BRANCH EQUALITY OFFICER

NEIL COCKS                                      302                ELECTED

JITENDRA MAKWANA                        117

ANDREW MANNING                           74 

Spoilt ballot papers (no votes cast)   2 

Total ballot papers received              495                20%

Total ballot papers dispatched          2418

SUBSTITUTE AREA DELIVERY REP CM POSTCODE AREA

DANNY ATTFIELD                              85 

CHRIS MAY                                        92                ELECTED

Spoilt ballot papers (no votes cast)    2 

Total ballot papers received               179             21%

Total ballot papers dispatched           865

As previously agreed with CWU, for the annual holiday year commencing April 2012, two payments of Scheduled Attendance Holiday Pay, each equivalent to 2 weeks worth, will be made to employees within the Single Operational grade (OPG & ORR), the Operational Support Grade (OSG), Mail Screener, MDEC Keyer within Royal Mail Letters.  No payment will be made to reserved rights Weekend Only workers (OPW/ORW) who are not entitled to SA payments.

As previously agreed with CWU and following the practice for the 2010/2011 SA holiday payment, the divisor will remain at 48 weeks.

The purpose of the SA holiday payment is to ensure that employees who regularly work SA receive some earnings support to cover their main paid annual holidays.

To save undue administration; payments will be automatically made as non-pensionable lump sums to those employees who were in service in a relevant grade at the start of the Annual Holiday Year and are still in service in a relevant grade when payment is made.

                Payment 1 2 weeks worth on 18th May 2012

               Payment 2 2 weeks worth on 10th August 2012

Payment will be based on the weekly average SA (weekday and Sunday) worked during the previous Annual Holiday Year (April 2011 - March 2012) but paid at the current SA cash rate when actually paid.  This ensures that the payments reflect the weekly variations in SA worked, including the additional time prior to Christmas.

 Subject to: -

a) The total for each week being no more than the National Limit averaged across any rotational cycle.

b) The average for employees with less than the maximum length of service for the reference period prior to the commencement of the current Annual Holiday Year being calculated on the actual number of weeks of service up to the end of the prior Annual Holiday Year.

c) Employees joining an eligible grade during the current Annual Holiday Year not being eligible for a payment till the following Annual Holiday Year.

This is NOT a savings scheme with money earned in one year payable in the following one.  Prior year data is used to estimate the SA that will be worked during the current year.  Employees leaving service or a relevant grade prior to the end of the Current Annual Holiday Year (the 12 months April - March) will have their entitlement to the SA payment scaled back to reflect their reduced service within the Current Annual Holiday Year.

For employees due to retire, this should be calculated when the final year’s payment is made. For employees leaving service, any overpayment will be automatically recovered from the outstanding pay upon leaving.

In line with normal business practice, no payment will be due to employees leaving service prior to the SA Holiday Payment being made other than by way of retirement due to age, ill health or redundancy.  In these limited circumstances a pro rata payment will be made according to the length of service in the current annual holiday year. 

To qualify for payment the SA must have been performed in accordance with the National Rules which includes the individual employee completing a formal agreement detailing the SA to be worked and will be capped at the National Maximum.

Employees on temporary promotion / substitution into a non eligible grade when payment is made will only receive a proportionate payment for the period they were in an eligible grade if and when they permanently revert to an eligible grade within the Current Annual Holiday Year.

Employees within RM Letters Network terms will continue to operate their existing SA Holiday scheme i.e. they will be exempt from the terms of this directive, and will continue to submit authorized HR16’s for their first 4 weeks of holiday.

All policy queries should initially be flagged to the HR Services Contact Centre (5456 7100 / 0845 6060603), or emailed to HRSC Enquiries Pay.  The Contact Centre will flag more complex queries through the escalation process. Technical payroll enquiries should be directed to HR Support.

The e-petitions system is an easy way to influence government policy in the UK. Organisations or individuals can create an e-petition about matters that the government is responsible for and if it gets at least 100,000 signatures, it will be eligible for debate in the House of Commons which is our goal and we are working with our campaign partners and supporting organisation on this objective (TUC, all major UK Unions, Animal Welfare Charities, Police, Dog Wardens, Vets, Nurses, Safety Organisations, Employers etc).

Our Petition’s title is “Call on coalition government to deliver effective solutions to irresponsible dog ownership” and it’s calling on the government to bring forward a Bill in the Queen’s Speech in 2012 that does the following; consolidates and updates dangerous dogs legislation concerning dog control, gives greater powers to enforcers and the courts, improves public safety, includes preventative measures, updates offences, extends legislation to cover all places, both public and private, introduces compulsory permanently identification through microchipping, concentrates the law on the owner’s actions or omissions rather than the dog, phases out breed specific legislation, provides sufficient funding for effective enforcement of the new law and provides education and engagement to encourage more responsible dog ownership.

Would all Reps, Branches, Regions support the call and rally the members to take just a couple of minutes to sign the Petition which also has the full backing or Royal Mail.

Additionally, please take the opportunity in your areas and locations to spread the work outside the Union to gain further support and signatures. Sign the petition here http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22631

Thanks for your support. 

Regular over-drinking of Alcohol can cause a wide range of physical damage and can significantly increase the risk of alcohol-related or cause psychological harm - and the more you drink the greater the risk.

In terms of risk, people who drink alcohol are often broken down into three categories (lower risk, increasing risk and higher risk drinkers).

