A planned national strike by UK postal workers on Monday has been postponed after Royal Mailagreed to union demands on pay, pensions and employment protection in return for a new culture of “
consensual change”.In a joint statement, Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said they had madeprogress in last-minute talks this week that allowed the imminent strike to be “stepped-down”. Bothsides have committed to finalising an agreement in the next two weeks, with Royal Mail agreeing toextend the legal validity of the current industrial action ballot until Wednesday 20 November –allowing the strike to go ahead next month if progress is not made.
Royal Mail, which listed on the London Stock Exchange three weeks ago, has agreed to improve itspay offer, come up with what it describes as “a separate pensions agreement” and extend the legalprotection of the awards beyond the three years it had originally offered. But the union signed upto an agreement that would include “an agenda for growth underpinned by a culture of consensualchange, timely decision making and industrial stability supported by alternative dispute resolutionprocesses”.
Although the details of the concessions have not yet been agreed, the two sides have signed upto a set of nine principles and have pledged to “clear diaries” in order to agree the details by 13November.
The commitments include “an agreed approach to aligning resourcing to workload with a resolutionto any current workload and resourcing issues”.
Some commentators claimed that the deal struck between Royal Mail and the CWU would be adisappointment to Royal Mail’s new shareholders, because Royal Mail had argued in the lead-up toits stock market listing that its offer to workers was already generous. In July, Royal Mail hadoffered workers an 8.6% pay rise over three years, plus a £300 (€350) bonus for all staff that didnot strike.
However, other commentators said the agreement could also provide the industrial relationsstability that Royal Mail needs. The markets appeared to support the latter interpretation, asRoyal Mail’s share price rose a further 2% today, standing at £5.53 at 14.00 GMT – below its peakof £5.67 on Monday but above the level prior to the announcement of last night’s agreement, andmore than 70% above the launch price of £3.30.
