Retired Members Conference |
| The Lancs & Cumbria Branch had four successes at the recent Retired Members Conference. All three propositions put forward were carried. The fourth achievement was that Doreen Watson, our Retired Section Secretary will be representing all the CWU Retired members at General Conference in 2020. The results of the Conference can be seen on the Retired Members Page. |
Member Christmas Benefits |
| Tis the season to be joyful! Being a member of the CWU is not just about politics and battling against an uncaring management system. Get some benefits just for members. Go to Member Benefits and save money on all sorts of gifts and services. |
New Youth Officer |
| The Branch has elected a new Youth Officer. After a hard fought battle, Laura Walker narrowly beat the other candidates to represent the younger members. Laura is young enough to represent members under the age of 30 for several years. We wish her well in her new post. You can contact her through the Branch Office. |
Get Your Flu Jab |
| This is the time of year that summertime sniffles change into winter illness. You can help stop the Flu Virus by following simple hygiene rules. See the attached advice from Openreach and do your part. Why not call in to your local Pharmacist's and get yourself immunised. For many people the jab is free! If you are one of the unlucky ones, is it not worth paying, usually less than £20, to be Flu Free this winter? |
Golf Competition |
| The 2019 Golf Competition was, again, a roaring success. Read the report by clicking this link. Reports from previous years are available from the Members' Social Page. |
Death Benefit Increase |
| Members will be pleased by the Head Office announcement that from 1st October 2019 the CWU Death Benefit payment will be increased to £839. Please contact the Branch Office if you hear of a member who has died. |
Our Hours |
 Many of our members are working for 'FREE'! They are expected, because they park their vehicle at home, to be onsite at their first job at their official start time. This can be up to an hour of travelling in some areas. And the same can happen at the end of the working day. This means that some of our members are giving up to TEN hours of their time to BT and not getting paid for it. The campaign was launched earlier this year with a video which can be viewed at https://www.cwu.org/campaign/our-hours/ Members were asked to sign a petition calling for this unfair practice to be stopped but there were many who couldn't. To help our members, CWU Head Office published a news item which can be accessed at https://www.cwu.org/news/our-hours-campaign-online-petition-launched/ which has a link to an online petition (also available here https://www.cwu.org/our-hours-campaign/). The Lancs & Cumbria Branch urge all members who did not sign the paper version to go to the link and add your vote to the campaign. It will only take a few minutes. Get involved at #CWUOurHours. |
Policy change for vehicle speed restrictions |
| This year a change was made to the company policy on vehicle speed restrictions which introduced a 60 mph speed limiter on our car derived vehicles. At that time, you told us your concerns about this specific change, and since then we've been working with BT Fleet, the other lines of business, BT Group and the CWU to review the policy. A whole range of safety, environment, service and people factors, have been taken into account during the review and as a result we're going to introduce some changes. Our car derived vehicles - the Corsa's and Fiesta's - will be returned to the previous 70 mph limit. We'll need to make adjustments to the vehicles and this will be done by BT Fleet. We're agreeing the timescales and a programme of work to do this, so as soon as we have more details we'll let you know how it's going to be managed. The restriction on vehicles greater than 500kg (i.e. the Doblo transit type) will remain as they are restricted to 60mph by law to all but motorways already, although we'll be monitoring any issues via the commercial vehicle forum channel. I wanted to tell you this news as soon as the decision was made, as I know it's a topic many of you feel strongly about. I have to admit, after driving a Corsa hire car during a site visit this year I experienced the speed challenge first-hand, and found it a particular issue when driving on the motorway, so I do understand your concerns. It's important to note that we recognise that as a driver you will always have the scope and opportunity to be able to drive in a safe and fuel efficient way where possible, and by making this change we're giving that responsibility back to you. I hope you agree that we've listened and acted on your feedback to make this change, it goes without saying that I expect everyone in EES to drive with care and attention at all times. Please drive safely. Mark BW |
Women |
Wow! That was close. |
If you've just had a Near Miss then get it reported. Next time, you may not be so lucky. Or a workmate may suffer just because of your inaction. Download a FLYER and hang it in your van or office. |
The Voice |
If you put your CWU Voice down and can't find it, read it online |
