The Deputy General Secretary of the major postal workers union, the CWU, (Communications Worker’s Union) has said that an agreement with Royal Mailis imminent. It does look like that strikes will be avoided.
Negotiations after the autumn ballot and a High Court ruling meant that both parties were forced around the table and all signs show that the process has been successful.
“Philosophically we are in the right place. Once you get into the drafting, it is such a complex thing.” CWU deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger said. “We’re really trying to get it nailed down next week. The conversation did not change until we got a massive ‘yes’ vote and gave notice. And although they took us to court and forced into mediation… the conversation had to change.”
“There is no doubt about it, doing it that process, the proper negotiations started for the first time. The whole process of the ballot was to get a proper negotiation and get into the room – so the objective is done.“
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: “Royal Mail and the CWU have continued to make progress in talks on pay, pensions and the other issues under discussion. These talks are ongoing as both parties seek to finalise an agreement.”
It is undoubtedly good news that Royal Mail strikes are off and workers are going to get a good deal on pensions and working conditions. Royal Mail shares have also seen an upside. But it is also a shame that it takes a stand off for a solution to be found. Hopefully future industrial relations will be more harmonious and cooperative.
52 Responses
So the union are claiming that it was all needed to get the other side to mediation so an agreement could be made…. of course what you could do is just suggest mediation when you hit a wall rather than threatening strikes before Christmas?
Nothing like causing concern and uncertainty to the public and businesses to get your point over as bluntly as possible. A strange ‘victory’ for the union…
bet My Hermes sends the CWU a Christmas card this year ,
as a thank you for the extra business thats came their way
No extra business went to Hermes as there rubbish plus Royal Mail got loads more business this Christmas and a lot more from amazon
Toby,what world do you live in?These people are fighting for their jobs,their pensions and for the future of this great institution.Do you think royal mail management,in their wisdom would agree to change in order to move forward if it was not for the backing the union received from 90% of their workforce.If it was left to them they would let the company carry on as it is till it was unsustainable.Yes change is needed, but not at the expense of hard working people who keep the job going.Management just want to line their own pockets with bonuses and keep shareholders happy, but this should not be at the expense of their workforce.
Mr Hermes only picks up the scrapes of Royal Mail business, yet again another record year for RM delivering parcels and packets. Pity Hermes don’t have a little more respect for their self employed driver workforce and pay them a living wage. No doubt RM directors will award themselves a nice fat bonus and a cheeky lump sum payment into their pensions after negotiating a deal with the union.
Not a strange victory for the CWU a great victory. A threat is the only way to stand up to these big profit making companies
Well done the CWU if it wasn’t for my union I would be on a prity bad contract with poor pay.
Without CWU, Royal mail senior management would have set about destroying the job. Their attitude to negotiations prior to this ballot were shameful. For as long as they can reap huge bonuses by devaluing jobs and shredding future employment security, then jump ship to another company, unions will flourish!
C.W.U. Caring Workers Union?
C.W.U. Caring Workers Union ?
Parcel deliveries were a record high over xmas at Royal Mail and we even delivered all our competitors parcels as they don’t have the structure to cope and don’t want to do deliveries in not so profitable areas well done cwu
Where is this report from the union?? I’ve checked fb and they still havent told us its all sorted.
Considering the power of the unions diminished rapidly after the miners strike the fact that the CWU were able to get a massive mandate from the members should be applauded. They should also be applauded for getting Royal Mail round the table and thrashing out ( by all accounts) a fair deal for its members. Well done to all concerned.
Too late, I have already taken my business elsewhere.
@ Husko above – “no extra business went to Hermes….” you say. Really? i say – where are you getting YOUR figures from lol.
Its comments like this and other comments – who claim Royal Mail deliver all competitors parcels – that undermine what any sensible posties have to say.
I find postman generally very arrogant. I haven’t met one who doesnt think he or she knows better than their bosses or management (who are only trying to stay within budget, maintain efficiency and are blamed for taking their salary).
Royal Mail has been irreversibly damaged. Its comments like the ones above that infuriate SMEs and encourage them to go elsewhere. But thats how a union “wins” they threaten the profits of the company. Lets see how that works out long term……………..
None of the businesses I network with are using Royal Mail for their mainstream parcels. I been using Hermes for several years and although they are far from perfect I don’t have them try and use my business as leverage at the busiest times of year.
