27 April 2001 Volume 6 Issue 16 Paragraphs 181 - 198
WEEKLY INFORMATION FROM THE COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION
SUMMARY
GENERAL
181 Election of Field
Officers Telecom Health & Safety Rep
182 Legal Services
Department: Annual Conference 2001
183 Branch Magazine Competition
TELECOMS
184 Flexible Working Options
185 D&DS Generic Job Descriptions
186 Annual Leave and BIS
POSTAL
187 Royal Mail: Software
Franking Internal Trial
188 Royal Mail:Total
Productive Maintenance
189 Royal Mail Uniforms
190 Breakdown and Recovery Arrangements
191 Bravery Award Scheme
— Cash Handling & Distribution
192 Royal Mail: FTD Mail
Centre Revision Toolkit
193 ASRs — Help blow
the gaff on SPDO uplifts
194 Annual Conference 2001
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
195 Disability in Focus
196 Lesbian and Gay
Advisory Committee, Weekend Seminar
197 Questionnaire On The
Implementation Of The Disability Discrimination Act
HEALTH & SAFETY
198 Hand and Arm Vibration
— Medical Assessments
SPECIAL BRIEFINGS
SB/165 BT Retirement Plan (Nigel Cotgrove)
SB/166 CWU/PON National Agreement (Tony Kearns)
SB/167 Postal Regulator: Unit Reps. Briefing (John Keggie, DGS{P})
SB/168 Postal Regulator: Unit Reps. Briefing (John Keggie, DGS{P})
SB/169 Above Branch Facilities (Nigel Cotgrove)
SB/170 Royal Mail Electronic Services: Hybrid Mail (John Keggie,DGS(P})
SB/171 Press Speculation over the Future of BTF (Simon Sapper)
SB/172 Annual Conference 2000 (Derek Hodgson, G.S.)
SB/173 Revision of Pay for Grades Represented by Parcelforce
(Phil Browne)
SB/174 Foot and Mouth Outbreak (Derek Hodgson, GS)
SB/175 BT Cellnet Retail (Dave Johnson)
SB/176 E-peopleserve Pay Ballot (Brian Healy)
GENERAL
181 Election of Field Officers Telecom Health & Safety Representative
Further to Special Briefing No 58/2001 dated 1st Feb 2001, which
invited nominations for Field Officer posts, the following nomination
was received for the Telecom Health & Safety representative for
the South Wales/Southwest Counters Region (Area 2) — Patricia
Lynn Simpson.
There had been no other nominations Patricia Lynn Simpson is therefore
elected to the above position.
Any enquires regarding the paragraph should be directed to the National Organising Secretary, Eric Lovett
182 Legal Services Department: Annual Conference 2001
The normal arrangements for interviews will be made at Annual
Conference 2001. Due to the ever increasing number of requests for
interviews, Branches who wish to avail themselves of this facility
should write to the department quoting the case reference number and
the member's name, marking the envelope "CONFERENCE
INTERVIEWS". This will enable the Legal Services Department to
have the necessary file of papers available at the conference venue.
In addition, there will be a Legal Services stall and various forms
and information will be available. Free legal advice will also be
provided by Messrs Simpson Millar, Solicitors, and I trust this
facility will be of assistance to all branches.
Any enquiries on the above paragraph should be referred to Mr Tony Rupa, Legal Services Officer, 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1RX.
183 Branch Magazine Competition
Can your local branch magazine match or even top previous winners for
presentation, style and content?
This year Hamilton Direct Bank is once again offering prizes of
£200, £100 and £50 in software vouchers for the three
entries judged to be the best of the pack by a panel of leading media professionals.
Nominations are now open — so now's the time to decide which was
your best issue of the last 12 months, the one you think will really
get the opposition' running for coverI
Please send in three copies (of the same issue) to:
Irene Harwood
Communications Department
150 The Broadway, Wimbledon,
London SW1 9 1 RX.
The winners will be announced at Annual Conference. Don't delay — the deadline for entries is Friday May 4.
TELECOMS
184 Flexible Working Options
As part of the process of embracing diversity and equality with
Retail, management have set specific targets for the following year.
One of these is to alter the gender balance of Customer Service Field
Operations. As part of this initiative, Customer Service Advisers
(CSAs) displaced through the restructuring of 150 sites under Project
Dovetail, are being offered the opportunity to consider a career as a
Field Engineer.
