Rising to the COVID-19 challenge in Openreach

Important protections secured by the CWU on behalf of members in Openreach during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis were celebrated at the first ever national briefing of activists representing members in that company to have been conducted by video conference. Well over 50 branch activists from all four corners of the UK participated in yesterday’s (Thursday) […]

Posted: 24th May 2020

CORONAVIRUS GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE MEASURES 21 MAY 2020

For your information, please see update below from #TheCWU Research Dept on the government assistance measures document to reflect the recent guidance on holiday entitlement and pay. The new information added since the previous update (on 12th May) is highlighted in red. CWU Research Dept Update – COVID-19 Government Assistance Measures/Work-Housing-Welfare – Childcare

Posted: 22nd May 2020

New Guidance on Holiday Entitlement and Pay during COVID-19 (Unionline)

The Government finally provided its separate new guidance document on Holiday entitlement and pay during COVID -19, it would answer the numerous questions on this issue which have been circulating since the announcement of the Job Retention Scheme in March. In the usual course, workers take their holiday throughout the leave year and is spread […]

Posted: 19th May 2020

Abuse stemming from 5G/COVID-19 conspiracy theory must be reported, stresses CWU

Field engineering members across the entire telecommunications sector are being reminded of the paramount importance of ensuring that any abusive behaviour they encounter in the course of their duties is formally reported and logged – especially where it relates to ‘fake news’ that coronavirus is somehow being spread by the rollout of 5G. Six weeks […]

Posted: 19th May 2020

Pioneering Santander drive to minimise psychological impact of COVID-19 applauded by CWU

Industry-leading efforts by Santander to mitigate the negative psychological impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its workforce have been hailed by the CWU as a template that other employers would do well to follow. The Bank’s ground-breaking approach to supporting the mental wellbeing of employees has been influenced by expert-led modelling that suggest a combination […]

Posted: 19th May 2020

Royal Mail Sick Pay Policy – Furlough

When the Coronavirus Covid-19 epidemic broke within the UK I wrote to Royal Mail requesting to engage on the potential impact and to discuss measures which could be put in place to ensure we could protect our members, Royal Mail employees. The measures I requested to be put in place included any absence which was […]

Posted: 10th May 2020

CWU applauds homeworking revolution in BT Consumer and EE

Since the outbreak of Covid 19 the CWU has been pressing BT Consumer and EE to introduce widespread homeworking for customer-facing staff – something that is now coming to fruition at impressive speed.Just two weeks after a ‘proof  of concept’  trial involving BT team members in Newcastle and their EE counterparts in Merthyr demonstrated the […]

Posted: 10th May 2020

Openreach Annual Leave and COVID-19

Dear Colleague, Openreach Annual Leave and COVID-19 The CWU is writing to you today to confirm there has been no consultation with the CWU on the changed approach to annual leave within Openreach. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the CWU has been working hard on your behalf to ensure that you and your families remain safe […]

Posted: 5th May 2020