January 2024 – Union to take Industrial Action against Holman and Rivus.
Former Rivus Employees – 26th January is approaching
The union has now confirmed that it intends to take legal action against Holman and Rivus for their failure to consult with the union, as they are obligated to do under the TUPE Regulations.
In a previous briefing, we advised;
The legal requirements mean that this action is on behalf of the union as an entity and not individual members. It is the union’s intention that any financial remedy that may result will however, at least in part, be shared with those who were members of the CWU at the time of the service transfer on the 29th September and who remain members until the conclusion of the union’s legal claim against Rivus and Holman. This includes those members that transferred to Holman under the TUPE regulations.
However, we have after careful consideration decided to reopen membership for a limited period for members who were previously employed by Rivus and whose membership has lapsed since the 29th September. This is being done because some of you paid your union subscriptions through deductions from your Rivus pay and therefore, your CWU membership may have unwittingly lapsed.
This Briefing is to remind those of you that are yet to re-join that you have until 26th January 2024, to do so.
You should now do this by emailing the CWU’s membership department on membership@cwu.org advising them that you are a former Rivus employee that wishes to re-join the union. You can also call them direct on 0208 971 7447.
We appreciate that some of you will be unemployed while others will be employed by companies that may not recognise the union and others will be working for companies that do recognise the CWU, e.g. Royal Mail Fleet. There will also be those people that TUPED to Holman. It is for this reason that we are advising you to contact the membership department, as different arrangements will prevail for those of you in these different categories.
For those of you that have already re-joined, we are in the process of placing you in one of the above categories and if necessary we may contact you for further information.
Sept 2023 – Rivus Restructuring
The CWU is now in a position to give a clearer picture as to how the Rivus restructuring will effect members. The CWU held a members briefing over Zoom on Monday 18th and the feedback from that meeting has been taken account of. I need to emphasise that over the course of the last few days whilst discussions with Rivus have continued, it has meant that giving updates to members has been difficult with a constantly changing situation. It is possible that further developments will occur between now and 29th September.
To recap there are four main groups of employees briefly summarised below, Rivus will make it clear to individuals which group they are in;
- Those staff who both Rivus and the CWU maintain should be TUPE transferred to Holman on their existing terms and conditions. Holman dispute that TUPE applies and are not willing to take those staff on. These staff will no longer be employed by Rivus after the 29th of September.
- Staff who work on the BT Contract (in desk based roles) that Holman require for the running of the BT Contract this consists of 64 people that Holman have confirmed the TUPE will apply to this group.
- Rivus staff who carry out non BT Contract work who are now at risk of redundancy due to restructuring. The cost of any redundancies in this category will be met by Rivus.
- Rivus workers employed on the BT Company Car team. This group will be transferred under TUPE to Arval. Due to the location of Arval’s offices any redundancies that occur will be paid by Arval.
Group 1 consists of 619 Rivus staff that now face redundancy. Because notice of redundancy has not been given and notice has not been worked, members in this group are entitled to Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON) and also their contractual redundancy. Rivus maintain that BT are liable for all costs of redundancy including PILON under the Fleet Services Agreement. BT are willing to pay what they believe settles their liability however this does not meet the full cost of Redundancy and PILON. There is no agreement with the CWU to do this and there will be no ballot of members affected by this.
Group 2 consists of 64 employees that will now be transferred to Holman under TUPE. CWU are in the process of contacting Holman requesting that TUPE consultation for this group takes place ahead of their transfer. The time allowing for this consultation is extremely short, and whilst this presents a challenge, the CWU will carry out the usual scrutiny of the Terms and Conditions to transfer and any measures (new terms, conditions, working practices) that Holman wish to implement.
For employees in Group 1, as Holman refuse to take these employees on under TUPE, Rivus have committed to offer individuals a settlement payment. Individuals that accept this will be bound by the terms of the settlement agreement. Individuals that decide not to accept the payment will leave Rivus employment on the 29th September. Those that do not accept the terms of the settlement agreement will be paid their salary, any overtime relating to August and any bonus due in September. They will not receive contractual or statutory redundancy.
