Royal Mail union demands 27% pay rise and shorter working hours
Royal Mail is facing union demands for a 27 per cent pay rise that the post group claims will cost an extra GBP1 billion a year, The Times has learnt.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has asked for the minimum payment of its members to be brought into line with average basic pay in the UK. The main postal union is also demanding that its members work a 35-hour week, rather than the existing 40 hours.
The CWU says that postal workers, who earn a minimum of GBP311 per week, should be able to benefit from investment and improvements expected in the business over the next few years.
In a letter to Royal Mail, Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary, said: “Given the proposed scale of change within the company, we require a pay settlement that achieves UK average basic pay for OPGs [outdoor postal grades]. This was set at GBP395 per week in 2006 and we are undertaking research to establish whether the figure has subsequently increased.”
The CWU says that the rise could be phased in, although Royal Mail said that the union had called for the increase to be immediate. Mr Ward said: “The business has a five-year plan for success and that must include raising the value and status of postal workers’ jobs in that timescale.”
The postal organisation, which has a pension deficit of GBP6.6 billion and recently reported a plunge in its profits, says that it cannot afford such a rise. A spokesman said: “This pay claim will cost us GBP1 billion at a time when we are facing full competition and the cost of servicing our pension deficit is pushing our profits down 86 per cent.” The group maintains that it already pays better rates than its competitors.
The pay claim comes as Royal Mail and the CWU are locked in difficult negotiations over the closure of the final-salary pension scheme to new entrants and an incentive programme that the company is calling phantom shares.
The call to reduce hours is linked to the expectation that extra investment in new equipment will mean more automa-tion. More than £1 billion has been set aside for new investment out of a GBP3.9 billion rescue package from the Government that was agreed last month.
The CWU has also thrown down the gauntlet over cost savings, telling Royal Mail that it will not cooperate unless future savings are shared out. Additionally, it wants improved annual leave.
When the CWU last held out for a large pay increase four years ago, it led to a long fight between Allan Leighton, chairman of the group, and the union. Mr Leighton incensed the union by writing directly to workers to urge them to vote against strike action, which, by a narrow margin, they did.
The pay talks are at an early stage, but the present one-year pay deal runs out next month.
Wish list
Pay to rise to at least GBP395 a week from GBP311
Hours cut from 40 to 35 a week
Increase in all overtime rates
Improvements in annual leave
Reintroduction of sick pay for new entrants
Cost savings to be agreed with the union rather than managerial action