Currently arrangements are being made for a number of CSAs to spend
time job shadowing with Field Engineers. CSAs work a range of
attendance patterns including part-time working. The Union has
indicated that we would not wish to see any discrimination of those
with a right to part-time working.
A meeting is being arranged to discuss eventual attendance patterns
and to help remove the practical and cultural obstacles for women
choosing to work in Field Engineering.
Ian Cuthbert Asst. Secretary
185 D&DS Generic Job Descriptions
We have received several enquiries with regard to the validity of an e-mail
that has been circulated by D&DS management, stating that the
union has given agreement to new generic job descriptions and that
the people can carry out the duties of a higher grade for up to 20%
of their time.
Neither of the statements is true and the Union has requested an
urgent meeting with D&DS management to discuss the outstanding
issues, we have yet to resolve, before any agreement can be reached.
Any queries should be directed to my office at CWU HO. Simon Sapper
186 Annual Leave and BIS
Numerous branches have contacted head office reporting problems with
the National Phoenix Control Centre which of course has
responsibility for co-ordinating the allocation of booking of annual leave.
The significant number of B2 grades who have personal rights to Cl
within BIS have been allocated the wrong amount of annual leave. BT
have been quick to rectify this situation and manual changes are
being made to ensure that no B2's with personal rights to Cl's are
being unfairly treated.
It will be appreciated if branches could reassure members and advise
them to escalate any problems accordingly.
Simon Sapper Asst. Secretary
POSTAL
187 Royal Mail: Software Franking Internal Trial
Royal Mail have written to the Union advising us that they are
embarking on the activity to identify what the issues will be if the
business needs to accommodate software or internet based franking
should they either choose or be required to do so. The following
outlines the objectives and methodology to be used for the proposed
Software Franking Internal Trials.
Background
Business & Consumer Markets have been approached on several
occasions by suppliers of software franking technology and have had
to fend off media interest on a couple of instances. Clearly there is
an external interest in the channel development. Given that the
Business is actively working towards becoming an e-service provider,
the ultimate integration of a mailing option within the new portal is
likely to become a customer expectation.
The concept of using standard office equipment or bespoke devices to
allow customers to print an electronic stamp was pioneered by the
USPS through their Information Based Indicia Programme (IBIP), which
launched in 1996. The programme was formulated around a structured
testing and trial programme, and the first vendors — e-Stamp and
Stamp.com — were given authorisation to nationally launch their
products in Aug 1999. To date some 400k customers have been recruited.
A number of other Postal Authorities are reacting rapidly to the US
experience by working with both web stamp specialists and the more
traditional meter machine suppliers (Pitney Bowes and Neopost have
also developed products) to generate their own solutions. Programmes
of activity are now being driven by DPAG, TPG, Canada Post, La Poste,
Swiss Post, Italia Post, Singapore Post and Australia Post. The
attraction to Posts is fundamentally around providing improved mail
access to smaller customers, with integration in other postal
web-based offerings being key. Additionally the on-line nature of the
channel does enable Posts to develop their knowledge of a customer
base they would otherwise not capture data from.
Software franking offers low volume posters a way of accessing and
managing postal credit through their web access. The various packages
on offer allow customers to pre-buy postage, and use this credit to
pay for mail by the printing of a "web" stamp (a designated
digital postage mark) directly on the item or on a label that can be
applied to the mail. The customer selects the service they want, and
the price paid is subtracted from the credit held on the system
(usually an on-line server). The packages themselves are provided by
third party vendors (e.g. Stamp.com, Pitney Bowes, e-Stamp), though
the credit is typically managed by the postal authority. A brief
description of the basic product variants is given below.
Most major postal authorities have now commenced their own programmes
to test and trial the channel, and the US and Canada have progressed
as far as launch. There is therefore a risk that the P0 will be left
far behind in terms of realising this development, and in the longer
term it could provide a means for competitor entry into the Small and
Medium Entreprise (SME) and the Solo and Home Office (SO HO) markets
if the Business continues to do nothing.
Consequently it is opportune that the Business takes a step forward
with regard to understanding software franking. There is a limited
amount of information we can glean from talking to other Postal
Authorities, but hands-on experience is required if we are to gather
a definitive view as to how the channel could be established, what
cost is involved and what commercial value it could deliver.
