UK Postal Workers' Union denies deal struck with Consignia
The postal workers’ union rejected a press report claiming it has reached an agreement with Consignia over a planned 30,000 job cuts over the next three years.
“I’m not quite sure where (the news) came from. We have an executive meeting today but I don’t think there will be a momentous decision to be honest,” said Chris Proctor, spokesman for the Communication Workers Union.
It is not feasible to immediately arrive at a deal with Consignia as management has yet to agree on the union’s demand of voluntary redundancies for all the affected employees, he added.
CWU’s 145,000 members who work in Consignia are on standby for possible strike should discussions with management collapse, he said.
Earlier, a Consignia spokeswoman said the redundancy package it is offering the thousands of employees it will lay off is “fair”.
“We’re committed to consulting with the union on the way we handle surplus staff. We’ve put forward a fair package and we look forward to the union’s response,” she said.
She said redeployment to other jobs available across the former Post Office is the “first option” given to the affected staff.
The report, which was carried by the Financial Times, claimed that the key feature of the agreement was a guarantee that the redundancies will be voluntary.
