Union delivers first-class UK Royal Mail pay deal

UNION leaders have clinched a “groundbreaking” pay deal for 160,000 postal workers.

The agreement – worth an extra pounds 14 a week – lifts the threat of the first national post strike for a decade. It includes a 2.9 per cent wage rise imposed by Royal Mail in April. But workers will also receive an extra one per cent as a result of cost savings.

Crucially, bosses have extended this arrangement, which rewards staff with 40 per cent of any efficiencies, until April. That could put another pounds 120million – around six per cent – in pay packets.

CWU leader Billy Hayes is urging members to back the “unprecedented” deal, which boosts average pay to pounds 325 per week. Royal Mail chief Adam Crozier said: “This is great news. We’re getting on with tackling the competition, not each other.”

WE SAY: Royal Mail’s agreement to split any cost savings with workers is an imaginative move.

While it will be cold comfort to any staff who lose their jobs, it will give those who remain the perfect incentive to work smarter.