Last month, the CWU published a lengthy statement on its website regarding its dispute with the Royal Mail, which not only concerns pay, but the postal service’s future strategy. Among other things, CWU general secretary Dave Ward has expressed fears that Royal Mail intends to create a two-tier workforce, with “the next generation of postal workers coming in on 10 per cent less.”
Reacting to the news that the CWU members intend to strike, Ricky McAulay, Operations Director at the Royal Mail, said:
“After more than three months of talks, the CWU have failed to engage in any meaningful discussion on the changes we need to modernise, or to come up with alternative ideas.
“The CWU rejected our offer worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years. In a business that is currently losing £1 million pounds a day, we can only fund this offer by agreeing the changes that will pay for it.
“Royal Mail can have a bright future, but we can’t achieve that by living in the past. By modernising we can offer more of what our customers want at a price they are willing to pay, all whilst protecting jobs on the best terms and conditions in our industry. 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.
“We apologise to our customers for the disruption that CWU’s industrial action will cause. We are ready to talk further with CWU to try and avert damaging industrial action but, as we have consistently said, it must be about both change and pay. We have contingency plans in place, and will be working hard to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as we can to keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
Photo: Monica Arellano-Ongpin / Flickr / CC BY 2.0