We will be holding a Branch General Meeting on Wednesday 9th Dec at Llandegai Exchange. Meeting will commence at 7.30pm, and the agenda will be available on the night.
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We will be holding a Branch General Meeting on Wednesday 9th Dec at Llandegai Exchange. Meeting will commence at 7.30pm, and the agenda will be available on the night. |
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Croseo - Welcome
The CWU North Wales and Chester Combined Branch covers some of the most spectacular scenery to be found in Wales. The area includes the beautiful Snowdonia mountains, the coastal beaches of Anglesey, Rhyl, Llandudno, Colwyn Bay and the Llyn peninsula. The CWU North Wales and Chester Combined Branch was formed from the former North Wales Engineering and the Dee Valley Branches in September 2003. The Branch represents some 780 members across the Branch area. Please note the NON-MEMBERS - BRANCH POLICY The Branch policy is now not to take up personal cases or issues for non-members; or problems for members that happened before they joined. We have though usually given verbal advice to non-members on the understanding that they will join the union. Unfortunately even this last service is now being abused by non-members. We are receiving an increasing number of calls from non-members seeking advice but who then do not join. Some have even rung on a number of occasions. The Branch Committee has therefore agreed the policy that no assistance or advice will be given to any non-member until an application for membership has been received, and they have been a member for at least 1 month prior to their requiring support. The above decision had been deemed necessary because the time allowed for Branch Officers to carry out their duties is calculated by BT on the number of BT members in the Branch. This time is limited. NEW UPDATES... 14/01/10 Please see below a list of new updates Openreach Service Transformation Policies -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the unfortunate passing of David Smith, for those members who knew Dave wish to attend, his funeral will take place at St Mary's church, Broughton at 11 O'clock on Wed 16th Dec. Our sympathies go out to Dave's family at this difficult time.
01/11/09 OPENREACH – SERVICE DELIVERY TRANSFORMATION Open@CWU.ORG Commonly asked questions Why another ballot? In an ideal world, the whole issue of Attendance and Project Beck (the outsourcing of up to 13,000 people from BT) would just go away because of an internal CWU ballot. Sadly as you know we do not live in such a world. It is hard economics rather than some fanciful whim which drives Openreach to cut costs through the elimination of overtime. That did not change because of the ballot. People now have a clearer indication of the type of patterns they would work and the length of the transition. As in any negotiations, members have the right to be consulted at each stage rather than be propelled into a dispute. Things will change – you have the last opportunity to control that change by voting Yes If the result of this ballot is No, will I stay on my existing attendance pattern? The short answer to this is No. There will be no more peaceful negotiations and, given the underlying drivers cited above, Openreach is likely to move towards legally issuing a variation of contract. The Union would oppose this as best we can but inevitably change will happen. CSIP and SWW will disappear As will FWHA.. The Union could be left with no serious control over the type of attendances people would work. The protection for people who genuinely cannot work certain patterns would be severely weakened. The only way to ensure that we have control over change and can be united enough to resist unreasonable demands is to vote YES. Do not be misled into thinking that things will stay the same. They won’t. Is BT still considering Project Beck and who would be involved? If we cannot reach agreement on the attendance framework ( which will reduce costs in the business by decreasing overtime), then both BT and Openreach management say it will have no option to move to outsourcing. As has often been said this would involve up to 13,000 people whose lives could be shattered. Your Executive does hope that every member would stand beside those under threat and recognise that a YES vote removes this threat for good. Even if you do not vote Yes in solidarity, then do it for your own good. The exact make up of that 13,000 has not been finalized so you could find yourself in scope now. Anyone going onto NGA build work for instance may be at risk. As could second stage repair, as could Frames, as could parts of Private Wires. What price you next? If we have an agreement, can management just change my patterns at will? No. The best way to prevent your attendance being changed to something that is unreasonable or draconian at the whim of management is to vote YES. With an agreement, all change has to be negotiated and agreed between local management and your CWU Branch. You would have a say in that process. Ironically, with an agreement, the Union nationally and at Branch level would be in a much stronger position to stop unreasonable or unjustifiable demands on attendance since everybody would be on the same contract without the divisions between CSIP and SWW people. For your own sake and that of all members – Vote YES Ian Cuthbert CWU Assistant Secretary 21/10/09 OPENREACH – SERVICE DELIVERY TRANSFORMATION Ballot to go ahead Make Sure you Vote! As previously announced, CWU members in Openreach will be consulted again on the Attendance Patterns Framework now that there is a clearer idea of the type of patterns people will work and the limits place on evenings and Saturdays for a period up to April 2011. It should be stressed that the actual pattern each member would work would be negotiated and agreed at local level (Branch) with the CWU. That is why the Union’s Executive strongly believes it is vital to have an agreement and is urging members to vote Yes. Due to the uncertainty over the postal