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Royal Mail has made an improved pay offer in a final effort to avoid 10 days of strike action by post men and women in the run-up to Christmas.
The FTSE 250 company is understood to have offered a 9pc pay rise spread over 18 months, rather than two years, as previously tabled.
Royal Mail’s “best and final” offer to union leaders has also been sweetened by rowing back on its demand to force staff to work on Sundays. Meanwhile, “family-friendly” working hours are to be offered so that posties can finish in time to pick their children up from school.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) was last night considering the proposals ahead of scheduled strikes starting on Thursday. Insiders said that the next 24 hours would be crucial to resolving the dispute this side of Christmas.
The CWU has announced industrial action by its 115,000 members on Nov 24, 25, and 30 as well as Dec 1, 9, 11, 14, 15, 23, 24.
Royal Mail bosses have warned union leaders that if the strikes go ahead, previously tabled deals on pay and working conditions will be withdrawn.
The 9pc pay rise is conditional on the CWU agreeing to workplace reforms aimed at transforming Royal Mail into a parcel-focused seven-day-a-week operation that will rival tech savvy competition from the likes of Amazon.
Bosses say Royal Mail is losing £1m-a-day and needs to be overhauled in order to balance the books and avoid a greater number of job losses.
The previous wage deal consisted of a 2pc rise from April, a 3.5pc increase that will be implemented once terms are agreed, a £500 bonus, and a 1.5pc rise next April.
Union sources previously said that this offer was “in the right ballpark”.
Royal Mail is believed to now be offering to bring the 1.5pc rise forward by several months, alongside the other concessions.
The CWU has focused its anger on Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson, with local union officials organising “no confidence” votes on the chief outside their workplaces.
The 10 days of walkouts will be particularly damaging to online retailers as Black Friday sales kick off this weekend.
Roughly half of online retailers that use eBay to sell their goods say that Royal Mail strikes will be “disastrous” for business”.
Murray Lambell, head of eBay UK, warned last week: “Industrial action, which is causing widespread disruption to deliveries and sales, at the most important time of year for trading, risks being the nail in the coffin for many small businesses.”
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