Royal Mail could face all-out strike

POSTAL WORKERS will today embark on plans for an all-out strike amid a
clash with Consignia, which operates Royal Mail, over redundancies and sick
pay. The main postal union gave warning that the changes to working
conditions could plunge Royal Mail, already beleaguered by poor employment
relations, into “industrial anarchy”. National leaders of the Communication Workers Union, who meet today
and tomorrow, are expected to push ahead with a ballot for a nationwide strike
over Royal Mail’s attempt to drop a pledge of no compulsory redundancies and
to end sick pay for employees during their first two years at work. It would
be the first official national postal strike for five years. John Keggie, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: “We cannot
sit quietly by while our conditions are eroded and agreements are sidestepped.
It is a recipe for industrial anarchy.” A spokeswoman for Consignia said that the pressures of impending
competition forced it to end the commitment to no compulsory redundancies and
that sick pay was costing Pounds 130million a year. (c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2001THE TIMES, 24th July 2001