Overall aims
It is intended that scoping activity will be undertaken at Oxford,
Hemel Hempstead and Sheffield Mail Centres. Only these sites will be
affected at the Outward stage, but the recipients for 'trial items'
could affect any Delivery Office. The scoping activity will be used
to quantify likely funds commitment through looking in depth at the
products themselves, utilising dummy mail runs to assess the security
needs and speaking to the suppliers to understand the degree of
commitment they would expect from the Business once trials are
initiated and what experience they have gained in working with other
POs. The main purpose of the scoping will be to lay the groundwork
for subsequent trial activity. To this end the key objectives are as follows:-
Establish costs required to undertake live customer trials (the next
logical step)
The end goal of this work will be to produce an informed
specification for the channel, and a fully-costed case for initiating
customer trials during the latter part of 2001. Subject to the trials
being successful, this should enable the Business to bring to market
a low customer sacrifice channel that supports customer loyalty in
the SOHO/SME market, delivers financial benefit to the Business
through reduced channel costs and some incremental revenue, and gives
the PO a competitive edge against other carriers. It may be the case
that trial activity identifies particular applications that can
support Business penetration into competitive markets (e.g.
integration with home shopping and returns), which in turn can enable
the final proposition to be more commercially attractive to the Business.
Direct Printing
The basic level software franking product does not need any
additional equipment or specialist stationary. Customers go on-line
to recharge their account with postage which is stored securely on a
remote server. To access this postage customers are supplied with
easy to use software which prompts them for the service that is
required, the weight if the item is not standard (can be integrated
directly with scales) and the recipients address (including
postcode). The software is linked to the web via the customers
browser and allows them to print onto an envelope or blank label once
it has checked that the postcode is valid for that address and that
there is sufficient funds available. The item has to be posted on the
day it is prepared.
Label Sheet Printing
To print an encrypted mark directly onto a label customers need to
manage and access their funds in the same way as direct printing.
Although customers would typically print a sheet of stamps in one go
labels have two clear advantages. Firstly, the stamp has inherent
security features so does not need to be linked to a postcode so can
be used on any item. Secondly, the label is not date specific so does
not have to be used on the day it is printed.
Label printers
Several companies now offer customers the ability to print postage
using a bespoke label printer. The printers can hold postage in a
secure device which is topped up with additional postage by going
on-line. Customers do not need to either link the label with a
postcode or go online to print postage as long as the local device
has available funds. The products currently offered generally have
in-built scales to help customers calculate the correct postage
Conclusions and Recommendations
Software franking technology may offer an easy access to our small
business and consumer customers and allow up selling as the
relationship develops with new on-line shopping solutions. It has the
potential to expand the limited channels proposition available to
SMEs and SOHOs, who currently can only purchase stamps either through
Royal Mail Direct or Post Office Network outlets. The on-line nature
of the channel could enable the Business to gather much more data
about the posting habits of this segment. With business internet
penetration currently reaching 93% in the UK, the Business needs to
consider developing this medium as a means of trading, as well as an
information support tool. There clearly appears to be some potential
in the channel given the widespread acceptance of it by Postal
Authorities across the world who are actively investing in research,
customer trials and full scale channel introduction.
Undertaking a large scale customer trial of the system is a necessary
step in developing our understanding of customer interest, live
testing of system linkages, money flows, data capture etc. However a
scoping stage is also necessary before such trials can be commenced,
as we still only have cursory information with regard to the
functionality of the products, and the processes that need to be put
in place to support such activity. It is clear from experience abroad
that suppliers need to invest large sums of money to configure
products so that they can be subjected to live trials, and to
undertake this on an uninformed basis could easily result in
substantial wasted investment both by the PO and by suppliers.
Therefore we need to look at the products on offer in more detail,
operate a simulation to perform an initial test of information flows
and interfaces, and clarify with suppliers the commercial
relationship from which both parties can benefit in operating a trial
and, should it progress, the full channel itself.
The scoping work will allow the Business to gain these answers,
before full commitment (trials and, ultimately, launch) is entered
into. All other POs have recognised the need for this initial stage
as the means of enabling live trials to be instigated. Without this
background work any subsequent trial — if deemed appropriate
— is exposed to a high risk of failure and financial loss.
