LTB 095/19 Post Office: Franchising of 74 Crown Offices to WHSmith – Fourth TUPE Consultation Meeting & Revised Measures Letter
No. 095/2019
12th February 2019
Dear Colleagues
POST OFFICE: FRANCHISING OF 74 CROWN OFFICES TO WHSMITH – FOURTH TUPE CONSULTATION MEETING & REVISED MEASURES LETTER
Further to LTB 081/19 dated 4th February. I am pleased to advise Branches and Crown Office members that a fourth scheduled TUPE consultation meeting between Post Office, WHS, Unite and ourselves was held on Wednesday 6th February and as a consequence WHSmith has provided a further improved “measures” letter. The letter, which details the key terms & conditions of employment transferring under TUPE, is attached to this LTB for your information.
The following key Agreements / Procedures have been added to the “measures” letter as a direct result of our meeting on Wednesday:
• Attendance Procedure
• Conduct Procedure
• Dignity at Work Agreement
• Performance Management Agreement and PIP Process
• Purchase of Annual Leave Entitlement
A further Joint Statement has been published today and is also attached for your information. In addition, a set of Q&As is in the process of being drawn up and will be issued to members in the next week. Our Representatives will be provided with a copy of these Q&As once agreed.
Branches and members will be aware WH Smith made it clear at first they didn’t want to meet with the Unions, and therefore the talks took a few weeks to get underway. However, it was important to pursue this matter as our members need to be in a position to make informed decisions about their future. I am therefore pleased that as a result of our four TUPE consultation meetings, we have made very good progress and have a very much improved set of “measures” than those outlined in the original letter from WH Smith.
We obviously remain opposed to the Post Office’s franchising plans and our campaign against the privatisation of an excellent public service continues. We do however need to put in place appropriate safeguards for our members should the franchise programme continue and the members’ preferred option is to TUPE to WHSmith; hence our determination to get all four parties into proper TUPE consultation meetings. Rest assured we will continue to engage with WH Smith to make sure they honour all of our terms and conditions and the Collective Agreements for those members transferring under TUPE.
We will be reporting the progress made (which disappointingly doesn’t at this stage include formal recognition) on our discussions with WH Smith to the Postal Executive at a meeting planned for this Thursday. We are also planning to write to WH Smith challenging them to formally recognise the Union for the purpose of our members who are TUPEing across.
In terms of the wider campaigning activities, I fully appreciate the efforts being undertaken by Branches, Regional Secretaries and our Representatives, especially in organising public meetings, engaging with local politicians, press & media and organising local events. If you require the assistance or the attendance of a Postal Executive member for any Crown Office campaigning activity, please contact Lea Sheridan by emailing lsheridan@cwu.org
Yours sincerely
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary