan@cwu.org.



Yours sincerely


Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary

[the old girl]

sorry to be a pain, but was just reading this post, what was the outcome of xmas eve negotiations? I was day off on xmas eve, so presume I didn't qualify for the 3.5 hrs off in lieu?