LTB 420/20 – CWU/Royal Mail National Terms of Reference – Uniform Pilot Footwear Panther Vulcano Boot
No. 420/20
12th August 2020
Dear Colleagues,
CWU/Royal Mail National Terms of Reference – Uniform Pilot Footwear Panther Vulcano Boot
For some time now the Outdoor Department has been in dialogue with Royal Mail as part of the regular engagement on uniform matters regarding the need to update and refresh the current non-safety Magnum Boot which has been part of the footwear range for some 15 years.
As a result of these discussions an informal view was reached that the Magnum Boot would need to be replaced due to wider technical developments in footwear over the past number of years. This meant that the Magnum Boot had fallen behind many other boot options available ‘in the wider marketplace’ in relation to its weight, flexibility and comfort. Equally, it was noticeable that employees’ requests for the boot had been in decline over the past few years against newer footwear options which have been added to the Royal Mail range.
Whilst under normal circumstances a joint trial would have been developed in respect to a replacement option, this has not been possible in the case of the Magnum Boot. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly, the Magnum Boot itself has come to the end of its shelf-life and production and secondly, the current Magnum Boot production and supply chain which spans across China, Vietnam and Malaysia has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which has meant that the current stock supplies of the boot within Royal Mail is expected to run out in around March of 2021, with no opportunity to re-order supplies.
As such, the need to move to a replacement non-safety boot option has become pressing. Therefore, it has been agreed to pilot the Panther Vulcano Boot, which is based on the same sole and general design of the Panther safety Vieste Boot, a product that has already been trialled in the live workplace environment and is available within Royal Mail but currently only under the ‘safety’ footwear range.
The pilot is covered by the attached National Terms of Reference and will take place from September/October 2020 and will run for 12 weeks. A joint CWU/Royal Mail review will then be held on the pilot feedback in December/January set against the standard success criteria for footwear trials in order to resolve any issues highlighted and to move over to the Panther Vulcano Boot. Also attached is a photo of the Panther Vulcano Boot for your reference.
Whilst the Magnum Boot has been a feature of the Royal Mail footwear range for some 15 years and remains popular with a number of members, it has now reached the end of its shelf-life with no possibility of Royal Mail making further supply orders due to Coronavirus. As such, it is hoped that the pilot and switchover to the Panther Vulcano Boot, a new style and design of boot which has already been tried and tested within Royal Mail, will be seen by members as a further improvement in the current footwear range.
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be directed to the Outdoor Department, reference 500, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Baulch
CWU Assistant Secretary
LTB 420.20 Attachment 1 – Pilot TOR Panther Vulcano Boot
LTB 420.20 Attachment 2 – Photo – Panther Vulcano Boot