Workers at IDS unit Royal Mail to vote amid pay, conditions dispute

(Alliance News) – Workers at International Distributions Services PLC’s Royal Mail will hold a series of meetings on Tuesday to vote on whether they have confidence in the company’s chief executive ahead of fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The Communication Workers Union is organising meetings where its members will be asked to vote on whether they have confidence in the way the company is being managed.

The CWU said Royal Mail Group’s senior management have presented a “take-it-or-leave-it” proposal, which was rejected by the union’s national leadership.

The union’s national postal executive has made proposals to help resolve the dispute, including an improved 18-month pay deal, a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies and a joint review of agreements and the relationship between the CWU and Royal Mail Group.

CWU members will be striking on Thursday and Friday ahead of more walkouts next month.

A CWU spokesperson said: “Britain’s postal workers are hard working, decent people – every day, they go the extra mile in keeping our country connected and safe.

“They don’t deserve to have their pay smashed, their conditions ripped up and their lives wrecked by Simon Thompson, who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

“They will meet across the country to vote against chief executive Simon Thompson’s toxic conduct – workers are sick of his attacks on their lives and their union.

“It’s time Royal Mail understands that a few men at the top aren’t worth more than the loyalty of 115,000 workers.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We fully acknowledge the importance of reaching a resolution to our pay and change dispute for our people and our customers.

“After four weeks of talks facilitated by Acas, we shared with CWU our views on what we believed the shape of a deal could look like, including numerous improvements and a pay offer of up to 9%.

“The CWU responded by making several false and misleading claims about the detail of what we were proposing and launching personal attacks.

“We don’t believe this is the way to conduct serious negotiations, and it goes against what we agreed at the start of the Acas process.

“The CWU has shared its alternative proposals which we are reviewing and expect to get round the table to discuss again on Tuesday.”

source: PA

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