CWU Conference 2026: Day Four

May 14 2026

Conference’s saw its fourth day with a serious focus on every question, from discussing workplace redeployment and digital tracking with equalisation, health on the job and DM26.

Postal Conference: New to Royal Mail? Welcome to the CWU 

“Don’t just vote for it, enact it in every branch and every workplace”, urged deputy general secretary Martin Walsh as he called on delegates to support a motion prioritising efforts to bring new postal workers into the CWU.

With numbers of new entrants rapidly increasing, as a new generation of workers come into the company to replace the retiring older generation, it is important to welcome them into the union from day one so we can collectively defend and improve their pay terms and conditions and maintain and build up the CWU’s workplace strength.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re stronger for the issues facing our members,” said Martin, adding: “Every single rep should take this as a priority.”

Moving the proposition, London divisional rep Mark Dolan said: “This motion’s about holding the mirror up to ourselves and asking: ‘Am I doing enough? Have I spoken to every new entrant’?” In the context of the ongoing campaign to equalise new entrants’ rights, Mark said that “we will get to equalisation quicker if membership levels are higher.”

Several others reiterated the point that recruitment is the responsibility of every rep, while others, such as Kent Invicta delegate Vanessa Foster – a Delivery office rep – stressed the importance of having reps on the afternoon shifts, where many new entrants are assigned.

The motion had been preceded by a presentation from CWU Postal Department recruitment & organising lead Michelle Daykin and her colleague Lauren Townsend, who spoke of the work they have been doing around the UK, visiting branches and workplaces and working with reps to put the union’s recruitment strategy into practice.

Advice and assistance is available to branches and reps to help with recruiting postal workers into the union, and they highlighted and praised the branches which have made significant improvements in this current drive.

DM26, Equalisation, Safe Working

Opening conference was a presentation and Q&A on the national agreement that is currently out to ballot. Martin Walsh opened this session, which also featured national officers Tony Bouch and Davie Robertson – a very useful opportunity for delegates to ask questions and hear details on the forthcoming changes coming into the day-to-day operation in relation to the ballot on the USO reform deployment via the potential DM26 system, as well as the first step towards equalisation for new entrants.

Health and safety were key themes on today’s agenda, with delegates approving propositions on severe weather procedures as well as postvention measures in the aftermath of employee suicides.

Also on the subject of safety at work, another proposition noted the success of the Royal Mail security measures tackling the drugs in post crisis, expressed serious concerns that these measures could be cut back again and called for the measures to continue going forward.

Reducing Agency Work

Other motions highlighted the excessive use of agency labour resource across Royal Mail Group, which was estimated by Davie as being equivalent to 8,000 full-time employees.

The need to reduce this, alongside the development of a robust parcels strategy to increase Royal Mail’s share of this growing market, was also the subject of debate.

Conference approved an emergency motion focussed on the shortcomings of the company’s ‘Change for Good’ programme, and for the establishment of a ‘Shadow National Steering Group’ through which the CWU and the business can work together to eradicate inappropriate behaviours.

And a range of other propositions addressed overtime rates, training, bonus payments and pay negotiations with regard to ensuring a fair deal for members in our RMPFS and Parcelforce functions.

Telecoms and Financial Services: Reskilling, Disability, Dangers

Upstairs at the Telecoms and Financial Services (T&FS) conference, delegates discussed the end of Openreach’s programme of building full fibre broadband to 25 million homes, and the reduction in work in the coming years, and expressed concerns about Openreach CEO Clive Selly’s commitment to reskilling.

Speaking on behalf of the executive, Fiona Curtis said there is a need to “enhance career pathways which reward engineers for multiskilling.

“We have seen a lot of reductions and mostly, we have been successful in achieving that through voluntary means.

“But how do we avoid redundancies? There has to be that negotiation with the union, to explain things with workers, and to make sure the skills pathway is agreed and can do that.

“We need to retrain, reskill and redeploy to enhance career pathways, and we need to push our people to act collectively and fight for the right to reskill.”

Great Weston branch Roisin Wood mentioned how when people discuss the future of their work, “a few comments strike me as similar in that experienced, long-serving employees ask: where’s the experience going?

“People are having to teach their managers how to do their role. It’s not good enough, we’re losing experience, and we need to train younger people.

“We have managers who have never dropped wire or carry cable.

“If work volumes start reducing in different places, that should be an easy transition for our members, because of the skills pathways we’ve created.

“People have proven they can do these roles, they are adaptable and eager.”

Mid-Wales, the Marches and North Staffs delegate Chris Hughes added that when he started at Openreach, he was told that “it’s a job for life.

“I think that’s no longer the case – let’s be honest, what’s the greatest asset to a company? Not vehicles, it’s the staff – why aren’t we investing in its assets?”

Broad discussions followed motions on overall health at work, with the union supporting sanitary bins in all workplace toilets, first aid training, and for BT to establish a “single, unified and accessible” alert system for hazards and risks.

Stop the Stat-Bashing

A particularly impassioned discussion was over the current application of Openreach’s customer delivery rate (CDR), and its detrimental effects on workers, and criticism of a “management by spreadsheet” culture that places serious stress on workers.

Criticising managers who use the CDR as a “stat-bashing” tactic to place engineers on performance plans and send workers to faraway areas without calculating what charging requirements they need, Midlands delegate Heather Galloway said that the situation is “unsafe and entirely avoidable”.

“Let’s send a clear message that the duty of care O2 owe our members is non-negotiable – we need to act before an entirely preventable incident takes place.”

Belfast delegate Paddy Meehan said that Openreach engineers have been “repeatedly sent out” to be attacked by people holding “conspiratorial beliefs” over 5G or engaging in serious anti-social behaviour.

Talking about the “culture of suspicion” being developed among engineers, Paddy said the situation is “putting responsibility on individuals” to protect themselves, “rather than the responsibility of the company to be active on these issues.”

Motions were also heard seeking solutions to the poor quality of BT’s new self-service HR system, “punitive” P&D processes, and negotiating fairer and better hybrid working models.