Union sets date for UK Royal Mail strike ballot
The threat of a national postal strike increased yesterday after unions told Royal Mail it would ballot its members on strike action at the end of this week.
The Communication Workers’ Union said it would ballot 160,000 postal workers, with a result expected early September.
If approved, the industrial action would be the first national postal strike in seven years and would represent a blow to Allan Leighton, the Royal Mail chairman.
Although the union is going ahead with the strike ballot, it also proposed to meet the Royal Mail for further talks. The two sides have held talks at Acas, the conciliation service, but little progress has been made and negotiations broke down.
The Royal Mail has invited the CWU for formal mediation talks at Acas, but the union said it wanted to discuss the terms of the mediation first. The dispute centres on Royal Mail’s latest pay offer and restructuring plans, designed to reduce the postal service’s heavy losses and cut its 200,000-strong workforce with 30,000 voluntary redundancies.
Royal Mail is offering postal workers a pay rise of 14.5% over 18 months, which it says would bring a postman’s weekly wage up to £300. The increase is linked to changes in working practices, altered shifts and productivity targets.