The business has invited the Union to be involved in the project, an
invitation that I have accepted. The project is being carried out
under the direction of Garry Giles, Access Design Manager, who is
also overseeing the trial to reduce packet stamping. It therefore
seems only logical that Tony O'Grady and Phil Waker act on behalf of
the executive as they are
already working with Garry Giles on that project. Branches will be
kept advised of developments associated with this project via the
usual channels.
All enquiries on the above paragraph should be addressed to Mr. Mike
Hogan, Assisant. Secretary Indoor quoting reference no. L.685.26.
188 Royal Mail:Total Productive Maintenance
Branches were updated on developments associated with TPM in Annual
Report paragraph number 9.23.
To date, two pilots of the new training modules have been undertaken,
one at SEMAC and the other at Leeds Mail Centre. I have written to
the Branches concerned requesting that they provide CWU Headquarters
with a report in the TPM training modules activity at the
aforementioned locations.
Subject to confirmation from Royal Mail, two further pilot studies
may be carried out at Nottingham and Peterborough Mail Centres. I
have written to Royal mail requesting that the area be provided with
a report on the activities undertaken so far.
Branches should note that only the locations mentioned above are
recognised by the union as being part of the pilot study process. No
other office or representative should become involved in any activity
associated with the new TPM training modules, unless advised
otherwise by CWU Headquarters.
As stated, there will be no agreement given to any deployment of the
new training package until a full evaluation has taken place at
national level.
All enquiries on the above paragraph should be addressed to Mr. Mike Hogan, Assistant Secretary Indoor, quoting reference number L.350.01.
189 Royal Mail Uniforms
Further to CWU Briefing No. 45, Para 613, which sought feedback on
the Royal Mail uniform for the purposes of constructing our input to
the uniform review, of the responses received, the issue of warmth
was by far the most prevalent. The receipt of this information has in
part enabled the Union to push this matter with the employer.This has
resulted in the Project Board drafting a policy paper which includes
several options on the issue of the long sleeved fleece.This paper is
receiving consideration by the Outdoor Department and meetings have
been arranged for 30th April and 11th May. Further developments will
be advised.
Enquiries to Billy Hayes' Dept, ref. 500.
190 Breakdown and Recovery Arrangements
The result of the recent Branch ballot on the new Breakdown and Recovery
Agreement is as follows
For the Agreement 74,505
Against 35,073
Vehicle Services have therefore been formally advised of acceptance
of the Agreement. Rollout arrangements will be subject of further discussion.
Enquiries should be directed to Ray Ellis, Technical and Central Services Dept.
191 Bravery Award Scheme — Cash Handling & Distribution
The following letter has been received from CHD. Branches will note
that it is in relation to the existing Bravery Award Scheme. Branches
will also note that it re emphasises Business policy that employees
are not encouraged to resist attempted robberies. The issue is proper
to the terms and conditions review and will be included in the
ongoing discussions.
"Dear Mr Kearns
Bravery Award Scheme
I am writing to advise you that I will be reviewing the current
Bravery Award Scheme and would be grateful for any input you would
like to give in writing.
Currently Argos vouchers are allocated to crew members in recognition
of the trauma involved in any form of attack. The amount of vouchers
allocated increases in value according to the severity of the attack.
I must emphasise that CHD trains and encourages crew members not to
resist any attempted robbery and advises on the appropriate body
language to diffuse such a situation.
I will be seeking input from Cash In Transit employees as well as
Cash Centre employees on their views on the current scheme. Employees
have already indicated they would like the scheme looked at so I have
asked for volunteers from across CHD. If you have any queries please
contact me.
Yours sincerely, Kieron Lillis
Compensation & Benefits Manager"
Any Branch comments should be addressed to Tony Kearns, Asst. Secretary, C&CH Dept. quoting ref B.429.
192 Royal Mail: FTD Mail Centre Revision Toolkit
Branches are advised that Royal Mail has approached the union to
discuss the introduction/deployment of a new revision toolkit that
has been developed. Representatives will recall that the union is
committed to supporting the use of Toolkits, Guidelines etc. to
assist in the deployment of FTD/PBS revisions, Section 8 of the Way
Forward Agreement refers.
