Strike on the cards for Royal Mail workers despite pay rise offer
Royal Mail’s workers are set for its first national strike in a decade as the postal service’s largest union said it could call a stoppage as early as next month.
Yesterday Royal Maul proposed a six per cent three-year pay deal to the Communications Workers Union in a bid to avoid such strike action.
However, the CWU said today that threat of strike action, which was first announced earlier this month, is not linked to the pay dispute but to wider issues around the former postal monopoly.
The union said: “The pay offer is not linked to the dispute. We are balloting on the direction of the company, them breaching national agreements, the culture of the workplace”.
The Royal Mail, which employs around 143,000 people in the UK, is under pressure to adapt to changing attitudes to the industry, with more parcels and fewer letters sent.
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“The ballot is definitely still going ahead. Papers are dispatched on 3 March, (it) closes on the 17th and the earliest we could call action would be 31 March,” the CWU said.
Royal Mail said its pay offer would mean an increase of more than 16 per cent between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2023, but said it must deliver on a turnaround plan announced last year.
The firm’s Journey 2024 turnaround plan seeks to adapt to trends and turn Royal Mail into a more internationally focused parcel delivery business.
In its offer to the CWU, Royal Mail also said it will introduce a second van delivery in most parts of the country.
Shane O’Riordain, managing director of regulation, corporate affairs and marketing said: “Our proposal underlines our commitment to being the best employer in our industry.
Having jumped nearly five per cent yesterday on the news of the pay offer, shares slipped back over 1.5 per cent today.