CWU Biannual Conference 2026: Day Three

Union Matters May 13 2026

The third day of CWU’s conference in Bournemouth was the first where both of the union’s constituencies broke up to discuss the finer details of their industrial issues.

Postal Conference: Making Steady Progress

Deputy general secretary Martin Walsh opened with a reflective look back at progress made since the union’s postal delegates last met here in 2024.

Two years ago, the agreement which ended the bitter 2022/23 national dispute was just beginning to bed in and the buyout process of Royal Mail Group was in its earliest stages, he reminded delegates, before going on to summarise the gradual steps forward the union has made since then.

A national pay deal, other new agreements covering attendance and disciplinary procedures and the current ballot taking place on a negotiated approach to deploying USO reform via DM26, along with the first agreed step towards equalising terms and conditions for workers employed from December 2022, were all examples of steady progress, he continued.

Going forward, both the CWU and Royal Mail plan to campaign jointly to achieve a level playing field across the whole sector – preventing competitor companies undercutting our members’ pay, terms and conditions with their ‘gig economy’ and ‘bogus self-employment’ methods – and in his closing comments, Martin urged delegates to support the forthcoming campaign.

Discussing, Debating, Deciding

Getting down to business, conference began with several propositions on pensions – discussing issues ranging from reducing the NRA to backdating of claims and harmonising company pension membership rights.

This section was followed by a series of branch motions focussing on the ‘Raising Concerns’ process within the company. This procedure was negotiated with the CWU and introduced over the past couple of years, but from the various contributions made by delegates, several examples were cited of complaints that managers have not operated this process fairly.

One delegate shocked the audience with an account of a manager making repeated inappropriate comments to a young postwoman but no action being taken against him and the postwoman being offered a transfer to another unit. Another contributor reported an instance of a female rep submitting a complaint for repeated unwanted touching, but then herself being suspended from duty after the alleged offender made a false counter-complaint consisting of an untrue allegation from three years previously.

A resolution adopted by conference on this matter instructed the postal executive to “urgently renegotiate an improved complaints procedure”. Despite the serious subject matter, there was one lighter moment when one delegate, while criticising the attitudes of management, said: “They don’t give a flying falafel about us!”

Other issues addressed in the morning session included Sunday working for new entrants, increasing load weights due to parcels sizes – with particular reference to Parcelforce – as well as CSS machines and technology.

Pensions Plans

Following up on some of the themes from the morning, the afternoon began with a presentation on the Royal Mail Collective Pension Plan (RMCPP) – the Collective Plan – from Emma Weston-Green and her colleagues Mark Rayner and Ed Mardle from the Collective Plan Executive Team.

They explained how the scheme works and operates and took conference through issues of registration onto the member self-service portal, and other key information including the headline results from the first valuation.

The session involved a detailed slide show covering all aspects of the scheme and this was followed up by a Q&A session from the conference floor.

Further communications on the Collective Plan will be going out to branches and members, with opportunities for further questions and the executive team will be embarking upon a roadshow with visits to mail centres and delivery offices over the coming months. 

Demanding Fairness at Work

A “fundamental and detrimental” change to conduct and attendance procedures was the subject of the motion which generated the most debate during the afternoon session.

A composite proposition signed off by two divisions and eight branches sharply criticised what it described as “conduct and attendance being managed remotely through ERAS (formerly PCAT) PCM” a practice which had been, according to the motion, “introduced unilaterally by the business.”

The postal executive was instructed to meet with the business over this and to seek to “restore transparency, accountability, integrity and fairness” to the process.

Other afternoon debates also addressed similar issues, while another tackled dangerous vehicle fumes and the last proposition of the day highlighted shortcomings of the new ‘Robin app’.This motion instructed the postal executive to engage with Royal Mail to address these issues and ensure that alternative communication methods are also available.

Telecoms and Financial Services: Proper Pay for All Work, Justice on Sites

Opening up the Telecoms and Financial Services (T&FS) conference, deputy general secretary Karen Rose began with discussing the “crisis in employment standards” across Britain, with offshoring and outsourcing remaining a “direct threat” to members.

“We’ve seen major firms shift work overseas as they chase cheaper wages and cut costs – they are walking away from British workers.”

But she went on to describe the serious growth of strength among members at VMO2, as well as the ongoing fights for recognition at TikTok, Google DeepMind and Monzo.

“All this work”, Karen said, “is the culmination of a huge collective effort started in this union.”

Karen also addressed the rise in technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), restating the union’s position that “we are not pro or anti-new technology, but there is a very clear power imbalance.

“We need to be in the room when new technology is introduced, because workers need to know how these things are going to be implemented and organised.”

She also discussed the union’s campaign for the shorter working week, giving an outline of the struggle to shorten hours and improve lives from the 1880s until today.

“When workers are better invested and motivated, they are better in work.

“For decades now, our working hours haven’t shifted and changed – we are long overdue a rethink.”

But she also alerted conference to the growth of “populist right” ideas on the shop floor – “which is one of the most serious challenges to democracy in our workplaces.

“Don’t underestimate the possibility of Reform rolling back the progress of all gains the Labour government has delivered.

“It is about attacking workers’ rights, human rights, and the rights of the most vulnerable in our society – the rights our movement has fought for and won.”

A comprehensive amount of motions related to ending unpaid working time, annual leave entitlement, parking at yards for Openreach engineers and fertility treatment policy at BT.

Delegates also heard from the Bootle Financial Services branch fight to make Santander’s Bootle site as a primary site, after the bank has allocated it as a secondary one.

Discussing the motion, T&FS executive member Gordon Johnston explained how in 2019, Santander had planned to build a “state-of-the-art” workplace on the site of the old Girobank.

However, the pandemic saw the bank’s Bootle base turn to mostly remote work, and abandoned plans.

“Since then”, he said, “we’ve seen further job losses, outsourcing and offshoring of work.

“Parts of Santander UK’s strategy requires fresh consideration, especially since its acquisition of TSB.

“A business of this scale cannot operate actively with such fragmented sites.”

Another motion brought by VMO2 delegate Matt Callaghan addressed the “uncertainty” posed by the merger of O2 and Virgin Media, and the need to secure full recognition for the union across the company.

Reminding delegates that the “reality remains” that the union only has formal recognition with O2, Matt said that “many members come without protections from such an arrangement.

“This lack of recognition has real impact – no formal right to collective bargaining and consultation, and in practice too many members are left without a meaningful voice.”

But he also described the strength of new representatives coming forward, and the huge number of reps becoming “the strong core” of a new union base at the employer.

“Strength in unity is not just a slogan, it’s how we win in workplaces.”

Members also heard from a range of speakers, including labour law expert Keith Ewing, CWU legal head Ian Taylor and political lead Chloe Koffman.