It’s how management manage that will determine if Royal Mail flourish or flounder
Posties are not that essential to royal mails success
Most of our species are able to post a letter or deliver a parcel
A few contributions above on this story are based on a lack of understanding of the issues involved in the dispute. To suggest Hermes as a plausible benefactor from this dispute is mischievous and unfair comment. Companies like Hermes with their contractual terms & conditions of employment grant substance to the term “race to the bottom”. When consideration is afforded to the profits Royal Mail PLC attained over the Christmas period in comparison to their competitors puts the story into perspective.
What seems to be lost on the Tobys of this world is the fact that CWU from the outset of the dispute wanted an negotiated settlement to the 4 main strands of this dispute. For a period of 18 months the remained resolute in their determination to negotiate a fair settlement for all their members against a plethora of new anti trade union legislation that they and their membership surmounted and overcame with a resounding 89.1% yes vote for industrial action. Albeit the ballot was legally challenged it did not deflect the fact that the overwhelming majority of people who work for RM opposed the direction the company was taking and supported their union’s vision for the future of the company. Therefore when talk of victory is aligned to CWU it is infact a victory not for CWU in isolation but a victory for the common worker against the employer. It is a moral victory for the entire trade union movement against a minority government created for the few whose sole purpose is to ride roughshod over the many!!
I am so proud of our union fo a job well done after all we all work so hard with very
difficult managers but despite that we
remain comitted .
Hopefully this deal will go through, walking an average 12 miles every morning is not good for your knees and hips especially now I’ve hit 50! We’ll need a good pension because Royal mail won’t give us a second thought when we retire!
problem is though some walks are still twice the size of others,are finishing almost 2 hours later and things are so unfair in offices and bullying is still happening from management on a daily basis.
well done but so much more on a local level needs to be done.
park and loop plus lapsing is a mess
walk set 1 = 1000 houses
walk set 2 = 950 houses
walk set 3 = 1100 houses
(all finish way before there time and stroll round)
walk set 4 = 1450 houses,runs round like an idiot because bullied over having bags off to pick there kids up from school
Lets face it – any compromise and the union was going to claim that they “won”.
What about we poor sods
12 hours or more a day in front of a screen
Heart attacks ,high blood pressure ,diabetes , eye strain, weight problems,
bruised buttocks, bad backs,
No chance of a heart attack here
We’re eBay sellers our heart was broke years ago
Alan and Northumbrian are u 2 sad old men because u haven’t got a clue what it’s like to be a postman
Oh alan, not you again with your Negative comments about postmen/women.I don,t think you have a business at all,in fact i think you are an undercover agent for royal mail management with orders to say as much crap as you can to undermine the workforce.Youre such a diva with your witty comments,you really are wasted in your job,have you ever thought of being a stand up comedian,oh sorry you are,because every postie laughs at your usual rubbish you spew out day after day.Do some work for a change and leave comments to intellectual people who actually know what they,re talking about.I await your wiity remarks with eager anticipation.SARCASM is the word your,e looking for Al.
This is a victory for working people not just the CWU.
A huge corporation wanted to decimate its workers pensions, take money, sick pay and good working conditions away from hard working people.
This is what can be achieved when workers stand together. People in all walks of life should.be paid a living wage, not the absolute “minimum” allowed by government, looked after in ill health and in old age. Someone that works 40hrs a week in any proffesion should be able to own a home and feed a family.
The frontline workers of Britian need to stand together and stop having every last penny siphoned out of their pocket to keep an elite class living in luxury.
Royal Mail seem to be dragging their heels on this deal , about time they just paid up stopped acting the goat . Staff morale is at its lowest ,more people going off sick than ever . What are they playing at
Oh alan,i wish i was as intelligent as you,so i could talk the talk and use words such as puerile.Believe it or not i have 8 0 levels and 3 A levels so i do have the ability to counter an argument.You seem to ignore the fundamental(take note of my use of vocabulary alan)reasons why postmen/women are reacting to comments such as yours.They are fighting for their livelihoods,and to say IF YOU DON,T LIKE IT,GET ANOTHER JOB,is quite frankly pathetic.Get off your high horse and stop treating people like third class citizens just because you think you are superior to everyone who makes a comment about something they feel will affect their lives and their families lives.You say you have spent £1 million over 23 years,if so you are a little fish in a big pond,and royal mail would probably treat you the same way they treat their workforce,as being insignificant and not worth worrying about.THIS is the world we now live in Alan,and the sooner you get your head round that the quicker you,ll get back to being businessman of the century(in your mind) and leave ordinary people to fight for the right to make their working lives better.Yours truly,your intellectual (big word again alan)adversary.
I have worked for Royal mail 30 years the job is not the same as all mangers are bullying staff into doing extra work that most of the time you have not got time to do…. And it does not help when people start working before they start time and don’t have any meal breaks… Slow down and do the job properly…