Agreement between Royal Mail and the CWU for the (SWW) for Fleet Technician grades
No. 040/2021 TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH ROYAL MAIL FLEET MEMBERS
Dear Colleagues
Key Principles Framework Agreement (Pathway to Change) -Agreement between Royal Mail and the CWU on the guidelines for the implementation of the Shorter Working Week (SWW) for Fleet Technician grades
Members will know the CWU and Royal Mail reached the overarching agreement on the host of issues which were in dispute. The negotiators agreement was reached just before Christmas and was placed before the membership for endorsement in January with the result announced on 3rd February 2021. The agreement was endorsed by the CWU membership.
One of the issues in dispute was the Unions claim for a reduction in working time. Whilst this was successful, it was acknowledged the starting point for a reduction in hours was different depending on which grade you are.
To support the implementation of the shorter working, we had to agree national guidelines for the revision activity, which will implement the change. Fleet Technician grades starting point for this agreement is 35.5 hours and these guidelines focus on a reduction of 1 hour to 34.5 hours by no later than the end of October 2021.
The guidelines for the revision are attached to this LTB.
The guidelines also allow us to include bringing back in house as much work which is currently being done by external companies as possible within these revisions. This is Royal Mail Fleet work which we current outsource. To ensure this is done properly and efficiently, we are going to negotiate a headcount calculator, which will allow us to discuss how much and which work can come back in house.
The reduction in the working week will be achieved using the attached guidelines which will include moving to a paperless operation in all workshops by using existing and new technology.
A revision of existing attendance patterns will be carried out in each workshop by the local Workshop Manager and CWU Representative, with support from the senior field officials if required.
The target date for implementation of the revision is no later than the end of October 2021, however, if you achieve your revision agreement prior to this date, the revision and benefits of the SWW can be implemented immediately.
The attached guidelines are for our Fleet Technician grades. National negotiations are taking place for the implementation of the SWW for our Fleet Admin members. All enquiries regarding the content of this LTB should be addressed to the PTCS Department, quoting reference 220. Email address: khay@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
Carl Maden Assistant Secretary (Acting)