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The head of the UK postal workers union has said it is in its strongest position yet to influence the future of Royal Mail, after Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský made numerous concessions to clinch a takeover of the group.
Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said the organisation would use its newfound powers to resist asset sales, roll back existing staff agreements and push for investments beyond the ecommerce market that Křetínský had prioritised.
“This is the strongest platform that the union’s ever had to influence the direction of Royal Mail,” Ward told the Financial Times in an interview.
“We’re going to change the way that the company operates at all levels . . . This could be quite radical,” he added.
Ward’s optimism highlights the ground Křetínský’s EP Group has ceded to workers in order to secure his £5.3bn takeover of Royal Mail’s owner, which is expected to complete this quarter.
The concessions include holding monthly meetings with union leaders through a new “advisory committee”, paying 10 per cent of any dividends to employees, as well as a ban on gig economy employment and recruiting owner-drivers into Royal Mail.
Ward’s comments add to the pressure facing the lawyer-turned-energy tycoon and raise the risk of complications and costs undermining plans to transform the 509-year-old group into a profitable ecommerce delivery business.
As part of that ambition, Křetínský has declared his intention to plough money into parcel lockers that would allow Britons to collect their online shopping rather than awaiting delivery by a postal worker.
But Ward said the CWU was “going to have concerns about the extent of that and whether or not that impacts on jobs”.
While acknowledging that Royal Mail had to invest in growing demand for lockers, Ward said the union would “need to see and influence the detail”.
He also said the union was considering using the “employee benefit trust” that will receive 10 per cent of EP Group’s dividends to exert a greater influence over Royal Mail.
He added that the CWU could use the trust to make its own investments into the company. The union is looking at areas that are likely to be less profitable but “add a social value to the UK”, such as offering deliveries for NHS prescriptions and local businesses.
EP Group declined to comment. It previously agreed that the trust would be “designated for distribution among employees”, with the full terms “to be set out in binding legal documentation within 12 months of completion of the acquisition”.
Křetínský’s takeover of the lossmaking Royal Mail has prompted speculation that he could sell off some of its vast real estate portfolio or its more profitable international sister company GLS. EP Group has committed to hold GLS for three years.
Ward underlined the CWU’s opposition to any sale of GLS. If Křetínský turns out to be an “asset stripper” of one of the UK’s most recognisable brands, that is going “to damage his reputation”, he warned.
The CWU will face limits to its influence. EP Group has reserved the right to review various commitments to employees based on market conditions in 2028, or withdraw from them at any time if the future of Royal Mail is threatened.
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But Křetínský has committed to continue recognising the union, which in 2022 led an 18-day walkout of its roughly 115,000 members over plans to bring working practices closer in line with rivals such as Amazon.
Ward said the CWU, which ultimately wants to see Royal Mail renationalised, was looking to roll back various changes brought in by the group after a deal was reached to end strike action in 2023.
He said he wanted to renegotiate sick pay terms following a rise in absences, the use of technology to monitor performance, and changes to pay and working practices for up to 15,000 new staff.
Royal Mail said a successful future required “the continued transformation of this great British business, working together with our colleagues and our trade unions”.
It added: “As the [CWU] has acknowledged, the industry is changing and we will need to adapt and invest in new services, such as lockers and more next-day parcel deliveries, to meet the growing demands of our customers.”
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