Latest News
TO: ALL CWU MEMBERS
Dear Colleague
PENSIONS
In expectation of imminent developments on pensions it is important that we update you on the current position
Announcement of the Pension Deficit
We have now passed the 30th June date that was seen as a deadline for Royal Mail and the Pension Scheme Trustee Board to reach agreement on both the size of the deficit and a plan to fund this.
As reported earlier in the year, we expect the latest valuation to show the actual deficit to be announced at around £10 billion.
We also anticipate that in the event of an agreement being reached between the company and the Trustees to fund the deficit, the Independent Pensions Regulatory Body will take a view as to the sustainability of any funding arrangement.
Furthermore, given the size of the likely deficit and the fact that the Government is the sole shareholder of the Royal Mail Group, it is inevitable that the Government will be called upon to be part of any solution.
CWU Policy
In the last couple of years the Union has continually pressed all stakeholders, including Government, to recognise the need to address the pension problem within the Royal Mail Group. The cornerstone of our policy has been to call for an extended 40 year repayment schedule, alongside what is known as a Government Crown Guarantee. This would secure our members’ existing and future pension arrangements without further detriment to benefits, whilst at the same time transform and stabilise the company’s finances both now and in the future.
Next Steps
The pension deficit is soon bound to be in the public domain. The Government will take the opportunity to intervene and insist that pensions is again linked to other recommendations in the original Hooper Report and then use this link to push forward privatisation.
The Union will continue to call for a Government led solution, as set out in our above mentioned policy and strongly make a public case that this can be resolved without the need for privatisation or legislation.
Further meetings will take place with Government, Royal Mail and the Trustee Board. We will keep you informed of further developments.
Billy Hayes Dave Ward
General Secretary Deputy General Secretary
TIME TO DELIVER
COMMUNICATION
WORKERS UNION
North East Division
Bob McGuire
Gary Hodkinson
Stephen Halliwell
North East Divisional Reps |
Dear Union member,
Re:-Royal Mail’s Mail Centre Review.
During the last 24 hours’ you will have received a briefing outlining Royal Mails strategy for the future of the Mail Centre network in the North East Region / Division. It is crucial that you understand that this is Royal Mail’s strategy, it is a proposal that has been shared with the CWU and it is not agreed.
The CWU are now entering a 12- week consultation process where we will be examining all of the information Royal Mail have used to come to their proposal. Gary Hodkinson Divisional Rep will take the lead in coordinating all activities for the CWU on the Mail Centre strategy. He will however, be fully supported by Bob McGuire, Steve Halliwell Divisional Reps, Roger Pheasey (Technical Services) and all the Branches and Area Reps in the North East Division.
We intend to work up alternative proposals to Royal Mail’s strategy of only having three mail centres in the Division within the 12-week period. We will be working closely with your Area and local CWU Reps and CWU HQ to present our findings to Royal Mail in writing offering a different strategy to the one they have just announced. We have called a meeting of all Area Reps next Thursday to discuss our next steps, and how we intend to involve as many people as possible in the consultation period.
We understand how worrying the announcements will be for our members but please understand that this is the initial consultation period, and we will do our utmost to secure an agreement that ensures all options have been considered by the business for a future mail centre strategy.
Yours sincerely
Gary Hodkinson Bob McGuire Steve Halliwell Roger Pheasey
Communication Workers Union North East Divisional Representatives
To All Members
Please follow the links below for the results of the business transformation agreement ballot
MANAGING THE SURPLUS BALLOT…..RESULTS
TRANSFORMING THE BUSINESS 2010 AND BEYOND BALLOT….. RESULTS
Dear Colleague
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION AGREEMENT – BALLOT TIMETABLE EXTENDED UNTIL 27TH APRIL 2010
TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS
Dear Colleague
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION 2010 AND BEYOND AGREEMENT - BALLOT TIMETABLE
Further to LTB 235/10, the Postal Executive met today and agreed a timetable for a Ballot of the membership regarding the Business Transformation 2010 and Beyond Agreement.