The new toolkit called TOPCAT, Total Office Performance by Control Area
Targeting, in essence is a revision tool that has been developed
specifically to produce duties and or production improvements. It is
based on information derived on a work area by work area basis to
enable duties to be constructed that are aligned to work plan, which
takes account of traffic arrival patterns and dispatch times.
The FTD team presented the principles of the 8 Stage Mail Centre Work
Area Revision Approach, how it was a bottom up continuous improvement
process that integrated productivity and compliance improvements with
change deployment activities, how it incorporated the original 12
step PBS revision process, how it integrates with other processes
including Unit Planning, Performance Review and Production Management
& Control, how it is being deployed and how the CWU are involved
in both the process and deployment.
Following a demonstration of the system which showed a number of
planning and resourcing options, a number of points were noted by
both the Union and Royal Mail. It was accepted that the Mail Centre
Work Area Revision Approach was a planning tool that required
accurate Model Week Traffic data, and that it was not a tool/process
for day to day operational performance purposes.
That the capability of Work Area and Shift Managers could be an
issue, It was generally accepted that, although some of the tools
looked complex, it was reasonable to expect that the Mail Centre
planners would have the capability, expertise and access to
operational performance data to operate them effectively
There was a concern that sustained usage of the process/tools by
embedding them into routine operations usually depended on the spirit
within the unit and additional support/resource being provided. This
concern was based on the experience at Manchester where the Mail
Centre Resourcing project decayed after it had been introduced.
It was confirmed that we can now state during Masterclasses that CWU
HO is aware of the principles of the 8 Stage Mail Centre Work Area
Revision Approach and the current deployment plan, and that the
detail and purpose of the tasks and tools will be subject to joint FTD/CWU
working sessions in the near future. It was however made clear to
Royal Mail that the support for TOPCAT was subject to endorsement by
the Postal Executive. Furthermore it was also agreed that a full
presentation would be made available to the Executive. This has been
scheduled for the next meeting of the Postal Executive.
I also made it clear that the process if endorsed by the Executive
would also need to be supported in the field by a comprehensive
training package. This has now been developed and a draft has been
sent to the Union for appraisal. Branches will be advised of
development following the meeting of the Postal Executive on the
first/second day.
All enquiries regarding this paragraph should be addressed to Mr. Mike Hogan, Asst. Secretary, quoting ref no. L.530. 10.
193 ASRs — Help blow the gaff on SPDO uplifts
Area Safety Reps can still play a crucial role in exposing Post
Office broken promises over 'uplifts' for Scale Payment Delivery
Offices (SPDOs) around the country. Last October, Service Delivery's
Bob Knowles claimed £2 million was being spent to upgrade 115
offices by the end of last month (March). However, it has become
increasingly clear that the first
phase of uplifts has not been completed.
An extensive list of SPDOs — detailing Service Delivery's version of events — is to be circulated to all ASRs from HO. Comments on this list about each office's status in the uplift programme may not reflect the reality of the situation on the ground and where this is the case ASRs are requested to inform the SPDO Working Group as soon as possible. If you are an ASR: Find out what improvements, if any, have been agreed for the SPDOs in your area, what work has actually been carried out, and who is supposed to be picking up the bill. Report your findings to Bob Gibson care of Billy Hayes' Department at Union HO (150, The Broadway, Wimbledon SW19 1RX) or by e-mail to Bob@colette79.freeserve.co.uk as soon as possible after the receipt of the circulated list.
194 Annual Conference 2001
Postal industry Conference. Section 5
Would Branches please note that following an appeal the Standing
Orders Committee (Postal) has agreed to admit the following two
motions on to the Conference agenda. The following two Motions to be
taken as one (SOC)
Category A
5.22 Conference agrees that those members who were employed on a six
month trial and informed that they would advance to full pay after
successfully completing that trial should be paid from that date. The
Postal Executive is instructed to secure full pay for those members
whom the employer has withheld maximum pay from until completion of
12 months employment. The Postal Executive is instructed accordingly.
South East No 5. Category A
5.23 Conference agrees that those members who were employed on a six
month trial and informed that they would advance to full pay after
successfully completing that trial should be paid from that date. The
Postal Executive is instructed to secure full pay for those members
whom the employer has withheld maximum pay from until completion of
12 months employment. The Postal Executive is instructed accordingly.