The health risks of excess alcohol include: Weight problems, Stomach upsets, Headaches, Anxiety, stress, depression, poor concentration, difficulty in sleeping and raised blood pressure. More serious effects include: Accidents and injuries, Liver disease, Cancers, Strokes, memory loss, sexual difficulties. 

High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke. The so-called French Paradox, where the French appear to have a lower risk of heart disease despite being a nation of wine drinkers is often used as an excuse by wine drinking Brits. Although research has found that regularly drinking small amounts of alcohol may reduce the risk of a heart disease in men over 40 and post menopausal women, for most people alcohol increases the risk of high blood pressure, and in turn, heart attack and stroke, two of the UK’s biggest killers.

According to the Department of Health, men who regularly drink more than eight units of alcohol a day are four times more likely to develop high blood pressure. Women who drink six units a day double their risk of high blood pressure.

Cancer 

According to a recent study in the British Medical Journal, alcohol causes around 13,000 deaths from cancer every year in the UK.

Alcohol is second only to smoking as a risk factor for mouth, throat and neck cancers. As alcohol helps the mouth to absorb smoke, people who smoke and drink alcohol to excess are 30 times more likely to develop mouth cancer. Drinking too much alcohol also increases the risk of colon and liver cancer, and breast cancer in women. Liver cirrhosis, which can be caused by regularly drinking too much, increases the risk of liver cancer. 

Liver Disease

Regularly drinking over the limit can cause a build up of fatty deposits in the liver, known as fatty liver disease. At this stage, cutting back or stopping drinking altogether can save this vital organ. But continuing to drink at this level can lead to the liver to becoming inflamed, causing hepatitis, and in some cases, even liver failure and death. Through time, a build up of scar tissue in the liver or fibrosis may result in liver cirrhosis, which is irreversible. 

Pancreatitis 

Gallstones and heavy drinking are the two most common causes of acute pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas. Around a quarter of cases are thought to be caused by regularly drinking too much. Some people appear to be more susceptible to the condition which can also be extremely painful. Heavy drinking is the most common cause of chronic pancreatitis, where long term inflammation causes permanent damage. 

Alcohol Poisoning 

In general, the human body can only metabolise one unit of alcohol per hour. So drinking a large amount of alcohol in a short time can cause a rapid rise in the blood alcohol concentration. This may continue even when drinking has stopped, as the alcohol in your stomach continues to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Your blood alcohol concentration can rise to levels which can kill, known as alcohol poisoning. This can also happen when you have stopped drinking, fallen asleep or passed out. 

Weight gain 

Gram for gram, alcohol is second only to fat as a source of calories. Each UK unit of alcohol contains eight grams of alcohol and seven calories.

They are also known as “empty calories,” because they are of no nutritional benefit whatsoever.

Put into perspective, a medium (175ml) glass of average strength red wine contains around 120 calories; a pint of lager (5%) around 240 calories, and a gin and tonic around 120 calories, so it’s easy to see how alcohol contributes to weight gain.

Studies have shown that we also tend to eat more unhealthy foods - crisps, salted nuts, greasy snacks - as we drink, adding even more calories. When you take into account that around six out of ten people in the UK are now classified as overweight, and one in four as obese - with all the health problems that go with it - then cutting back on alcohol is one of the easiest ways to improve your health. 

Sleep problems 

If you think alcohol helps you sleep, you’re not alone. A government survey found that 58% of Brits are unaware that alcohol can disrupt sleep. Although it’s true that alcohol will help you fall asleep faster, it interferes with the normal sleep cycle, causing you to wake up during the night and feel unrefreshed in the morning. Alcohol is also a diuretic, and stimulates the body to excrete fluid during the night. 

Factsheet: “The impact of alcohol on health” 

Alcohol misuse is a major cause of illness, injury and death. The World Health Organisation has identified alcohol as the third largest risk factor to health in developed countries. The number of alcohol-related deaths in the United Kingdom has consistently increased since the early 1990s, and alcohol-related illness or injury accounts for over 945,000 hospital admissions per year. The attached factsheet entitled “The impact of alcohol on health” looks in detail at a number of alcohol-related health effects. 

By the time you’ve read this article some of the additional 120 people due to move to Chelmsford because of the various different initiatives Royal Mail have embarked on would have already started to move to the mail centre. Due to the closure of EDC, the movement of Southend’s inward work and the London closure programme, the mail centre will see the amount of work performed out of the mail centre increase dramatically. 

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome both the people that have already moved and those due to move to the mail centre and assure them that they will be treated exactly the same as the people already working at the mail centre.

Although it is true to say that big is not always beautiful, it is also a fact that the bigger the unit, the more power you have as an office.

Once all of the people and work have moved in, Chelmsford will be one of the biggest mail centres in the Anglia division. That means having a large say in what goes on within the mail centres both locally i.e. Anglia and nationally.

We as a Union will make sure that we will use this power in a responsible way but at the same time make sure that we use it to ensure we secure the best working conditions for everyone working at the mail centre.

With most people due to move in already being members of the Essex Amal branch the changes to agreements and policy will be minimal, and in the case of the EDC, there will be no change as the agreement secured earlier this month means that EDC will remain a stand alone unit within the mail centre.

As per usual, the coming year promises to be difficult one, with privatisation moving a step nearer and Royal mail continuing to attempt to introduce world class mail whilst at the same time ripping parts of the business transformation agreement they no longer want.

I am sure if we unite as an office, we will not only survive Royal Mails next string of attack we will come out the other side stronger than ever, now that can only bode well for all of our futures.