UK Ministers hail post strike deal

The government has welcomed a deal which could lead to an end to strike action by postal workers.

The agreement between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers’ Union is still to be ratified and details have not yet been announced.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform described the development as “significant progress”.

Royal Mail said unofficial strikes were continuing at about 10 delivery offices in London and 20 in Liverpool.

The deal was ratified by Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier, Communication Workers’ Union general secretary Billy Hayes and his deputy Dave Ward, and TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

If the terms reached after marathon talks at the TUC are supported by the union’s executive on Monday, the deal is likely to be put to the vote by the CWU’s 130,000 members.

It is hoped the resolution will bring to an end the long-running row over Royal Mail’s modernisation plans, which union officials had feared would see 40,000 jobs lost.

Royal Mail has been granted an injunction to stop CWU members at sorting centers and delivery offices striking next week.

But the injunction did not apply to all parts of the Royal Mail, and in the wake of Friday’s agreement it was not clear whether some groups, such as drivers, would take part in the walkouts.

Workers who had been staging unofficial strikes in east London and parts of Scotland have returned.