Rivus will contact employees to explain how the settlement agreement option is to be administrated. Members should be aware that individual settlement agreements need to be ratified by a solicitor or qualified individual, to assist therefore, with what is potentially a large administrative task, the CWU have engaged with UnionLine to facilitate employee’s legal ratification of settlement agreements. Rivus will detail how this will work.
For those members who choose not to accept the settlement agreement, there are potential legal alternatives to pursue. Member should be advised that this would not be a quick process. The CWU will advise members choosing not to take the settlement agreement separately in due course.
As we have already said this has been an extremely difficult set of circumstances to deal with. Any redundancy situation for our members is bad enough but this has been compounded by with a continual lack of certainty and finally a redundancy compensation that is less than our members should receive.
Allan Eldred. National Officer.
July 2023 – Rivus Garage Closures following BT Contract Loss.
Rivus Fleet Solutions (formally BT Fleet) announced today (10th July 2023) at 4pm, the closure of 48 of their 56 garages, this represents over 85% of their garages. This follows their failure to secure alternative work in time to enable them to sustain the business until new contracts are signed and work arrives. To date, no new contracts have been signed.
Rivus was effectively a start-up company when it purchased BT Fleet and is owned by a Venture capitalist company called Aurelius. The BT work is around 60% of Rivus’s current workload.
The BT contract has been won by an American company called Holman, which has a UK base but no garage network of its own. An urgent meeting with Holman at senior level will be sought and our aim will be to ensure that they fulfil their legal obligations to our members under TUPE legislation and provide work for those who wish to transfer to Holman.
Read more here
March 2023 – BT Contract to end.
The union have been advised the contract that Rivus Group (formally BT Fleet) has with BT is to expire at the end of September. Rivus said that agreement could not be reached on what BT and its new provider Holmans, wished to contract to Rivus. There will be no BT work carried out by Rivus from 30th September 2023.
Rivus have advised the union that the terms offered were not commercially viable and from what we know, could have resulted in a serious threat to the Ts & Cs of our Rivus members.
The union is of course extremely disappointed that agreement could not be reached but have been advised by Rivus that they are confident of filling the capacity that BT will leave behind. They have also advised us that they will continue to recruit into current vacancies and investment will continue in terms of training, warranty and equipment.
As branches will know, BT has embarked on a cost-cutting exercise that in some places borders on being self-destructive and branches will be surprised to learn that the new provider has no garage network of its own. It relies on spare garage capacity in the industry to fulfil its contracts, so only time will tell if they can fulfil their contractual commitments to BT let alone stand it up by the end of September. We can only assume that they are confident of doing so.
Rivus has advised the union that the lease with BT that they have on the Rivus garages is to 2030 and separate from the service contract and Rivus has no intention of relinquishing it because they intend to fill the freed-up capacity with new work which they advise they are already in discussions.
Rivus have also said that BT has not criticised the level or quality of the service that Rivus has provided. This is reflected in the fact that they wanted to continue to use Rivus through their new supplier, on service, maintenance and repair (SMR) work. The contract on offer however was not commercially viable.
The 2023 Pay negotiations with Rivus will continue and this announcement will have no impact on the union’s approach to these negotiations and we are advised that Rivus is of the same view.
Rivus have always said that their aim was not to rely in one major contract to sustain its future and believed that in the long term such an approach was not sustainable. Their aim now is to continue to seek work in the large corporate and the public sector markets as they do now, but also to ensure that they grow in diverse and sustainable way. The recent winning of the Metropolitan Police contract is evidence of this approach and the freeing-up of garage capacity will they say, enable to them to continue with their diverse growth strategy.
The CWU is under no illusions; Rivus is going to face a challenging time over the next few months but their approach to the ending of the BT contract, could have been a lot different and a greater and immediate threat to our members.
April 2022 – BALLOT RESULT – 2022 PAY REVIEW
The 2022 Pay ballot has now been completed and the result of the ballot is as follows:
To Accept: 81.3%
To Reject: 18.7%
Turnout: 75.4 %
The National Team would like to thank all those that voted in this ballot. Our understanding is that management plan to implement the 2022 increase in April salaries.
The agreement is for a 5.2% consolidated increase on base pay and pay related allowances. The main allowances in use are, shift working and London weighting. Discussions are continuing on other allowances.