The purpose of this LTB is to advise Branches and members that the timetable is as follows:-
Ballot papers despatched Friday 9th April
Ballot closes Last posting Friday 23rd April
TO: ALL POSTAL MEMBERS
Please click the link below to access the full agreement and a D2D presentation
D2D presentation
Follow the link for a D2D presentation
Dear Colleague
UPDATE ON ROYAL MAIL/CWU NEGOTIATIONS
Given growing speculation surrounding our negotiations with Royal Mail we would ask Branches to convey the following CWU statement to our representatives and members:-
“Following 3 months of talks facilitated by Roger Poole, the Independent Chair and ACAS, the negotiating process between Royal Mail and CWU has now reached its final phase.
Both parties believe significant progress has been made. A document, will this week, be considered by the Postal Executive Committee”.
Further information will be issued in due course.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
To All Postal Members
Dear Colleagues
National Negotiations – Future of Royal Mail
It has been agreed to extend talks into next week on the basis of progress made and the recognition of the crucial importance this set of negotiations will have on the future of Royal Mail.
Please find below a communication from Roger Poole, the Independent Chair confirming this position. Further information will be sent out in due course.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward Martin Collins Bob Gibson
Deputy General Secretary (P) Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary
Ray Ellis Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message From Roger Poole, Independent Chair
Royal Mail and the CWU continue to make good progress in what are very complex and wide ranging negotiations concerning the whole Letters business.
We will also soon be approaching the stage of negotiations where parties will need to report back and consult with their constituencies.
Further negotiations will take place next week. Both parties are still committed to achieving an agreement which will enable Royal Mail and its employees to secure a better future for everybody in the organisation.
regards
Jason Llewelyn
Branch secretary
Durham County Amalgamated Branch
CWU Room
Royal Mail Delivery Office
Belmont Industrial Estate
DURHAM. DH1 1AA
Phone 0191 382 6333
Mob 0782 1481087
Web www.cwudurhamcounty.org
Email: cwu.durhamcounty@btinternet.com
Dear Colleague,
Update on Progress with the Interim Agreement
The purpose of this LTB is to give branches, representatives and members a comprehensive update on progress with the interim agreement following yesterday’s Postal Executive meeting.
This report is broken down into the following sections:
- Resolution to local disputes
- National negotiations
- The independent review meetings
- Summary
The afore-mentioned sections are designed to fully reflect all the activities covered by the interim agreement.
The PEC also had the opportunity to take stock of the overall situation and this LTB includes helpful correspondence which will re-assure branches over Royal Mail’s regional plans and 2010 budget / local revision activity.
Resolution to Local Disputes
The interim agreement included the ability for all offices to either review or re-negotiate 2009 local change – dependent on whether change had been introduced by agreement or imposed by Royal Mail executive action. The agreement also included the terms of re-engagement at local level covering all the contentious issues that normally arise from a national dispute.
In order to track local progress, CWU divisional representatives and Royal Mail regional managers were jointly tasked with holding regular meetings with a common agenda that highlighted key elements of the interim agreement. This was then cross referenced with the actual progress being made at local level. Reports from these divisional / regional meetings have been fed back to the national parties and are then reviewed through the independent process.
Initially, in some areas, there were major problems in implementing the local aspects of the agreement. However, recent reports demonstrate we are now making progress in all regions.
We have developed a detailed summary report covering all local offices and this shows positive engagement is now taking place in over 95% of local units and agreement has been reached in approximately 70 units. The summary report is being shared with divisional representatives and it has been agreed that confirmation of local agreements requires joint sign off by the local parties.
In terms of the overall situation regarding the local elements of the interim agreement it can be seen that things are now moving forward although we want to see evidence of more agreements being reached in the next week or so.
National Negotiations
To take forward the national key principles of the interim agreement a negotiating structure was agreed covering operational change, job security issues, reward and relationships. This structure is supplemented by plenary sessions every Thursday where progress is reviewed on all the negotiations with the independent chair and ACAS.
The Postal Executive were given an update on the various strands of the negotiations by the relevant national officers. This can be summarised by saying that in the operational change meetings covering delivery, mail centres and the network, although draft proposals had been exchanged, negotiations were proving difficult particularly in delivery. However, it was felt that the review meeting of the 3rd December had given fresh impetus to the talks and the officers were hopeful that real progress could be made this week.
On the other elements of the talks covering reward, job security issues and relationships, it was reported that negotiations were moving forward, albeit, it was recognised that we had not yet reached a pivotal stage.
