UK post union steps up better pay campaign

Union leaders today stepped up their campaign to boost the pay of postal workers amid growing signs of unrest about the level of workload and stress in the service.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it was fed up with the “nonsense” being put forward by the Royal Mail over employee share ownership, describing chairman Allan Leighton as an “out of control public servant.”

The union announced it was balloting its members to confirm its priorities of increasing basic pay, cutting hours and safeguarding pensions rather than agreeing to any share ownership plan.

General Secretary Billy Hayes said: “CWU is fed up with the nonsense and media speculation over shares for workers. We’re now finding ourselves in a crazy situation where an out of control public servant who was appointed by the Government to run a public company is pressurising that same Government to effectively privatise this public service. He has no authority to do this.

“We are directly asking our members what they think about Royal Mail’s business plan and asking them if they support the CWU vision for their jobs and their future.

“A share scheme will do nothing to tackle the chronic under-investment, a record pension deficit and the introduction of competition. We need a publicly owned postal service that is in a healthy position going forwards.

Dave Ward, the union’s Deputy General Secretary, said: “We have clearly explained our priorities to CWU members and now we are asking our members if their priorities for the future are the same.

“The union has explained our vision of better pay, pensions, time away from work, job security and fair workloads.

“For example, on pay, postal workers are £80 a week short of the average national wage. This is a figure we aim to catch, match and overtake to make a real difference to the lives of our members. We are asking all postal workers if they share and support our priorities.”

Union officials said that postal workers were becoming “increasingly unhappy” at the rise in workload and stress in the workplace.

“We will address the stressful working environment that Royal Mail is creating,” said the union.

The result of the ballot will be announced during the union’s annual conference later this month.

Mr Leighton has written to the Royal Mail’s 180,000 employees to give them an update on a number of issues, including share ownership.

A spokesman said: “We have made no secret of the fact that we want to give employees a share in the company.”

Union leaders have rejected a “final” pay offer of 2.9%.

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