service, it has been decided to run the ballot electronically. It will be run by the independent firm Popularis and will be both secure and confidential. The ballot will be run from 28th October until 6th November. It is important to stress that BT will not have any access or information on how many or how people vote. The format will be that members will be advised of a web site (run by Popularis) which they can access and cast their vote. They will need to use an individual identification ( of which they will be advised) and there are stringent checks to ensure each individual can only vote once and that only members of the CWU can vote. Any incidence of individuals trying to vote more than once will be blocked, recorded and the appropriate action taken under the Union’s rules. There will be access from that site to all of the relevant information and a unique e-mail address has been set up for members to ask questions. Members are asked to use this only for points of clarification rather than air opinions. This is to ensure that each and every member has the opportunity to get all of the information to make an informed decision. The address is open@cwu.org . All of the briefings issued can be accessed on the CWU web site. It is acknowledged that this issue is controversial but we need to treat each other with dignity and respect differing views. The scale of challenge we face – imposition of attendances and hiving off up to 13,000 Complex people (and the resultant effect on jobs in Volume) – is unprecedented. The cost in human terms of failure to stop either of those things could be catastrophic. That is why the Executive has decided to re-consult members over developments since the last ballot. Every single member in Openreach will be affected by the outcome of this ballot. It follows therefore that every single member must vote. Your future and that of your workmates hangs on the outcome of this ballot. Further precise details of how to vote will be issued in due course.
Ian Cuthbert CWU Assistant Secretary
18/10/09 - Openreach - Service Delivery Transformation Since the result of the last consultative ballot was announced, the CWU Executive team has held a series of increasingly urgent meetings with both Openreach and BT Group to try to find an acceptable solution that would remove the uncertainty from our Complex members faced with potential outsourcing. Given the Union's bad experiences with the TUPE regulations, this had to be a real and immediate priority. In the slightly longer term, the CWU team were conscious of the threat to jobs in Service and Volume through efficiency gains, mobile broadband and increased competition. If Complex work went out along with work on Next Generation Access, there would be nowhere to redeploy surpluses. The threat to jobs in Openreach is very real and very much across all work functions. The only difference potentially would be the means and the timing. As previously reported, there is a very real link between the overtime currently worked and jobs. That is why much of the negotiation has focused on Attendance Patterns. When the T&FS Executive recommended the Attendance Pattern Framework, it did so in the knowledge that there were no further improvements that could be achieved in the negotiations. Since then, Openreach has confirmed that the Attendance Pattern Framework represented its full and final proposals and that it could not make further concessions. The Executive has also held two meetings of Branches to sound out views of the Union's direction. Whilst not going into all that was said, it was clear that there were mixed views on our next steps. Given all of the above, the Union's Executive instructed a team led by the DGS (T) to urgently explore with BT a possible solution to implementation and that an agreed outcome is the subject of a further democratic consultation exercise with the membership in Openreach. The T&FS Executive considered the outcome of those talks, along with the range of views expressed by Branches, at an emergency meeting on Wednesday 14 October 2009. It was agreed to recommend the outcome and the Flexible Attendance Framework to members in Openreach and that the consultation may be by way of an electronic ballot in the coming weeks. Whilst it is true to say the detail of the Attendance Framework has not changed, significant improvements in the way and timing of implementation have been secured. I attach the full correspondence. Project Beck If the CWU agrees the proposals (via a consultation exercise), then BT can assure the CWU that it will not proceed with the transfer of Complex to a third party (Project Beck). For clarity, it is the endorsement of and implementation of the Attendance Framework that will make Project Beck go away. There are further assurances later about insourcing work currently done by contract and in India. Attendance Framework The implementation of the framework will be phased over a significant period with additional interim parameters. On 1 January 2010 team member contracts will be varied. From 1 January 2010 to 1 April 2010 there will be a transition/awareness period of three months during which local negotiations with CWU Branches will take place to determine the actual patterns people will work. This will vary dependant on work function, geography and genuine customer need, but will be governed by preset parameters as set out in the attached documentation. Between 1 April 2010 and 1 June 2010, the negotiated patterns would come into effect. The table in Appendix A of the documentation shows what the maximum numbers of Saturdays in this period would be. This period would run to 31 December 2010. In terms of actual start/finish times, during the period 1 April 2010 until 31 March 2011, the number of lates would be no more than 1 in 6 and the latest rostered finish time would be 19:30 other than Saturdays when the latest rostered finish time will be no later than 18:00. These are of course maximums and are subject to local negotiation with the CWU within the parameters. Complex Transformation Openreach is proposing