The Independent Review Meetings
There have now been three independent review meetings facilitated by Roger Poole, the independent chair, and ACAS. At the 3rd December review meeting we received an in-commercial confidence presentation from Mark Higson, the Managing Director, and his team. The presentation contained some new and helpful information in the context of the impact of Royal Mail’s transformation programme on jobs, full time to part time ratios and mail centre rationalisation.
In the question and answer session that followed the union received strong assurances from the Managing Director that the company’s plans would be shaped by any final agreement. Furthermore, the independent chair also made it clear to both parties that his expectation was that the agreement would shape the future of the business. Overall, this was seen as a helpful session for the union.
The review meeting then received reports on the state of play in all the negotiations. This was followed by suggestions from ACAS and Roger Poole on how we could remove barriers that were preventing progress in some areas. As a result of the 3rd December review meeting there have been some helpful developments:
- ACAS will now directly assist delivery talks.
- Royal Mail has clarified their negotiating teams to ensure key players are always in attendance.
- There has been an important exchange of correspondence (attached) which provides the union with strong assurances over the status of the company’s regional plans and 2010 planned budget / local revision activity. It is important that branches convey the content of this exchange of correspondence to all local representatives.
- The independent chair explained that he would be sending out a communication (attached to LTB 1070/09) outlining his views on the current situation.
Summary
It can be seen from the afore-mentioned that, at this stage, the decision to engage external support is proving beneficial.
In taking stock of the overall situation, including the assurances given by Royal Mail over planned 2010 change, the Postal Executive yesterday accepted two very important points:
- The union must continue to put our faith in the independent process as the only realistic way of securing a full and final agreement.
- A return to strike action will be a last resort and will only be triggered if there is a breakdown in negotiations.
We are now focusing all our efforts on trying to finalise an agreement before Christmas. The Postal Executive has agreed to meet again on the 16th December to review the situation. A further report will be issued in due course.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward Martin Collins
Deputy General Secretary (P) Assistant Secretary
Ray Ellis Bob Gibson
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary
Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary
Once again members turn out in support of the industrial action
Thank you to all who attended the line
Strikes Continue
28th October 2009
Dave Ward, CWU deputy general secretary, said:
"Due to the involvement of Brendan Barber as an independent third party and because for the first time Royal Mail's Managing Director, Mark Higson, was directly involved in negotiations we have had the most useful and productive discussions over the last three days since the dispute commenced.
"Earlier today we tabled a proposal as part of the process that reflected the progress made in negotiations over the last few days.
"Had that proposal been agreed this would have enabled a period of calm and allowed further talks through ACAS with the intention of concluding a full and final agreement.
"At this point of time, we have not had confirmation as to whether our proposal is acceptable and therefore the strikes previously announced for the next few days will take place.
"We respect the confidentiality of the process currently managed by Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, and we are not prepared to comment on the detail of those discussions or our proposal.
"This series of strikes and future strikes can still be avoided and we remain available for discussions at any time, including tonight. We remain committed to reaching an agreed resolution."
Strike action is due to take place as follows:
Thursday from 4am
43,700 staff across the UK in mail centres, delivery units in mail centres, network logistic drivers and garage staff.
Friday:
MDECs (400 people in three sites - Plymouth, Stockport, Stoke. These workers assist mail centres by reading and entering mail addresses.)
Saturday:
77,000 delivery and collection staff across the UK.
Fantastic support from CWU members during the day of industrial action.
Please see below for images from the day
picket line pictures
STRIKE ACTION TO GO AHEAD
It would appear that despite the best efforts of CWU negotiators, we have been unable to reach a settlement on the current industrial dispute.
As such the planned action for Friday the 23rd October will go ahead
NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL ACTION BALLOT RESULT
RETURNED BALLOT PAPERS 67%
Yes votes 61,623
No votes 19,207
The membership have overwhelmingly supported the call for industrial action,
Let’s hope that true negotiations with the Business and the Government will now start, and a strike can be avoided
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who voted
Regards
Jason Llewelyn
Communication Workers Union
Branch Secretary
Durham County Amalgamated
MEMBERS MAY FIND THIS ARTICLE INTERESTING:
Please follow the link
TO: ALL POSTAL MEMBERS
Dear Colleague
RE: Royal Mail Dispute – Update on Negotiations
A two-day meeting took place with Royal Mail on the 2nd & 3rd September 2009.
