Postal workers are set to take fresh industrial action later this month following a failure to reach agreement with Royal Mail over pay and conditions. Negotiations between the Communication Workers’ Union and Royal Mail broke down at the weekend, with the union claiming that controversial modernisation plans, opposed by the workforce, are about to be implemented. Although some progress had been made – Royal Mail was said to have increased its 2.5 per cent pay offer to 6.7 per cent over two years – the CWU indicated that there had been no shift on proposals by Royal Mail executives to raise employee pension contributions and introduce a later retirement age. Other issues such as changes to shifts, productivity and automation were also proving stumbling blocks. As a result, the CWU said it would announce strike action for later in September. A Royal Mail spokesman responded by saying: “We have now been negotiating with the CWU over pay and flexibility since March 2007. Royal Mail can no longer delay the next steps in modernising the business to enable it to compete on an equal footing with other operators and will now begin to make the changes which have been discussed with our people and our trade unions for many months.” The business community reacted with concern to the news. Narinder Gill, policy adviser at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Small firms rely on Royal Mail services to do business, and get hit in the pocket every time post is held up. Estimates suggest that each postal strikes costs the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses £2.5 million through delayed post.” Mr Gill added: “All that the strikes are achieving is disruption and the further degradation of the reputation of Royal Mail. An agreement needs to be reached soon or yet more customers will seek alternative solutions for their postal needs.” Date:12 September 2007
Content by: Made Simple Group
Join our community today