a number of changes in working practices and processes aimed at achieving an improvement in its cost base of 17.5% by 1 April 2011. If this is achieved, along with the changes in attendance, Openreach believes it would be in a position to potentially insource work, including poling, currently carried out by contract. Off-shored Work If the new attendances deliver cost savings and coverage, Openreach will revisit the basis on which the work was off-shored with a view to resourcing it with the UK based direct labour. Implementation Steering Group There would be a joint Steering Group, including lay CWU representatives, which would oversee the various programmes and implementation to ensure consistency of application. Ballot As previously indicated, the proposals will be the subject of membership consultation. This is not ignoring previous consultation exercise. Not to go down this path would be ignoring reality. This is absolutely the last chance to reach agreement through peaceful negotiations. It would be quite wrong and undemocratic to deny members in Openreach this opportunity. Further details will be published in due course. Yours sincerely, Ian Cuthbert 04/10/09 Contacting Us Ladies and Gentlemen: Due to annual leave then I will be unavailable from 1st Oct – 13th Oct. As we in the office do not get any cover, and we are under increasing pressure then can I remind you that all non urgent queries (that is those not referring to disciplinary matters) should be referred to our committee members at the first instance. Those people are: Glenys Harrison, clerical chair Ronnie Edwards, acting engineering chair – 07802 150814 John Hogg, Mike Warren, Kenny Gresty. As some of these are in a call centre environment, then could they be contacted by email, please Health and Safety enquiries to the USRs, Colin D Jones, Ian Hart, Andy Arthur Disability enquires to Mandy Bradshaw Rob will be available but he is only allowed 3 union days per week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so queries on those other days may not be answered at once. Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated. I also need to advise you, and this will be of especial interest to Openreach members, that due to the situation within Openreach there may come a time when we are not able to send out email updates to BT addresses, so any updates will be added to our local website – the address is below. 04/10/09 H&S Message - False Black Widows Click Here For H&S Info Regarding False Black Widows 20/09/09 Openreach Working Patterns Review We have now received information from Union HQ regarding the company’s formal response to the recent ballot, the branch has circulated this information and hopefully by now you will have either seen the information or heard about it. It is the company’s intention to seek volunteers to change attendance patterns; they will be contacting every Openreach employee individually asking them to “volunteer” to change their attendance pattern. As mentioned in LTB770/2009 the CWU Executive will be consulting with branches to formulate the Unions approach to this turn of events, and the Executive have advised against any knee jerk reaction! However the branch officers are aware that our members are to be approached by Management in the very near future to “volunteer” to accept the new terms proposed in SDT. Our view is that NO ONE should be pressurised into signing anything they do not agree with. The decision to sign is YOURS! If you need more time to consider your options, inform Management you need more time, and if you need more advice then please contact your Branch Officers. We will issue further bulletins on the situation as things develop. We as A Union must stand united on all issues that affect our members. Follow on from HQ... As indicated in briefing No 8, the CWU Executive team met with Openreach to clarify the detail of the exercise Openreach will be running over the next two weeks. We were informed that all team members will receive a letter and be asked to indicate confidentially on an independent web site their personal willingness to adopt the flexible attendance patterns. We believe that the indicative patterns Openreach will be referring to are those that were the subject of the recent ballot. The CWU confirmed that this is an entirely voluntary and individual exercise and the results will be confidential. It is not a ballot (i.e. there is not a NO box to tick) and there will be no 1:1 with managers. Openreach has confirmed that it is merely an exercise for people to express a personal view should the flexible attendance patterns be available. The CWU sought and were given assurances that there would be no contractual change and that, if individuals were TUPE'd out of Openreach, they would do so on their current contractual terms as well as current attendance. Expressing a personal choice to change does not commit the individual to the actual change since it will be necessary at a later change to sign a variation of contract. The exercise will run from the 18th September until 2nd October. Openreach will be writing confirming all of this and this will be published in a separate LTB. The Executive team is conscious of the danger of splits between some Complex and Volume people prompted by the belief that the result of the recent ballot was split cleanly along those lines. There is no way of knowing this for certain but in all probability, there would have been Complex people voting No and Volume people voting Yes. What is clear is that the challenges we face in the coming weeks and months will need the Union to be as united as never before since they will impact on every member. Against that background, the Executive team believes all individuals should be free to express an individual, voluntary and confidential opinion if that is what they wish to do. The Union will not tolerate people being bullied, coerced or harassed in any way. The real focus for the CWU is job security and in particular resisting any outsourcing. We cannot nor will not be distracted from that task. The CWU has confirmed again that Openreach will honour its statutory consultative obligations. The discussions we are having, or have had, with Openreach do not form part of that consultative period. If a decision was made to outsource all or part of Complex, Openreach would write formally to the CWU to commence the consultative process. That would also be the point at which the CWU Executive would definitively decide the best way to enact the Union's policy of opposition to Project Beck or any similar proposal. Ian Cuthbert
