Royal Mail, union agree on talks over pay through arbitration

(Reuters) – Britain’s Royal Mail and its largest labour union have agreed to engage in talks through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) to resolve their ongoing dispute over pay, the postal service’s parent company said on Monday.

International Distributions Services said the opening session for the talks would take place on Oct. 25.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) confirmed the agreement in a separate statement, and added that more than 115,000 postal workers at the former British postal monopoly are to strike on Oct. 25.

Royal Mail has been in a tussle with the CWU over pay for months and has said it is losing 1 million pounds ($1.11 million) a day due to strike actions.

Last month, the CWU called for a further 19 days of strike against Royal Mail, potentially spread across October and November.

Earlier this month, Royal Mail had said it could cut up to 10,000 jobs and warned of more layoffs if planned strikes go ahead.

(Reporting by Amna Karimi in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)