Some progress was made with the company now clearly accepting that there is a requirement to negotiate further national agreements that will shape and take forward modernisation. Both parties explored, in more detail, the various elements that needed to be part of new national agreements. Royal Mail has also now recognized that the whole issue of what constitutes a fair day’s workload is a crucial part of finding a solution.
The talks also covered, at length, the urgent need for both parties to agree ground rules that would ensure a fairer approach to local deployment of change, including offices where managerial executive action has already taken place. Again, whilst there is a consensus for the need to set out fair and succinct ground rules, the company remains hesitant to stand down planned executive action because they believe this would signal to our branches an acceptance of no change.
To try and move this forward the union took the initiative and put forward a proposal that would break the current cycle, end all current disputes and conclude phase 4 national negotiations by the end of September ’09. We exchanged views on this proposal and Royal Mail called for an adjournment which lasted three hours. Subsequently position papers were exchanged and the intention is to build on this in meetings later this week.
Having given further consideration to all the issues raised at the meeting the union wrote to Royal Mail on the 4th September summarising our position and detailing a formal offer that would achieve the following:
- Immediately restore customer confidence by bringing an end to all current local disputes.
- Ensure Royal Mail and CWU can both re-engage in the Industrial Relations Framework with a fairer approach to deployment of local change – in accordance with all existing national agreements.
- Introduce at pace the transformation of the business by concluding phase 4 negotiations and reaching further national agreements by the end of September ’09. A positive outcome to these talks would resolve any potential national dispute.
For the purpose of complete clarity, we are setting out the detail and rationale behind the union’s offer.
CWU Fresh Offer
- All planned managerial executive action and local strike action should be immediately suspended.
- In offices where executive action has already taken place, fresh negotiations should commence immediately to reach acceptable agreements. Our regional / divisional and area teams should support the local parties in resolving their differences.
These negotiations should review the changes Royal Mail has made and ensure new local agreements are reached in accordance with ground rules agreed by the national parties and in line with all existing national agreements.
- There would be a process of parallel talks which would allow both parties to re-engage initially with area level teams overseen by our regional / divisional parties. Meetings at area level could then take pragmatic and informed decisions on the best way to proceed and facilitate positive local outcomes. This would also avoid immediate disagreements over what stage our respective local parties have reached in the IR Framework.
- To assist local solutions, parameters should be set by the national parties which state unequivocally that maintaining earnings and innovative attendance patterns must be part of local agreements. These are key principals within existing national agreements including the 2007 Pay and Modernisation deal.
- Voluntary redundancy must only be offered in line with the MTSF agreement. This should be spelt out by sequencing the proper process for voluntary redundancy so that there can be no further misunderstandings.
- The level of savings targeted for local revisions must also be negotiable. This should take account of a joint assessment of workload, the impact of any volume loss, safe working practices and ultimately what people can cope with. The subject of what constitutes a fair day’s workload is proper for national phase 4 talks. Local parties should be encouraged to take pragmatic decisions on what can be achieved in the short term prior to the introduction of new automation. In the meantime, national negotiation should resolve the substantive workload issues in a way which everybody accepts is fair and objective.
- In order to facilitate a fairer approach to local change, agreement should be reached on a new mechanism to incentives local change.
- Guidelines should be agreed by the national parties that would assist the local parties on what is relevant to local discussions and what is out of bounds for local parties because it is part of phase 4 national negotiations.
- Both parties should clear diaries and commit to concluding phase 4 by reaching further national agreements no later than the end of September ’09. Key issues should be prioritised and we should accept that a successful outcome requires the legitimate concerns of both parties to be resolved simultaneously.
Conclusion
It is clear that the pressure of local industrial action is now having an impact on Royal Mail both in their approach to negotiations and in the substantial build up of work as we come out of the summer period and enter what is traditionally a higher traffic period.
However, we must also acknowledge that key to making genuine progress is that Royal Mail must abandon managerial executive action and accept that change by diktat has no place in a modern industry. This issue is holding back genuine progress and as every week goes by further executive action, including the imposition of Network ’09 duty arrangements, makes finding a solution more complicated.
