Royal Mail finally strikes pay deal with union

The long-running dispute that cost Royal Mail millions of pounds and a chief executive has finally come to an end after posties backed a pay deal.

Some 76 per cent of union members on a 67 per cent turnout voted in favour of the three-year agreement, which includes a 10 per cent pay rise, later shift start times and a profit-sharing scheme.

More than 115,000 staff walked out for 18 days between September and December for better pay and conditions as rising inflation hit wages. 

Royal Mail, which is owned by International Distributions Services, said the strikes by the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) cost it £200million as it haemorrhaged more than £1million a day.

Although a breakthrough came in April when the firm agreed a deal for unions to vote on, ending the worst campaign of industrial action since it was privatised in 2013, Royal Mail’s embattled chief executive Simon Thompson was forced to resign a month later. 

He is expected to get a £700,000 payoff when he formally steps down in the autumn after around two years at the top.

CWU chief Dave Ward said: the appointment of a new chief executive was ‘the most important ever’, adding: ‘If the new CEO is someone that wants to take the workforce with them this company can have a bright future. 

‘If the same old mantras continue, Royal Mail Group will be finished for ever.’