The most bitter UK industrial dispute of the last year is on the verge of being settled as the union representing 112,000 frontline Royal Mail workers has recommended they accept the terms of a peace deal. Its other efforts to reduce costs have already resulted in thousands of job losses through voluntary redundancy. The company has pointed to research by the industry regulator suggesting only minimum disruption for households and businesses should it no longer have to deliver letters on a Saturday. The company has previously said that 18 dates of strikes to date, including over the crucial Christmas season, had cost it £200m.
- Special Delivery mail will still be prioritised “as resources allow” but the usual next-day guarantees are being suspended and customers can’t claim compensation for delays.
- The source at Royal Mail signalled a deep frustration within the firm on the lack of progress in the negotiations to date, accusing the union of misleading its members.
- “The CWU’s message to Royal Mail’s leadership is simple – there will be serious disruption until you get real on pay,” he added.
- Several professions have gone on strike in the past year, including teachers, junior doctors, rail workers, nurses, passport office staff and civil servants.
- The PWRFC has issued a renewed call for workplace meetings to halt the USO pilots that will usher in gig economy conditions.
- It said this included “the direct impact of eight days of industrial action” as well as lower volumes of parcels being posted.
- “This is not a withdrawal of action and should these next two days not lead to agreement in principle, the ‘go slow’ will recommence.”
Royal Mail workers speak on USO pilots: “They have already started to gut the mail service”
Mr Thompson had been recalled by MP members of the committee who challenged his credibility. The bitter dispute involved the union calling for the resignation of chief executive Simon Thompson and Mr Thompson saying the company was losing £100m a day during strike action. Under the agreement, staff will get a 10% rise over three years and a one-off lump sum of £500, though the union had initially sought an annual increase in line with the rate of inflation – currently running at 8.7%. The union has said the strikes are partly about the “Uberisation” of the postal service, including “widespread changes… introducing Uber-style owner-drivers, mail centre closures and changes to Sunday working”. Firms have warned of the hit to Christmas sales as postal workers squeezed by rising costs fight for higher pay and better conditions. The industrial action is in response to what the Unite union says are plans to cut 700 jobs and slash pay by up to £7,000.
Bin workers in pay protest outside council HQ
The CWU has rejected the offer, saying it failed to match rising inflation, which is Best solar stocks 2021 currently running at a 40-year high of nearly 10%. Royal Mail also revealed that it will have to enter talks with the union because, it said its legacy voluntary redundancy scheme, which offers up to two years’ of pay, “is now unaffordable”. “The CWU’s decision to choose damaging strike action over resolution regrettably increases the risk of further headcount reductions.” The postal company said it will begin notifying workers of its plan, which includes up to 6,000 redundancies. This would effectively see employees in secure, well-paid jobs turned into a “casualised, financially-precarious workforce overnight”, said the union.
“It is proof that for Royal Mail to begin functioning normally again, there needs to be a change in negotiating approach from its leadership that recognises the depth of feeling from the workforce that make their company. But he added that a fresh approach to talks was conditional on management “attacks” on his members’ being halted immediately. Ashleigh is a former editor of OHW+ and former HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh’s areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development.
Royal Mail workers walk out in first of 19 days of strikes
As well as holding strikes this week, 115,000 Royal Mail workers from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will also take industrial action on 23 December and Christmas Eve. Royal Mail said it has “contingency plans in place to minimise disruption for customers” and will “work to keep people, businesses and the country connected”. The union said that during the strike and work to rule action, some key services such as next day delivery and tracked items would be delayed. Managers at Royal Mail will go on strike this month in a dispute over job cuts and pay, the Unite trade union has said.
Royal Mail workers to hold 19 days of strike action
- Members of the union have voted by 67% to accept a deal with Royal Mail that was reached in April.
- Thousands of drivers are taking part in the strike action over pay and working conditions, a union says.
- The Postal Workers Rank and File Committee (PWRFC) statement “Oppose the USO pilots imposed by CWU and Royal Mail!
- The RMT disagrees with some of the changes and wants a guarantee of no compulsory job losses.
- These walkouts are currently set to only involve delivery workers, so collections from postboxes and Post Offices should take place.
He said around half the 200-odd workforce were now employed on sub-standard contracts and that long-standing postal workers also felt “they had been done over by the union” on pay. Last month Royal Mail proposed a “pay-for-change” offer which would include changes to workers’ shift patterns including start times and Sunday working in exchange for a 9% pay rise spread over two years. “There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve,” he said.
“We have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption for customers in the event of industrial action, and we will work to keep people, businesses and the country connected.” “Should the CWU announce further strike action, we have plans to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as possible to keep people, businesses and the country connected.” The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents Royal Mail Group workers, will set new strike dates after 95.9% voted to continue industrial action over pay, terms and conditions, on a 77.3% turnout. Royal Mail has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs by next August, blaming ongoing strike action and rising losses at the business.
‘Royal Mail losing £1m a day’
New seasonal working patterns and regular Sunday working, sought by the company, were also agreed. Royal Mail said this would allow it to grow its okcoin review seven-day parcels business and adapt to changing customer demands. “Instead of working with us to agree on changes required to fund that offer and get pay into our posties’ pockets, the CWU has announced plans to ballot in the New Year for further strike action.” There was widespread criticism of the company’s industrial-scale breaches of the USO which had opened the floodgates to the USO’s formal dismantling. No briefings or workplace meetings had been called to discuss the pilots, which workers have been told will begin at the delivery office in May.
This is the sixth strike for postal workers, and comes after a summer of unrest which saw rail workers and criminal barristers walk out amid disputes with their employers. Royal Mail workers are holding the first of 19 strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. ETU NSW/ACT secretary Allen Hicks said the action was not expected to impact commuter services, but should be seen by the NSW government as a sign of workers’ frustration over the stalled pay deal. On days of strike action, Mr Thompson admitted to a hearing of the Business Committee that Royal Mail prioritised delivering parcels over letters.
But while there have been calls for pay rises, there are concerns that higher wages to cope with the current cost of living could fuel further inflation. The move comes as Royal Mail said the union had rejected a pay rise offer “worth up to 5.5%” after three months of talks. No letters will be delivered during strike days, said Royal Mail, but as many special delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible would be delivered. The work stoppages planned by the ETU this week are different to the industrial action the government blamed for the widespread disruptions in January. The deal also includes later starting times for deliveries which, Royal Mail said, would respond to greater demand for next-day parcels, improve quality of service and create greater growth capacity. The rate at which prices are rising, known as inflation, is running at nearly 11%, which remains close to a 40-year high.
The head of the CWU, Dave Ward, said the near year long period of negotiating and industrial action has been “the most challenging period in both the history of the union and the company”. Network Rail wants to cut 1,900 jobs as part https://www.forex-reviews.org/ of changes to the way its maintenance teams work – although it insists most of this could be achieved by people leaving voluntarily. But the rail industry was hit by a drop-off in passenger numbers during the Covid pandemic, and it’s under pressure to save money. Bosses say reforms need to be agreed, to afford pay increases and modernise the railway.
She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support. On 24 November, Royal Mail said it had made its “best and final offer”, and accused the union of “holding Christmas to ransom”. “Once the relationship is ‘broken’ there needs to be a reset, refresh and a coming together after the dispute is resolved,” he said. International Distributions Services, which is the parent company of Royal Mail, saw its share price tumble by 6.75% to 195p on Friday following the announcement. “It could have a huge impact on our business especially at this time of year. Much of what we sell is gifts and obviously Christmas is a key gifting period for everybody.” “The CWU’s failure to engage on the changes we need is an abdication of responsibility for the long-term job security of their members.”