It is important that branches convey to our members the initiatives the union are taking to resolve the dispute and that our latest offer represents an entirely reasonable position.
In the meantime we must maintain the pressure on the company by doing everything possible to secure a “yes” vote in our forthcoming national industrial action ballot.
Further meetings are planned on the 9th & 10th September and we will advise you of developments in due course.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)
Ray Ellis
Assistant Secretary
Martin Collins
Assistant Secretary
Bob Gibson
Assistant Secretary
Davie Robertson
Acting Assistant Secretary
National Dispute
Following a meeting with Mark Higson, the Managing Director of Royal Mail on Friday 14th August, the Union has written to Royal Mail making a number of points about our current dispute.
Firstly, we have welcomed the fact that Royal Mail has finally accepted that Phase 4 of the 2007 Pay and Modernisation Agreement, did explicitly commit the company to further national negotiations and further national agreements on a range of crucial issues that will shape how we take forward modernisation. It is important that we convey to our members that this was not Royal Mail's public position a few weeks ago.
However, given that we know, from past experience, that Royal Mail conduct meetings on the basis of lectures and not proper negotiations, we have made the company a fresh offer on how talks should proceed. The Union has proposed that both parties immediately commit to an intensive period of national negotiations based on meeting 3 days a week over the next month. In order to demonstrate that the company are now serious about resolving this dispute we have asked the Managing Director to confirm acceptance of our offer by close of play today.
Secondly, we have responded to an invitation from the Managing Director to formulate ground rules that would ensure local change is agreed and deployed fairly, in line with all national agreements, and not on the basis of managerial executive action. We have asked Royal Mail to cease all further planned executive action and immediately reach acceptable agreement in all offices where executive action has already taken place.
With regard to deployment of fair local change, we have identified a key problem as being that management are imposing unfair work rates to fit unrealistic budget demands, which means that many of our members simply cannot cope with the resulting workload. As a solution to this problem, the Union has offered Royal Mail the opportunity to engage external independent experts in the field of work study, to once and for all establish fair and objective measurement of employees' workloads.
Finally, we have raised again, our serious concerns over the appalling way that Royal Mail managers are treating postal workers in many offices. As a solution to this problem we have asked the Managing Director to intervene and stop some of the current management behavior, which amounts to bullying and intimidation. We have also asked the Managing Director to agree to an external independent enquiry into the managerial bullying and harassment of postal workers.
On all of the aforementioned issues we will advise you of further developments in due course.
Given that Royal Mail continue to selectively display letters between the national parties on their intranet system we have enclosed a copy, of the letter that has been sent to the Managing Director and a copy of our latest press release for information purposes.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)
TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS
Dear Colleague
National Industrial Action Ballot
Despite the explicit commitments Royal Mail made in 2007– that it was not the end of the negotiating process on modernisation and that they would introduce future change by agreement – it is clear that Royal Mail has no genuine desire to reach acceptable agreements with the Union. Instead, the company continues to impose change by diktat, intimidation and bullying.
Therefore, in pursuance of Annual Conference Policies and the urgent need to achieve National Agreements to cover all aspects of Major Change, the Postal Executive has had no alternative other than to set a timetable for a National Industrial Action Ballot.
The timetable for the Ballot is as follows:-
· Notice Served to the employer on the 2nd September 2009
· Ballot Papers dispatched on the 9th September 2009
· Ballot closes on the 23rd September 2009
Communications to members are being prepared and over the next few weeks the Union will be setting out, in detail, all the reasons why we must achieve a YES vote. In the meantime, Branches should step up their local campaigns and plan membership meetings as appropriate.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward Billy Hayes Ray Ellis
Deputy General Secretary (P) General Secretary Asst Secretary
Martin Collins Bob Gibson Terry Pullinger
Asst Secretary Asst Secretary Asst Secretary
CWU SCORES SUCCESS AT 2009 DURHAM MINERS GALA
Activists from across the region supported the CWU stall at the miner’s gala this year, and once again the public turned up in force.
This was rightly a time to celebrate the victory achieved over privatisation, and to thank the public for supporting our Campaign.
Generous donations from the public and with the help of some quite imaginative persuading from our Simpson and Miller colleges, helped to raise £180 for our charity CWUHA.
Thank you to all the members who volunteered on the stall or came to see us, we hope to see all of you again next year.
