Union gives green light to Royal Mail’s Sunday delivery pilot
Union leaders have agreed to proposals by Royal Mail to begin trialling Sunday deliveries in south-east England. The Communication Workers Union said today that following negotiations that began back in May, an agreement has now been reached.
The pilot is expected to start in September within the Greater London area, with 100 enquiry offices also opening on Sundays to improve customer access and convenience.
The union, which represents more than 115,000 Royal Mail workers, initially backed the idea in principle as a way to fight back in the highly-competitive parcels market. But, it said various issues regarding resourcing and pay had to be resolved prior to a full agreement being reached.
The agreement has now been endorsed by the CWU’s postal executive.
It sees Sunday working as a “wholly voluntary” activity in which staff could be rewarded either through existing Sunday rates or by gaining extra leave when accepting Sunday hours.
Bob Gibson, the union’s national officer for delivery workers, said the approach was an innovative way to resolve the issues.
“This remuneration agreement, plus the guarantees on the voluntary principle, mean that we can now focus on working together for a successful launch of the trial,” he said.
Market dynamics
The agreement comes following yesterday’s disappointing first quarter results from Royal Mail, in which the newly-privatised company lost ground in the market where much of its growth was promised: e-commerce parcels.
The company’s pledge to investors was that various initiatives will help turn things around in the parcel business in the second half of this year, including the addition of Sunday deliveries. Royal Mail’s express parcels unit Parcelforce has already started offering Sunday deliveries, while rivals Hermes and DPD also launched Sunday delivery services earlier this summer.
CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said it was the right time for Royal Mail itself to develop and launch new services, and expand existing operations.
“The market dynamics in the business are changing rapidly and if we want to sustain jobs in the future then we cannot turn work away,” he explained, adding: “In the long term this initiative is right for postal workers, customers and the company.”
