No: 048/25 28th February 2025 Update on the USO Pilots.
No: 048/25
Dear Colleagues,
All Branches will be aware that the CWU published two agreed-upon statements on the USO pilots before Christmas. We have now agreed on a further addendum which will apply to all 37 USO pilot sites.
The addendum and flowchart provide the parameters which all pilot sites should adopt to ensure they achieve the overarching objectives, which are:
Pilot sites must achieve Ofcom’s quality of service target.
On deployment, the workload must be fair, manageable and achievable, and solutions must address fatigue.
There must be an opportunity to improve attendance patterns, including fewer Saturdays.
There must be an improvement in confidence, trust and morale.
To ensure the above happens within each of the pilots, the union has agreed to the following:
Agreed an addendum to the original Terms of Reference.
A flowchart for resourcing the pilot unit before deployment.
The option of seven attendance patterns.
The addendum covers the following:
Mail Centres must ensure work compliance, including product segregation.
It is expected that there will be minimal impact on Mail Centres or Distribution. Any change required will be dealt with through normal weekly resourcing meetings.
The USO pilots must cover all daily duties, including having the appropriate reserve levels, with full-time reserves covering full time duties, and they must achieve Ofcom’s regulatory targets.
A total data verification process within the unit to ensure duties are achievable.
The opportunity to rotate from combined and all mail deliveries (core) can be introduced to reduce fatigue.
All employees will be encouraged to drive, but non-drivers will still have a full role. Non-drivers will still work on Saturdays against the scheduled workload within any of the listed attendance menu options.
There should be one overall office attendance as the USO pilots will be introduced based on a method change approach rather than a structural revision.
The method change principles are:
Rurals will retain one-to-one deliveries Monday through Friday, with only Saturday’s schedule changing based on 1st class, parcels and tracked items.
Firm deliveries will retain one-over-one Monday through Friday, with only Saturday’s schedule changing based on 1st class, parcels and tracked items.
On all mail days (core), town and city routes will have two over-one deliveries Monday through Friday.
Town and city will have two over 1st class routes (combined Monday to Saturday).
We also agreed that each pilot site could select from seven different attendance patterns. The Optimised Delivery Model reduces the number of people working on a Saturday. Any duty pattern with just one day off per week must change to one of the attendance patterns below.
The duty patterns available to select are:
Two Saturdays off in any six weeks (in addition to a regular rest day during the week). Extra 8 Saturdays off per year.
Two Saturdays off in any five weeks (in addition to a regular rest day during the week). Extra 10 Saturdays off per week.
9-day fortnight.
4-day week option.
Wallington, plus an extra Saturday off.
13 working days out of 18 (Monday to Saturday) with 1 Saturday off every 3 weeks (only available to drivers).
17 working days every 24 (Monday to Saturday) with 2 Saturdays off every 4 weeks.
Each pilot site will understand the start and finish times before their vote, this means that individuals will be working their contracted hours over fewer days, so the days they work will be slightly longer depending on which options they select.
The agreed Terms of Reference ensure that no individual will be asked to move units during the pilot. Currently, there will be a surplus in 22 of the 37 sites.
The sites in which there will not be a surplus will need to ensure any vacancies are filled before the pilot goes live. This will allow part-timers to increase their contracted hours, including up to full-time on their existing terms and conditions. This will be done based on seniority, but it will also recognise that a non-driver cannot increase their contracted hours on a duty they cannot perform, such as a driving duty.
A temporary resign will be available before the pilot goes live, and a full resign will be available when Ofcom makes its formal decision.
Once the pilot has been deployed there will be an ongoing review to ensure that each pilot achieves the four overarching principles.
It also lists the interfaces that will be fully involved within the pilot units.
It is important to remember that the CWU has not agreed to full USO reform. If we eventually decide this is the best option, there will be a national agreement covering this. Despite speculation, the only pilot site deployed is Newton Mearns DO in Scotland.
Cumbernauld DO will go live on March 17th.
The other pilot sites will be phased in from late March until the middle of May. The sites are being phased in because the flowchart attached to this LTB requires an 8-week process starting with data verification and concluding with the actual deployment.
Newton Mearns went live this week. The unit’s members chose to opt for two Saturdays off in five. They also introduced a further duty into the unit.
Whilst it is early days, the initial observation is that all the core mail walks have cleared with indoor support and very high call rates. This higher call rate, some above 90%, is down to the sequencing machine releasing work which should have been held upstream in the Mail Centre. Further work is being carried out in Glasgow Mail Centre to remedy this.
The combined 1st class/parcel routes on Monday and Tuesday completed the planned delivery spans early.
Cumbernauld is scheduled to go live on March 17th. They have also selected two Saturdays off every five weeks. Two duties have been put back into the unit, the indoor layout changes have been fully deployed and local parties are working together to continue to review the operation ahead of the go live date.
We intend to provide regular updates on the pilots moving forward, including members’ feedback from the pilots.
Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) department.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Davie Robertson
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Tony Bouch
Assistant Secretary
AGREED DUTY OPTIONS 2 OF 2
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