Regards
Jason Llewelyn
Communication Workers Union
Branch Secretary
Durham County Amalgamated
THE KEEP THE POST PUBLIC TOUR ARRIVES IN DURHAM
The tours north east leg started in grand style in Durham with members from the local Durham office and adjacent Newcastle branch in attendance, along with national officer Phil Browne, Regional secretary Paul clays and MEP Stephen Hughes
The public as always continue to give us their support and turned out to see the 20ft post box and some smaller versions referred to as pillock boxes.
Above Paul Clays, me and Phil Browne (jokes on a post card please)
The press coverage was good with the local BBC and the northern echo both covering the event. Stephen Hughes MEP released the balloons for the finale photo opportunity of the day
Thank you to all who attended
For more information on events in your area please follow the link news
Royal Mail Group Pay Freeze UPDATE 11/05/09
This week the Postal Executive has further considered the implications of the company's announcement to impose a group wide pay freeze. Therefore, the purpose of this LTB is to set out a more detailed response from the Union.
The Union accepts that the recession will impact negatively on work volumes. However, we still believe the overall commercial position of the Royal Mail Group proves the company are in a far better shape than they make out and that they can afford to improve the terms and conditions of our members across all businesses.
The Postal Executive believes the company's decision to impose a pay freeze is politically motivated.
It suit's the company's underlying policy to transform the whole culture of reward and remuneration away from the traditional Union bargaining agenda, towards things like Colleague Share and lump sums, which are offered as rewards for achieving financial targets. Part of this policy is to enforce the principle that employees should not be rewarded for major change.
It also suit's Royal Mail in the current political climate and their relationship with Government. There is no doubt that Board members are feeling vulnerable as a result of the severe criticisms levelled at them from both Hooper and the Government. The reality is the people leading the business are in limbo waiting for the outcome of the Government debate to determine their fate.
In these circumstances, Royal Mail's Directors are taking advantage of the uncertainty surrounding the Government's proposals and are trying to show that they can take tough decisions and drive through change. It is also likely that they are doing the Government's bidding and creating the environment for privatisation.
In response the Postal Executive have agreed we must be consistent in making it clear to all senior managers across the company that the pay freeze is neither justified nor acceptable to the Union in any of the businesses.
The Union's position will be communicated directly to our members' home addresses and we will focus on explaining the reasons why the company can afford to improve our members' terms and conditions in all businesses.
The Postal Executive has agreed to adopt a co-ordinated approach and will tackle the company's position as a Postal Constituency. A meeting with the Group HR Director is being rearranged to reflect the urgency of the situation.
We will of course continue to meet the individual group businesses and attempt to clarify whether or not the pay freeze also applies to any benefits and improvements we have been seeking through our normal bargaining agenda. The outcome of these meetings will be reported to the DGS (P) and discussed with the National Officers before any decisions are taken by the Postal Executive on how we move forward.
We are mindful that should there be any subsequent concessions or change in management policy the company are likely to use this to play different businesses off against each other in order to achieve the lowest overall cost scenario.
It has long been recognised that in recent times the prospect of achieving 'no strings' pay rises is a thing of the past. All recent deals have generally involved aspects of moving the company's agenda forward. Therefore, the concept that our members should also now accept all major change with no real benefits is far more problematical for the Union and Royal Mail, than whether or not we receive an immediate pay rise.
Our current view is that the Board's position is only likely to change as a result of either a deal with Government on the wider political issues or through us galvanising the support of our members in the traditional way.
The Union faces numerous problems on many different fronts and it is likely that the attacks on our members' jobs and the company's future plans will be upper most in our members' thoughts. Therefore, it will be our intention to focus on explaining to our members that all these issues are linked and that it is essential over the coming weeks that we galvanise their support.
Any enquires on the above should be addressed to DGS (P) department quoting reference 60000.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)
SWINE FLU - FACTS
What is Swine Flu?
Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influenza type A, which infects pigs.
There are many types and the infection is constantly changing.
Until now it has not normally infected humans but the latest form certainly does and can be spread from person-to-person - probably through coughing and sneezing.
How Dangerous is it?
Symptoms of Swine flu in humans appears to be similar to those produced by standard, seasonal flu.
This includes fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and fatigue.
