LTB 203/26 – UPDATE ON DM26
No. 203/26
17th July 2026
Dear Colleague,
UPDATE ON DM26
It is now just over six weeks since the membership ratified the USO reform agreement. The attached report is designed to give reps and members a full update on the 120 Delivery units that were deployed up to Monday 13th July.
This is without a doubt the biggest-ever change to deliveries, and the full terms and safeguards of our agreement must be applied to every single delivery unit.
The agreement is crystal clear; no units should deploy until they have completed the following processes (details are explained in the report) and have received approval from the Regional Steering Group.
- Rapid Base Data Validation
- Unit Health Check
- Scoping Exercise
- Go/No Go Process
Even once a unit has navigated through this process no unit should deploy unless the delivery unit is clear on deployment and each duty is resourced to and the reserve level is fully staffed. Depending on the size of your units, the above is a lengthy process which all units must complete in advance of deployment.
The agreement is designed to allow for local input, recognising that each delivery unit is different and therefore you are best placed to influence what will work in your unit. The agreement clearly allows for bespoke/non-standard solutions to be cleared by the Regional Steering Working Groups, which will ensure that DM26 lands better in the unit and achieves the quality targets.
The agreement has been planned on the basis that your unit will have the full support of all reps – local, area, divisional and national, to ensure that your unit is in the best possible position to deploy DM26, which includes ensuring on deployment that you have a clear office and full resources, including, as a minimum, a one in six reserve level.
We have asked the Divisional Reps to work with their Area Delivery Reps to complete proformas on how delivery units are working under DM26 and how the Regional Steering Groups are working. This information will be used to provide you with further updates.
The reports and data demonstrate that most of the deployed units are working, and delivery point coverage has improved. However, it is very much early days, with only small and medium units deployed thus far.
The feedback from members in some of the units has been good, especially in units that were previously failing every day, with members coming into frames of mail that did not go out.
There are also reports that a minority of the units have not landed well and need to be fixed, including, if necessary, by introducing extra hours, duties or equipment. The most common theme for those not working is they did not follow all the pre deployment checks in full. The agreement also states that there must be a mandatory review, and no surplus employees will be removed unless the unit is achieving all its quality targets.
We can also report that 338 part-timers have either got a permanent or temporary full-time job, and a further 134 have got an increase in contracted hours in the first 85 delivery units deployed (RM systems run 2 weeks behind which is why this is not for the 120 units deployed). There are a further 1,165 Delivery units to deploy, so this will significantly increase with further deployment.
One point of clarification which will be a clear benefit for some units is delivery units that currently start later on one or more days than the current Wednesday start time can, on deployment, start at the Wednesday start time across the week and we are sharing as much information with CWU Divisional Reps to help support this activity. For example, the DDS (Delivery Duty Scheduler) is showing that:
Glasgow Rutherglen starts 15 minutes later on a Monday compared to Wednesday, 45 minutes later on a Tuesday, 15 minutes later on a Friday and 15 minutes later on a Saturday. They will now be able to start earlier on those days, at the same time as Wednesday start times.
Leyland is starting 50 minutes later on Monday and Tuesday than on Wednesday, and 20 minutes later on Friday and 36 minutes later on Saturday. They will now be able to start earlier on those days, commencing at the same time as on Wednesday.
We realise change is always difficult; our commitment is that we will support you through this process. The agreement is designed to ensure that USO change is successfully delivered across all units and fixed if issues arise.
The CWU at all levels are committed to ensuring that your delivery unit is not only in the best position to deploy but also sees the benefits of extra Saturdays or days off, and that your unit is clearing daily.
We will provide further updates on how units are progressing, including which units have completed their review.
Any enquiries relating to the content of this LTB should be referred to the Deputy General Secretary (Postal) department hford@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary
Tony Bouch
Assistant Secretary