Relations in Belfast.
Update of progress from Lord Sawyer of Darlington, Professor McHugh of the University of Ulster and David McGrath
of the Labour Relations Agency to all Royal Mail Processing, Delivery, Collections/Distribution and NRC employees in Donegall
Quay and the Mail Centre at Mallusk.
In April 2006, we were asked by Tony McCarthy
(Royal Mail People & Organisation Development Director) and Dave Ward (Deputy General Secretary of the Communication Workers
Union) to help oversee an independent process to improve industrial and employee relations in Belfast. We were, however, not
given any written terms of reference for such a process but have sought to facilitate meaningful discussion between the parties
ever since. Within this, we believe it is best practice to commit to transparency
and openness in order to provide feedback to people and accordingly, we would wish to report the following about events since
April 2006:
- a
Steering Committee of Royal Mail and CWU personnel was established in April 2006 to work with ourselves as independent third
parties
- in
May, we conducted a number of interviews with an equal number of people nominated by Royal Mail and the CWU
- in
addition, all employees were sent a questionnaire asking for their views about how they would describe relations and what
thoughts they had about the future
- a
selection of employees who indicated they were happy to be interviewed as well were then also contacted and meetings held
- we
verbally reported our findings to the Steering Committee on June 7th and our recommendations were given and accepted
by the Royal Mail and CWU parties at that time, where it was agreed that the emphasis should now be on moving the situation
forward
- these
matters were publicised in a Joint Communication on 9th June, a copy of which is attached to this notice for information
- in
addition, Lord Sawyer was forwarded some papers by the trade union on conduct cases and he was considering these in a private
capacity and not as a formal part of this process
Given all the points above, it was then further
agreed that representatives from Royal Mail and the CWU would attend an offsite workshop to address how to work together more
effectively. That meeting took place on 6th November in the Wellington Park Hotel and was chaired by Lord Sawyer
and facilitated by Professor McHugh and David McGrath. The agenda for the day was drawn up from items submitted by both parties
for the purpose of moving Industrial and Employee Relations forward.
The main theme of the day was joint working in
order to explore common ground on a number of key strands. These included:
1/ Industrial Relations Framework,
Communications and Facilities.
2/ Joint management / trade
union training.
3/ Flash-point Resolution.
4/ Improving Relations between
Royal Mail and CWU in Donegal Quay
A joint working
group was established for each of these four strands and all of the parties gave a commitment to work on the issues in the
months following the November workshop. In addition, all parties committed to holding a further workshop to evaluate progress
and to continue work on the relationship for the benefit of all employees in Belfast.
We can now report
that the working groups have all met and each has made significant progress. This
was outlined at an evaluation workshop held at the Wellington Park Hotel on 7th March. It is clear to us that some
very constructive developments have taken place, which are leading to an improvement in industrial and employee relations
in Belfast. It is very pleasing to note and to report on this progress, and we extend our thanks to all of those who have
been involved positively in this process.
On March 7th, after recording the significant
and positive progress that has been made by the joint working groups, there was a renewed commitment to meet again in May
to report further on developments. We will be pleased as independent third parties,
if required, to continue to help the Royal Mail and CWU parties to make progress.
Lord
Sawyer of Darlington
12th March 2007
Professor
McHugh
12th March 2007
Mr
David McGrath
12th March 2007