So far most cases of Swine flu around the world appear to be mild, but in Mexico lives have been lost and another victim has died in Texas.
Can it be treated?
General consensus is that Tamiflu and Relenza seem to be effective in treating cases that have occurred so far, however, the drugs must be administered at an early stage for them to be effective.
Early use of the drugs would also make it less likely that infected people will pass the virus on to others.
At this stage, it is still unclear at how effective the current flu vaccinations will be against this new strain.
A new vaccine is currently being worked on but this could be some months away. One possible concern with a new vaccine is that it can also do more damage than good with possible side effects creating more health issues than the actual outbreak.
What measures can we take to prevent infection?
Try to avoid close contact with people who appear unwell and who have a fever and cough.
General infection control practices and good hygiene can help to reduce transmission of all viruses, including the human swine influenza. This includes covering your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, using a tissue when possible and disposing of it promptly.
It is also important to wash your hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to face or to other people and cleaning hard surfaces like door handles using a normal cleaning product.
Staying safe!!
Anyone with flu-like symptoms who might have been to Mexico or has been in close contact with anyone that has travelled to this country- should seek medical advice
Patients are being asked not to go to into GP surgeries in order to minimise the risk of spreading the disease to others.
Communications!!
Every household will, within the next 7 days, receive a leaflet from the government explaining everything about swine flu and all the possible preventative measures that can be taken or introduced. If you have any questions on this issue or you require advice the following contact numbers are provided for you as well as some useful email addresses that hold further information:
www.bbc.co.uk
www.nhs.uk
www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu
County Durham Primary Care Trust
Headquarters
Reception (for general enquiries):
John Snow House, Durham University Science Park, County Durham, DH1 3YG
Tel: 0191 301 1300
Derwentside office
Reception (for general enquiries):
The Greenhouse, Greencroft Industrial Estate, Annfield Plain, Stanley, County Durham, DH9 7XP
Tel: 01207 523 600
SWINE FLU INFORMATION 0800 1 513 513
CWU
This union shall keep you informed of any developments as they occur; including what measures Royal Mail will be taking.
As yet, no information has been received from Royal Mail nor has there been any contact from senior management requesting a meeting to go through any necessary plans. (British Telecom have already commenced comms with their employees)
As soon as this is available or meetings have taken place then this shall be communicated to you immediately.
Kind Regards
Christian Kerr
CWU Area Health, Safety, Welfare & Environment Representative
Durham County Amal
Tel: 0191 382 6333
Mob: 07845 337 300
www.cwudurhamsafety@btinternet.com
ROYAL MAIL GROUP ANNOUNCE PAY FREEZE
The Union has told Royal Mail there is no possibility of us accepting a pay freeze. Royal Mail is using the external environment as an excuse to continue to attack our members' terms and conditions.
The Company can afford to improve our members' terms and conditions for the following reasons:
- The company recently posted its best financial results for years and out performed all of its financial targets.
- Royal Mail recently wrote to all employees saying the value of the company has significantly increased.
- The Government has now accepted that it will take on the pension's legacy deficit. This will bring about an incredible transformation in Royal Mail's finances. Previously, Royal Mail signed into funding approximately £280 million per year, for the next 15 years. This money can now be released and reinvested into improving our members' terms and conditions.
- Royal Mail has confirmed that its modernisation programme is fully funded from the previous Government loan.
- The Company will achieve significant cost reductions as a result of the introduction of automation.
- The Government's regulatory proposals provide the company with a great opportunity to now operate on a level playing field with its competitors and further improve its financial prospects.
The combination of a pay freeze and the growing attacks on our members' jobs, terms and conditions means that industrial conflict is inevitable unless Royal Mail change their position.
No BNP MEPs!
Vote and get involved ahead of June 4th elections
Our campaign in the next 6 weeks centres around the European Parliament Elections, which take place on June 4th. The BNP are standing candidates across the country and we face the prospect, according to current polls, of as many as FOUR fascist MEPs from the British National Party representing the UK in the European Parliament come mid-June.
BUT THEY CAN BE STOPPED.
Any BNP success will rely on low turnout so we want to ensure that people are aware of this threat and that they register to vote in the June 4th poll, and use that vote on any party other than the BNP.
Each MEP that the BNP gains garners respectability for their racist views and "normalises" their poisonous message. Each MEP can claim hundreds of thousands of pounds in office and staff expenses. The BNP would use this money to employ full-time organisers to peddle race hatred. Areas where the BNP gains an electoral foothold see a sharp rise in the level of racist attacks as words of hate are turned to actions.
GET INVOLVED
(1) REMEMBER TO REGISTER TO VOTE!
The deadline for voter registration is 19th May. You can check whether you are registered at: www.aboutmyvote.com
If you’re not yet old enough to vote then give older friends or family a nudge to make sure they do.
STRONG
SUPPORT IN DURHAM
The petition signing event held in Durham market place on Saturday the 7th was well received by the public, with over 650 Signatories and strong support to keep the Royal Mail in public ownership.
Members of the Durham branch were joined by The North East
Telecom Branch, National Organiser Lynne Browne, EC member, Phil Browne
and also very much appreciated help
from the Newcastle Branch to spread the
word and canvas support.
Despite being bitterly cold the general
feeling of the people that visited the stall Was one of warmth to our campaign and Anger that the government was embarking on a venture that was not in the interest of the public or the employees of a much loved institution.
A lot of the people expressed their
concerns that private companies have one objective in business and that’s to make profit with little or no regard for the service or social role that a publicly owned Royal Mail provides. There was outrage that a labour government were trying to sell off part of
the postal service, and at the same time ploughing billions of tax payer’s money in to the banking system.
We all had a very worthwhile day and at times the queue to sign up was a dozen deep.
Jason llewelyn
Branch secretary
Durham AMAL
HOOPER REPORT –
GOVERNMENT STATEMENT
The purpose of this
letter is to set out the Union’s initial reaction to the Hooper
Report, its recommendations and the Government’s position.
Six months ago
Hooper published his interim report with the headline that
competition had not worked. Six months later, in a report that has
clearly been influenced by Government, any notion that competition
is or has ever been a problem has been airbrushed out of history.
This is a dishonest attempt by Government to cover the short comings
of their own failed policies.
The Government’s
statement that they accept the recommendations and will seek a
strategic partnership with a European competitor is a betrayal of
their Manifesto Commitment. The idea that Royal Mail can only be
successful in the future through the expertise of our European
competitors is total nonsense. The Union remains opposed to any form
of privatisation and will campaign vigorously to stop the Joint
Venture.
The Union
acknowledges that we must find a resolution to the growing pension
crisis with an estimated deficit in 2009 of £7 billion. We were the
first to campaign for the Government to face up to its
responsibilities on pensions and we welcome this development.
However, we want more information about the detail of their
proposal. We see this as an opportunity to create fresh momentum in
not only helping the company’s future finances but also improving
our members’ pension arrangements.
The Union welcomes
the end of Postcomm’s regulatory regime. However, we require further
information on how Ofcom will operate and in particular how this
will help sustain the Universal Service going forward.
A full and considered response will be made by the union's national
leadership. The union will be campaigning to ensure that the
government's manifesto commitment not to privatise Royal Mail is
upheld. We have received reports of dissensions within the Cabinet,
and inside the Whips office on these proposals. Jim McGovern MP for
Dundee West has resigned from his position as Parliamentary Private
Secretary to Pat McFadden in opposition to the proposals. A meeting
has been arranged with Lord Mandelson for Friday. The group of CWU
sponsored MPs has met and agreed to campaign against the proposals.
The TUC General Council; met today and reaffirmed its opposition to
the privatisation of Royal Mail.
We will be
immediately calling upon the Government to honour the Manifesto
Commitment and engage the Union in direct talks on the future of the
industry. The Postal Executive will meet next Tuesday to determine
what other actions are necessary to take our campaign forward.
Billy Hayes, general secretary,
said: "It is incredible that the British Government which has
lead the world in overhauling banks need another European postal
service to rescue the Royal Mail. Especially one which has
already been disgraced by losing sensitive data disks in the
mail.
"This was meant to be a report
about competition but Mandelson has ignored the damage done
through irresponsible liberalisation and advocates more
involvement by private companies. We welcome the move to Ofcom
which recognises both changes in the communications sector and
the failings of Postcomm to manage the mail market effectively;
however we look forward to receiving more information on future
regulation."