February 2022 – Union Safety Rep Campaign.
The CWU have been in discussions with Rivus for some time on meeting our joint objective of having a union safety rep (USR) in every region of the country and ultimately moving to a USR in every garage, as well as in the Support Centre. The company has accepted that whilst safety is a legal obligation on us all, the statutory powers and processes provided to USRs makes their role central to having the safest workplaces in the industry.
This year, the CWU and Rivus Fleet Solutions will be running a joint campaign to recruit union safety reps. Whilst it is understood that CWU branches are the body that appoints USRs, we are looking for all CWU branches to assist in this process and to ensure that particularly in the garage environment, we have USRs that have experience in the Fleet management industry and are aware of all the safety challenges that this industry can generate. If there is anybody out there interested in becoming a USR, please use the email link here. rfsissues@cwu.org
21st Dec – Update and New CWU Contact Details.
Please see below for report and update on various issues that have been raised over a period of time by members and which we have made representations to management on. Most of these issues have either been resolved or are being progressed to resolution.
Also to advise you of our new contact address which has been set up exclusively for members in Rivus Fleet Solutions to report issues direct to the union.
TIC Productivity
Management has confirmed that the policy document that has been circulated and included a 50% target for TICs, will be amended to reflect the previous target of 34%. This misunderstanding arose because the TIC target was never included in the Garage Incentive Scheme’s main body but was recorded on associated documents.
ETO ‘Allowance’
Management have now agreed that the ETO ‘allowance’ will now be uplifted by the 2% pay increase and this will be backdated to April 1st 2021. At the time we last met management, they were collating all the data on ETO work carried out and it will be paid in salaries as soon as this work is complete.
110/230 Volt ‘Allowance’
This was originally raised by members in Northern Ireland who believed that the allowance was paid in the rest of the UK but not in the Northern Ireland.
Management confirmed very early in the discussions that any’ allowances’ paid in any part of the UK would be paid wherever the work is carried out. Management has subsequently advised us that on investigation they have found that the payments are being made in some garages but that this is not consistent across the network. They are in the process of investigating who is carrying out the work and where, to ensure that any payments are consistently applied. Once management’s investigation is complete, further discussions will take place and further reports will be made to members.
Union Safety Rep Campaign
We have been in discussions with management for some time on meeting our joint objective of having a union safety rep (USR) in every region of the country and ultimately moving to a USR in every garage, as well as in the Support Centre. The company has accepted that whilst safety is a legal obligation on us all, the statutory powers and processes provided to USRs makes their role central to having the safest workplaces in the industry.
In the New Year, the CWU and Rivus Fleet Solutions will be running a joint campaign to recruit union safety reps. Whilst it is understood that CWU branches are the body that appoints USRs, we are looking for all CWU branches to assist in this process and to ensure that particularly in the garage environment, we have USRs that have experience in the Fleet management industry and are aware of all the safety challenges that this industry can generate.
Contacting the CWU
CWU HQ has been aware of informal WhatsApp groups established by members in Rivus. We have no problem with people setting up such groups as a way of communicating with each other on whatever subjects they like but they are not authorised by the union as the route for raising issues, which you want the CWU National Team to deal with.
They also have inherent weaknesses; not all members, in fact a fraction of them, have access to the groups but more to the point, there is no audit trail to ensure issues raised are dealt with. This has and will lead to delays in issues being resolved.
From now, please make any enquiries/report all issues which you want the CWU’s National Team to deal with or raise with Rivus Fleet, to rfsissues@cwu.org. This link is open to all CWU members, including those in the Rivus support centre and any issue raised on this address, will receive a response.
25th October – 2021 Rivus Fleet Solutions Garage Network CWU National Team Election – Update.
We have been advised that Ashley Stuart has withdrawn from the Rivus Fleet Solutions NT election. This means that an election is no longer necessary.
The following people will therefore be the Rivus Fleet Solutions National Team for their two year period of office.
Rivus Fleet Garage Network Representative
| Name | Branch | |
| Chris Evans | Greater Mersey and South West Lancs | Elected |
| Steve Phillips | Central Counties and Thames Valley | Elected |
22nd October – 2021 Rivus Fleet Solutions Garage Network CWU National Team Election.
