Royal Mail Strike Ballot response

Royal Mail have issued a strike ballot response saying that they are disappointed CWU members have voted 94.5% in favour of industrial action but say that taking into account frontline employees who are not union members (around 12,281) in their eyes only 53.9% have backed industrial action.

Royal Mail point out that they offered a 6%, three-year pay proposal to the CWU including the first hour of the shorter working week, of over 16% between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2023. They say that they can only afford to do this if they deliver the Plan announced to stakeholders last year. However the CWU already accused them of muddying the waters by offering a pay deal rather than focusing on the four pillars (Pensions, Shorter working week, Legal Protections, Re-designed operational pipeline), of which currently there is only agreement between the CWU and Royal Mail on pensions.

In the short term, Royal Mail welcome the CWU statement that now is not the time to strike and say that they are have worked with the Union on safe working for Posties during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Royal Mail strike ballot response

“We welcome and appreciate CWU’s statement this afternoon that now is not the time to take industrial action. We contacted CWU last week to work together to protect our people, our country and our company. We are talking to them about how we can do that together.
 
The postal service is a key part of the UK’s infrastructure at this time. We are delivering, as usual, to communities across the country. The delivery of parcels and letters is a key way of keeping the country together and helping many people who may not have the option to leave their homes.
 
As the coronavirus crisis has developed, we have worked with CWU to formulate and implement the appropriate sick pay and absence policy for our colleagues. We jointly agreed the policy and communicated it to our colleagues last week. Colleagues, including those with less than one year’s service, will receive full pay in relation to any coronavirus illness or self-isolation. We have made adjustments to our parcel handling procedures to protect our colleagues and our customers.
 
We are ready to discuss CWU’s proposals for future strategic business opportunities. Our negotiating team is ready to continue the dialogue to agree a framework to try to find a resolution to the current dispute. We are meeting soon. We want to reach agreement.”
– Shane O’Riordain, Managing Director of Regulation, Corporate Affairs and Marketing, Royal Mail

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