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Deal between Royal Mail and union bosses ‘is half done’ as last-ditch talks take place to avoid further strike action
- A CWU source said ‘half a deal’ was ready and a resolution could soon be found
- It comes after negotiations between the Union and Royal Mail stalled this week
Royal Mail managers and union bosses are heading for last-ditch talks over the weekend after sources said a deal to end the industrial dispute was ‘half’ done.
The 507-year-old company faced a deepening crisis earlier this week when pay talks with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents around 115,000 postal workers, ended after 11 months without an agreement.
But last night the union appeared to offer an olive branch to the beleaguered company, defying predictions it would call more strikes or ask members to vote against a new pay offer.
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: ‘By far the best option… is to reach an agreement with the company.’
He also said the current hiatus could not go on ‘beyond next week’, raising the prospect of more walkouts being announced after Easter.
The 507-year-old company faced a deepening crisis earlier this week when pay talks with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents around 115,000 postal workers, ended after 11 months without an agreement
CWU general secretary Dave Ward (pictured) said: ‘By far the best option… is to reach an agreement with the company’
A union source said they ‘remain hopeful that some resolution… can still be found in the coming days’.
Another source said: ‘There is half a deal ready. Negotiations over the Easter weekend are a possibility.’
Under Royal Mail’s revised pay deal, workers are being offered a 10 per cent rise over three years with a lump sum of either £500 or £1,500.
The CWU’s reconciliatory tone followed a warning from Royal Mail which suggested the union’s chiefs were ‘becoming more comfortable’ with the business falling into administration after it admitted it was losing more than £1million per day.
In a letter to union bosses, the company said it was ‘not correct’ for the union to tell members that re-nationalisation would automatically follow if the company collapsed.
This is because legally Royal Mail could be placed into special administration at the request of Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch or the regulator Ofcom.
The dispute saw employees walk out for 18 days last year, costing the company hundreds of millions of pounds despite raising prices.
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