Royal Mail overhaul must come with better working conditions and service reliability, CWU warns

EFFORTS to overhaul Royal Mail must be accompanied by better working conditions for staff and improved service reliability, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) warned today.

Regulator Ofcom has proposed plans to axe Saturday deliveries of second-class letters, reducing the service to alternate weekdays, a step it claims would save up to £425 million annually.

Royal Mail’s delivery targets are also set to be cut, with first-class mail going from 93 per cent delivered the next day to 90 per cent, and second class from 98.5 per cent delivered within three days to 95 per cent.

The target reductions follow Ofcom hitting the postal service with more than £16 million in penalties over the last 18 months for missing targets and as the firm gets ready for new ownership under Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

Ofcom group director for networks and communication Natalie Black said: “We need to reform the postal service to protect its future and ensure it delivers for the whole of the UK.

“But we’re safeguarding what matters most to people — first-class mail six days a week at the same price throughout the UK and a price cap on second-class stamps.”

Communication Workers Union general secretary Dave Ward said: “The trials that we have agreed with Royal Mail are strictly conditional on the basis that we see a significant improvement in service reliability for customers, as well as improved terms and conditions for postal workers.

“These include improved attendance patterns, more Saturdays off, agreed long-term job security and the creation of a genuine platform for growing the company.

“Any failure to abide by these conditions will see our support withdrawn.”

According to Royal Mail chief executive Emma Gilthorpe, Ofcom’s analysis shows it is no longer financially sustainable to maintain a network built to process 20 billion letters when there are only 6.7bn being delivered.

“Reform is crucial to support a modern, sustainable and reliable postal service for our customers, our company and our people,” she said.

A final decision on the plan is expected in the summer.