UK Royal Mail faces first national strike since 1996
POSTAL UNIONS are poised to call for the first national strike in a decade tomorrow after rejecting a pay deal with the Royal Mail following talks last week.
The postal executive of the Communication Workers Union is expected to recommend strike action to its 150,000 members when it meets tomorrow. The decision follows intensive talks over a 2.9 per cent pay offer that has been imposed on employees.
During negotiations on Friday between Royal Mail head of personnel Tony McCarthy and the CWU’s deputy general secretary Dave Ward, the Royal Mail offer was increased to around 3.5 per cent.
However, sources indicate that the deal did not include allowances and overtime. The union claims this reduces the value of the offer considerably, and that the membership will support calls for industrial action.
If there is a strike, it would be the first stoppage since 1996. However, the move to ballot the workforce is a risky one: three years ago, the CWU leadership squared up to Royal Mail over pay, but did not receive backing in a strike ballot.
The union has already carried out a ‘consultative ballot’ of members asking if they would support action in defence of pay and in combating attempts by chair man Allan Leighton to introduce an employee share ownership scheme.
It claims to have received overwhelming support for its position, although Leighton also claimed to have had an overwhelmingly positive response to consultations with employees over the share scheme.
The CWU said talks were adjourned on Friday, with none planned before the executive meeting. Royal Mail said it was ready to talk through the weekend.
