Implementing the Transformation Agreement

April/May Report

Business Transformation Agreement

The arguments are now done with, the votes have been cast and the membership have
voted to accept the agreement. Whatever the rights or wrongs, the job now is to make
sure it’s implemented on the agreed terms. That didn’t happen with the 2007
Agreement with the result that Royal Mail were able to get away with doing stuff that
wasn’t in the Agreement and not sticking to commitments that were.
The bulk of this week’s Postal Executive was taken up with discussing how
we were now going to move ahead with this. Dave Ward reported that he had already
met with Royal Mail and that the intention was to set up a Joint Deployment Group,
which would also include Roger Poole and ACAS. This would meet initially every
fortnight. All the Divisional Reps were due to meet with Regional managers on 14
May and then joint meetings involving Area and Unit Reps would take place. He said
the first task was to calm down the feelings raised by both sides jumping the gun on
revisions and to that end a joint communication on this issue was planned for this
week. What was needed above all was accurate information from the field so that
neither side was relying on anecdotes provided by the other and the suggestion is to
set up a traffic lights system so that every unit can be monitored to see where they are
and what the problems are.
Bob Gibson reported on the progress of the joint workshops. There were still
some issues outstanding around the information going into the various tools Royal
Mail use. RM operates on the basis of 100BSI but that’s only possible for fully
motivated staff operating an incentive scheme. Not the case for most of our members
so that’s not something we can just accept. Also still unresolved is the accurate
measurement of mail where what comes out of mail centres to DO’s always seems to
be less than what goes in. He reported that he was due to meet RM this week again to
try and sort out thee remaining issues and also to clear the menu of options for
maximising the number of Saturdays off. The aim on D2D’s was to put them into
workload and increase to 4 a week by the beginning of June and to 5 by July,
assuming the contracts were there.
On the issue of World Class Mail the PE recognised that there was a need to
get the involvement forums up and running as soon as possible. Royal Mail are still
pushing this in a big way and it’s vital that this now proceeds according to the
Agreement with the insistence that it doesn’t cut across existing national agreements.
World Class Mail should also mean world-class terms and conditions and this mustn’t
be forgotten.

Automation Deployment Guidelines

Acting Indoor Secretary Phil Browne presented a document to the PE dealing with the
introduction of ILSM’s and Compact Sequencers into mail centres. This covers the
rationale for choosing the locations for introducing the machinery, the safety issues in
installing them, the success criteria to be achieved, the full involvement of the CWU
at all levels and the maintenance of earnings opportunities. The guidelines lay down a
minimum level of staffing, which will be one per CSS machine, working for around 2
hours on the machine followed by 2 hours on other associated work. The ILSM’s will
have a minimum of 3 operators per machine plus separate porters and staff will rotate
around the various roles. The final staffing levels will be subject to local agreement as
some mail centres may need more depending on local circumstances. Selection will
be as for specialist skills roles under the terms of the Way Forward and initially will
be from those already Advanced TPM trained in seniority order. Full training will be
given and all staff will receive the TPM allowance. The guide also contains a full
description of the agreed TPM tasks for both machines.

Parcelforce Pay

Terry Pullinger reported that as part of the discussions on pay, Parcelforce had agreed
a scheme to provide dental care to employees through a company called Denplan.
This provides for 100% reimbursement for NHS treatment costs, worldwide dental
injury and emergency cover and mouth cancer cover and the scheme will be open
from 28th April this year. Talks were also continuing to establish an agreed job
description and selection procedure for the Depot Trainer role. Terry reported that
progress on the actual pay claim had been slow and difficult. This was partly because
management wouldn’t move until the outcome of the Royal Mail Agreement was
known and partly due to the Parcelforce managing director moving to POL. A
temporary replacement has now been appointed and there is a commitment from both
sides to conclude a new pay package as a priority.

Quadrant Pay

The PE was told that a closed offer had been received. As this was significantly below
the current RPI of near 4%, this was rejected. Both sides have now gone away to
review their positions and to see if there is anything that can be done to move the
issue forward.

Postal Department Review

Following on from the retirement of Martin Collins, the Indoor Secretary, the PE have
decided to carry out a review of the whole workings of the Postal Department. This
will include looking at the roles and responsibilities of all Officers and Postal
Executive members and will start immediately following Annual Conference. We
decided that it wouldn’t be proper to fill the Indoor Secretary post until the outcome
of this is known. In the meantime, PE member Phil Browne will carry out the role on
a temporary basis.

Pete Keenlyside
7 May 2010