Tag: Europe

Royal Mail says the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has agreed to the closure of its final salary scheme.

But the union says it has only agreed to a consultation on changes, which will then be put to a ballot of all its Royal Mail and Post Office members.

“The final details have not been decided on,” said a CWU spokeswoman.

Since the start of the year, Royal Mail has wanted to cut the cost of its huge final-salary pension scheme, which covers 160,000 staff but has a deficit of GBP 6.5 bn.

Along with changes to working practices, the closure of the existing final-salary scheme and its replacement with cheaper alternatives was at the heart of the postal service’s recent industrial dispute.

Settlement

Settled on last Monday 22nd after days of negotiations, the dispute saw tens of thousands of postal staff on strike at sorting offices and depots around the country.

There will be a ballot right across all CWU members in the Royal Mail group

CWU spokeswoman

Among the issues agreed, said the Royal Mail, were: “The union’s support for the company’s overall proposed pension reform.”

“Royal Mail’s proposals include closing the final salary scheme to new members from 31 January 2008 and replacing it with a Defined Contribution scheme [and] introducing a Career Average Defined Benefit scheme for our existing employees from 1 April 2008,” it added.

However, a spokeswoman for the CWU said the union was annoyed its stance had been misrepresented.