This is to advise you that the following nominations have been received for the Rivus Fleet Solutions National Team.
Garage Representatives
| Name | Nominees’ Branch | Nominating Branches |
| Chris Evans | Greater Mersey and South West Lancs | Central Counties and Thames Valley, Greater Mersey and South West Lancs. |
| Steve Philips | Central Counties and Thames Valley | Central Counties and Thames Valley, Greater London Combined, Greater Mersey and South West Lancs., North Anglia |
| Ashley Stuart | Midland No.1 | Midland No.1 |
Rivus Fleet Solutions Support Centre Representative
| Names | Nominees Branch | |
| Samantha Hamilton | Midland No.1 | Elected |
There will therefore be a ballot of members in the Rivus garage network which will start on Monday 25th October and close on Monday 8th November.
The result of the ballot will be circulated to branches and members in due course.
20th June 2021 – Pay Rise Accepted.
Members in Rivus Fleet Solutions have voted by four-to-one to accept a CWU-brokered pay deal which delivers a fully consolidated across-the-board 2% increase
Set against a relevant RPI inflation rate of 1.5% in March, the settlement represents a real term increase for Rivus members employed in the former BT Fleet workshops which were sold by BT in 2019 to private equity asset management company Aurelius.
Last year Rivus members received no pay increase at all, and from the outset of negotiations the CWU negotiating team was adamant that it was therefore crucial that this year’s pay award delivered a fair cost of living increase.
Following intensive but business like talks, the deal that was finally secured comprises a 2% increase in base pay rates backdated to April 1, 2021, with the deal flowing through to London Weighting and shiftworking payments, also backdated to April 1.
14th June 2021 – Rivus Fleet – Latest News.
Revised Garage Incentive Scheme. This has been agreed by the CWU National Executive Counsel. We have managed to secure changes to the proposed scheme to benefit our members working in garages. We are now waiting for Rivus to inform us of the implementation and timescales of the scheme.
2021 Pay Review. See article below.
Voluntary Increase in Extra Hours. Rivus have come up with the idea of technicians working an extra 5 hours per week, to extend the week to 42.5 This has not gone down well with most of the members in garages, as they will only be paid basic pay for these extra hours and not overtime. Rivus came up with this idea because they say the average working week in outside dealerships is around 42,5 hours per week. They say that they cannot recruit in some areas due to the basic pay for technicians not being high enough, we are having been telling them this for a long time now, but rather than increase the basic pay they have come up with this idea. Rivus are planning to trial this in one garage in each Region. We have no agreement on this at present,
COVID-19. No new Covid cases have been reported in Rivus Fleet that we are aware off.
CWU Health & Safety Garage Visits. We plan to resume these shortly now that Covid rules are easing. And will be planning to visit many garages in June/ July and August.
Steve Phillips Branch Secretary /Rivus Fleet Secretary
9th June 2021 – Rivus Fleet members urged to accept across-the-board 2% pay offer.
The consultative ballot that is presently underway will close at midday on Wednesday June 16, with the result being announced shortly afterwards.
Pay negotiations with Rivus Fleet Solutions have delivered a ‘final’ offer that, if accepted, will see members receive a fully consolidated 2% increase. The proposed settlement is being strongly recommended for acceptance by the union’s National Team in an electronic consultative ballot that commenced last week.
Set against a relevant RPI inflation rate of 1.5% in March, the CWU-brokered deal that is on the table represents a real term increase for Rivus members employed in the former BT Fleet workshops which were sold by BT in 2019 to private equity asset management company Aurelius. Last year Rivus members received no pay increase at all, and from the outset of negotiations the CWU negotiating team was adamant that it was therefore crucial that this year’s pay award delivered a fair cost of living increase.
Commending the offer to members, CWU national officer for Rivus Fleet Solutions, Allan Eldred, said: “Management’s opening position in these discussions was for a 1% increase payment from July 1 – something that was immediately rejected by the union as insufficient. Following this, the offer was increased and made payable from June 1, with a pay review which the company would carry out themselves, without any obligations, on January 1 next year. This too was rejected by the CWU, resulting in further discussions which culminated in the final offer that is now on the table.”