HP Amal Phil Duffy Chair, Standing Orders Committee Postal
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
195 Disability in Focus
Included with this Briefing as attachment G12 is a copy of Disability
in Focus for March 2001. Your co-operation in providing copies to
interested members would be appreciated. If you have members who wish
to receive Disability in Focus direct, please get in touch with us as
detailed on the last page.
Any enquiries should be addressed to Mrs Jenny Ainsley, Asst.
Secretary, quoting reference No. 1.50.1.2.
Att: G.12
196 Lesbian and Gay Advisory Committee, Weekend Seminar at
Alvescot Saturday 14th-and Sunday 15th July 2001
Outlined below are preliminary details for the above seminar which is
open to all union activists interested in the issues involved.
Branches can nominate any member for attendance at the seminar by
Friday June 15th 2001. Headquarters will be unable to bear the costs
of travel and any necessary release costs of any participants at the
seminar. It is hoped that Branches will be able to cover the costs of
any member who wishes to attend. A nomination form is attached to
this Briefing as Attachment G11
Arrival Time: Saturday, 14 July 12.30 pm onwards, arrivals at
Alvescot for lunch at 1pm (for those using public transport
arrangements will be made to collect people from Oxford Station
earlier and in time for arrival at Alvescott Lodge by 12:30pm)
Departure Time: Sunday 2.30 pm.
Further details and the programme will be sent to you at a later time.
Any enquiries on the above should be addressed to Mrs Jenny Ainsley, Asst. Secretary, quoting reference No. 1 .30.25
197 Questionnaire On The Implementation Of The Disability
Discrimination Act (DDA)
At Local Level Motion 71 at Annual Conference "instructs the
incoming NEC to investigate how various companies where we have
members are operating the Disability Discrimination Act and on the
completion of the investigation to use the information to negotiate
better agreements with the Companies where the Union has representation."
In order to carry out this Motion, the Equal Opportunities Committee
sought information from Branches about your experiences, both
positive and negative, in relation to the implementation of the
Disability Discrimination Act by way of a briefing in August. We
thank the Branches who did respond but in the view of the Disability
& Special Needs Advisory Committee and the Equal Opportunities
Committee, the response was too small to be useful. We are asking
again for Branches to respond to this Briefing.
Enclosed with this Briefing is a questionnaire seeking information
from Branches about the implementation at local level of the
Disability Discrimination Act. All Branches are asked to complete
this questionnaire in order to assist the National Executive
Committee in completing their report. If your Branch covers more than
one Business, I would be grateful if you could duplicate the
questionnaire and send in more than one.
If you wish to submit separate responses for each Business you have
members in, please photocopy the questionnaire and send one for each
Business. Please assist us in fulfilling this Conference decision.
Any enquiries regarding this briefing should be addressed to Jenny Ainsley, Equal Opportunities Department. Att:G.10
HEALTH & SAFETY
198 Hand and Arm Vibration — Medical Assessments
Reporting of Injuries and Dangerous Occurences Regulations 1995.
Dr Stephen Clarke of the HSE has approached the T&FSE Health
Safety and Environment Sub Committee on the issue of hand-arm
vibration being diagnosed in BT employees as a result of using
roadbreaking tools.
As a result of the HSE's intervention, NetworkBuild recently
undertook medical health screening of staff who use(d) any equipment
that is liable to cause vibration white finger. Consequently, a
number of cases have been uncovered in BT that need to be reported
and the HSE have asked BT to report these cases to HSE's Field
Operations Directorate at their Nottingham Office.
If any Branch feel that enquiries need to be made on behalf of
members they should be made to the Nottingham office rather than
contacting the HSE office in the area where the member worked, with a
copy sent to CWU H.O. safety department. Contacting the local HSE
office may lead to a reply "that the case had not been
reported" whereas in fact the case could possibly have has been
reported and recorded on the Nottingham database. At a future date
cases of hand arm vibration are likely to revert to being reported to
local offices, reporting on other issues remains unaffected.
If you need to contact the HSE on this matter the address is:
Health and Safety Executive
Engineering and Utilities Sector
Pearson Building
55 Upper Parliament Street
Nottingham NG1 6AU
Any enquiries on this briefing should be addressed to Kevin Shaw, Assistant Secretary quoting reference NS 20.