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Some workers at Royal Mail have been forced to turn to foodbanks to make ends meet, according to a top Cheshire union boss. The claim comes days after Communication Workers Union (CWU) members voted 97.6 per cent in favour of taking industrial action over a below-inflation pay rise offer.
“We have postmen and postwomen who are using foodbanks at the moment because they haven’t got the money,” said Paul Chadwick, CWU Warrington Mail Centre Branch Secretary. “We had an incident where somebody has just taken out the last £30 of their savings from a credit union to pay for nappies because they haven’t got enough money.
“If that was someone I employed, I’d be horrified,” he added, warning that “in-work poverty is increasing”. The row over pay erupted when Royal Mail offered a “no-strings” pay increase of two per cent, with a further 3.5 per cent increase offered if the union accepted what Royal Mail called a “series of changes”.
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Mr Chadwick says those changes involve ” taking away a lot of our terms and conditions”. He said: “ A two per cent pay rise, roughly eight or nine pounds a week, is just nothing.
“In the meantime, Royal Mail have paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to shareholders and they’ve told us there’s no money for us. We [Royal Mail] had nearly a billion-pound turnaround during the pandemic, going from losing £500 million to making over £700 million profit, while our members were out working every day through the pandemic.”
More than a fifth of UK workers are struggling to afford the things they need to live, according to experts at the University of Leeds, as inflation hits a 40-year high, fast outstripping wages. Mr Chadwick said: “We have a CEO who’s just had a £140,000 bonus, then we’re being told by the chairman of Royal Mail they’re losing vast amounts of money every week.
“[I believe] the money’s there to pay the workforce. We think a two per cent pay rise is way out of touch and we’re not happy with it at all. That’s why we’ve had a 97.6 per cent ‘yes’ vote.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that CWU members have voted in favour of industrial action. We offered a deal worth up to 5.5 per cent for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years, which the CWU rejected.
“We can only fund this offer by making the changes that will pay for it and ensure Royal Mail can grow and remain competitive in a fast-moving industry. Despite nearly three months of talks, the CWU have not engaged in any meaningful discussion on the changes we need to make to adapt.
“Ensuring we can change, at pace, is the route to protecting well-paid, permanent jobs long term and retain our place as the industry leader on pay and terms and conditions. That is in the interest of Royal Mail and all its employees.
“In the event of industrial action, we have contingency plans to minimise customer disruption and will work to keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
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