Allan Eldred went on to say, “As such, it is the view of the CWU National Team that this final offer represents fair and reasonable offer that compares favourably the prevailing level of pay settlements being achieved across the UK economy, resulting in a higher award than is being seen in many sectors.”
20th January 2021 – Use of Personal Tools in Rivus Fleet Workshops/Company Liability.
You will all be aware that there has been a major issue recently over technicians personal tools being covered against loss through theft for company liability purposes by Rivus Fleet, this issue has been around for a few years and was discussed at length between the CWU and BT Fleet. These discussions resulted in an agreement that technicians would obtain and if needed would provide receipts for any of their personal tools should they be stolen while being used in Fleet garages, the company would then look to replace these tools to the said value of as long as these losses were not the result of negligence.
However Rivus have clearly stated this week that this agreement as far as they are concerned has ended or is not recognised by them, as they have stated that they will not be held responsible for any theft or losses while technicians personal tools are in Rivus Garages.
They have also stated that technicians will need to take out their own personal liability insurance to cover any losses through theft. This will prove impossible to obtain for some CWU members given that some of the garages are on sites in high risk insurance areas with very little or no security on BT sites these days.
Therefore, we have sadly been left with no choice but to advise our CWU members to remove their personal tools from Rivus Garages, as these tools are currently at risk, until Rivus review and change their position on this issue.
20th December 2020 – Rivus Fleet Workshop – Luton. Suspected COVID Outbreak.
Apparently there has been a suspected COVID-19 Outbreak at RIVUS Fleet Garage in Luton. So please remember to social distance and to use masks and follow any local guidence when visiting any workshop to protect ourselves and our fellow colleagues.
18th November 2020 – Rivus Fleet Solutions – Fleet Maintenance HR1 – Redundancy Notice/Consultation
The Department have been made aware Fleet Maintenance have put out a communication informing our members of potential redundancies. We believe the reason the head of Fleet has put out this communication is to create a state of fear and anxiety for our Fleet members.
Whilst we have received a legal HR1 notice for a headcount reduction of 45 full time positions within Fleet Maintenance, the CWU do not accept there is a requirement for the headcount reduction and will be opposing any unagreed reduction by all means possible.
Fleet know they have not convinced the CWU of the need for the headcount reduction as they have been unable to provide any information we have requested. The information was requested in meetings prior to Fleet issuing the formal HR1 notice.
Fleet’s proposal is flawed, as they have been unable to provide the basic information we have requested and we believe it is simply a cost reduction exercise.
The information requested which Fleet have been unable to provide includes:-
- Which external contractors they use
- How many vacancies we have
- How many agency workers we have
- Costings of external contractors and agency etc.
- Quality of service for Vehicles off Road
- How many hire vehicles we use
- What are the current productivity levels
- How much maintenance is outstanding
The fact Fleet have not been able to provide this information a week after it was requested, shows their proposal is flawed. This is information which should have been provided and considered as part of the proposal, not requiring us to ask for it.
Despite, not providing us with this information and to date, not engaging in the formal consultation process, Sally Warren, Head of Fleet Maintenance, still saw it as the right thing to do to go ahead and announce there will be redundancies in Fleet.
This announcement comes at a time in the middle of the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic, where no allowance is put into their proposals for the measures we need to put in to keep our members safe.
Their proposal is also based across the current Monday-Friday. The union and Royal Mail are discussing measures which will see vehicles used for longer during the week and potentially at weekend. This will obviously mean more maintenance, however, Fleet have not factored this into their proposal. At a time when vehicles are going to be used more, requiring more maintenance, Fleet put a proposal to reduce headcount!
We would prefer to be negotiating rather than sharing letters in the public arena. However, Fleet decided to announce this without informing the Union and we felt the need respond.
To date, we have had no response from Fleet on our request for information. Our letters make it clear, if Fleet want to engage properly, we will consider their proposal. If they do not, we will resist compulsory redundancy by all means possible and conflict is inevitable.
12th June 2020 – Rivus Fleet Solutions – Redundancies
Branches will recall that Aurelius (a venture capitalist company) purchased BT Fleet last year and created the company Rivus Fleet Solutions to take over BT’s Fleet business.