IMPORTANT OPENREACH – SERVICE DELIVERY TRANSFORMATION CWU continues to seek long term job security for all in Openreach Following the result of the ballot on attendance patterns, a CWU team from Head Office met with management on Tuesday both to find out the company’s next steps and to press home the Union’s determination to preserve long term job security for members in Openreach. As previously outlined (in the letter from Openreach to the CWU dated 20th July which was contained in the booklet sent to members prior to the ballot), the assurances from the company on job security and the abandonment of Project Beck were predicated on reaching an agreement on attendance patterns. The CWU team urged management to continue with those assurances despite the ballot result. BT’s representatives very politely but very firmly declined. The CWU was informed that Openreach will proceed with preparations for the outsourcing of Complex which would involve TUPE and that this was likely, in the first instance, to commence with Poling. In respect of attendance patterns, the CWU was also informed that Openreach will begin preparations for the implementation of the flexible attendance patterns. Openreach will commence that process by trying to secure volunteers to adopt the attendance framework. Management reaffirmed that the proposals which were the subject of the ballot was the company’s full and final offer and that there would be no further negotiations on the detail. The CWU team restated our policy in respect of outsourcing and imposition of unagreed attendances. We also affirmed that the Union is determined to preserve long-term job security for members in Openreach and that the Union will explore every avenue in pursuit of these aims. Management was asked to set out its plans concisely in writing and the full text of that letter will be published separately in a Letter to Branches. This is undoubtedly a worrying and uncertain time for members but rest assured the CWU will do all it can to safeguard jobs in Openreach. The CWU Executive will be considering this turn of events in consultation with Branches in the very near future. In the interim members in Openreach are asked to stay united in these troubled times Ian Cuthbert CWU Assistant Secretary
BT Openreach Service Delivery Transformation - Consultative Ballot Result
NO Spoilt ballot papers Total ballot papers dispatched
Latest News To view historical news archived, please click here Wednesday 11th February 2009 After last years AGM at Chester, this years AGM will be held at Llandegai Cricket Club, Bangor on Wednesday 18th Feb at 7.30. This will be followed immediately by a branch general meeting. Openreach resource will be among the items to be discussed. Important safety info F.A.O Openreach Engineers. Click Here to view Monday 5th January 2009 New BT Performance Management info added to the LTB page Click Here to view the latest
Monday 1st December 2008 The CWU and Connect Union's have today opened an independent consultative ballot of BT workers to establish employees' reaction to the company's proposed pension changes. Hear what CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr and Connect's Ben Marshall have to say about the pension changes on a CWU TV special by clicking on the following link: http://stream.kuluvalley.com/cwu/episode3.html
Friday 14th November 2008 Pensions Meeting The South Wales Branch of the CWU has arranged for Carol Alcock, the Operator and Ancillary Constituency Chair from the CWU to talk to the operator group about pensions. As this is a subject of importance to all us, then a general invitation is extended to all members of the Chester and North Wales Branch who wish to attend. Meeting will be held at 19:00 on Monday 17th November at the Carreg Mon Hotel, Ffordd Caergybi, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Gwynedd LL61 5YH, (www.carregmonhotel.co.uk) Job Losses at BT Yesterday (Thursday 13th November 2008) BT publically announced job losses of up to 10,000. To learn more about this significant piece of news, please access the main CWU page: http://www.cwu.org/news.asp?step=3&NID=2166
Monday 10th November 2008 Extremely Important! In our world of targets and measures, it is increasingly important to insure that our employers are following their procdures to ensure our members are being treated fairly. Please click here to download BT's official Performance Management and Appraisal procedure. Wednesday 5th November 2008 Important news regarding the BT Pension review. Please click here for more info Sunday 19th October 2008 New General meeting date announced for Wed 29th Octoberat 7.30pm in the Llandegai Cricket Club, Llandegai, Bangor, Gwynedd Also, new conference details. If anyone is interested in going to the following conferences, please contact the office on the usual number. CWU Black Workers Conference – Belfast on Saturday 7th Feb 2009 CWU LGBT Conference – Swansea – Saturday 15th Nov 2008 CWU Annual Conference – Bournemouth – 7th-11th June 2009 Any one interested in attending these conferences, please contact the office.
Tuesday 12th August 2008 More L2Bs added to the L2B page including Newstart and Resourcing info and Openreach grading review. Thursday 10th July 2008 New LTBs added to the L2B page of this site. Please take your time to look over the important notices regarding 'BT Pension Schemes'. Thurday 15th May 2008 World Asthma Day 2008 - "Be Asthma Aware" Misuse of Electronic Media: Change of Policy (BT) CWU Postal and Telecom Election Results
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