There are over 60 potential compulsory redundancies threatened covering 22 locations. The company however, is dealing with the 22 locations as separate entities and because none of those locations have more than 20 employees at risk of redundancy, the minimum period for individual consultation is just 30 days. It is RVS’s intention for all redundancies to take place at the end of July. They have also said that they don’t see anybody leaving before that date.
The company has advised the union that they will be using the same selection process as used in the last round. However, they have also stated that they do not wish to lose their most productive employees and they will therefore not be asking if anybody wishes to volunteer to go.
It is essential that any member that seeks assistance from branches at IC meetings are supported.
Their proposal also includes changes to attendance patterns. These are largely reducing the daily opening hours at some workshops. The union has responded to management seeking further information and dialogue, in a number of areas of their proposal.
To be clear; no aspect of their proposal has been agreed by this union.
1st May 2020 – PHASE 2 FURLOUGHING GARAGE NETWORK & HEAD OFFICE OPERATIONS
The CWU National Team has been informed of additional furloughing taking place across the garage network and Head Office Operations at Aquarius.
GARAGES
As reported previously, Rivus advised that they would review the situation moving forwards and have now confirmed that due to continuing reduction of work volume there has been a need to furlough more employees. As such a further 66 employees are now being furloughed in addition to the original 133 which were in phase 1. The second phase of furloughing will commence on 1st May 2020.
The same process is being followed as per the initial furloughing and volunteers are being sought in the first instance.
We have also received confirmation that Stirling garage has been closed temporarily due to the reduction in workload and employees will be furloughed. The union is seeking further details on the reduction of work in Stirling
HEAD OFFICE OPERATIONS
In addition to the reduction of workload across the garage network we have also been informed of the need to a furlough employees working at Head Office Operations at Aquarius. Rivus have confirmed that 14 employees will be furloughed in early May. We fully recognise this is a very worrying and uncertain time for members and their families but want to assure you we are in regular discussions with the company on these matters and will keep you informed accordingly of any developments.
9th April 2020 – RIVUS FLEET SOLUTIONS WORKSHOPS – JOB RETENTION SCHEME “FURLOUGH”
The CWU has been advised by Rivas Fleet Solutions that the COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant impact on the organisation in terms of work. They have therefore notified us that they are going to implement the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which allows them to retain employees until the crisis has passed.
We realise this is a very worrying and uncertain time for you and your families but we want to assure you that we are working closely with Rivus throughout and will keep you fully informed.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme involves placing employees on a period of leave – “furlough”. The Government’s scheme will cover 80% of your normal pay, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. We have requested that Rivus top up the remaining 20% of your salary of which they have agreed to do so. This amount is subject to deductions for tax and national insurance in the normal way. The company will be reviewing the terms of the top up payment on a 3 weekly basis and have advised that if the financial situation in the future changes they may have to change these arrangements.
The Government funded scheme will also fund the minimum auto-enrolment contribution of your pension, this is 3%. The company will be topping up your pension therefore the pension contribution you currently receive will not be impacted.
We have been keen to ensure that furloughing is dealt with through volunteers in the first instance and are pleased that Rivus also share this view. If selection is required, this will be based upon agreed criteria to ensure transparency and fairness and the CWU will be fully involved in this process. Furloughing will be rotated over 3 week periods if required.
If furloughed, you will need to agree to accept a variation to your terms and conditions. The minimum furlough will last is for three weeks; however, this can be shortened or lengthened depending on the operational demands of the business.
You will remain employed throughout your period of furlough, under your contract of employment and your continuity of employment is not affected. Annual leave will continue to accrue in the normal way. Your continuity of employment is unaffected during the furlough period.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is initially set to run until the end of May 2020 (as declared by the government), but will be extended if necessary. Rivus are keeping the situation under review and have assured us that they will keep us fully updated. Rivus have initially confirmed that 133 employees from the workshops and SEV will be furloughed.
As a condition of being accepted for furlough you must provide Rivus with a mobile or landline number so they can remain in contact with you.
Government guidelines regarding furloughing may change from time to time; we will of course ensure that any change is reflected accordingly by Rivus.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all members and branches for their patience and assistance through these challenging times.