Royal Mail and union announce ‘agreement in principle’ has been reached
An end to the disruptive postal strikes appears to be on the horizon following a joint statement from Royal Mail and the Communication Workers’ Union that “a negotiators’ agreement in principle” has been reached.
And the news has been welcomed by all in the greeting card industry – publishers, retailers and trade suppliers – which has been particularly hard hit by the long-running industrial dispute.
The announcement, which came on Saturday, 15 April, stated: “After almost a year of talks, Royal Mail and the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) are pleased to announce they have reached a negotiators’ agreement in principle.
“The proposed agreement will now be considered by the executive of the union before being voted on by the union’s membership.
“An announcement on the detailed content of the proposed agreement will be made when it is ratified by the union’s executive committee. It is expected this will take place next week.”
GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson, who has been campaigning on the greeting card industry’s behalf on this issue, said: “It is good news to hear that an agreement has been reached in principle, however the GCA’s concerns about Royal Mail’s performance in line with the Universal Service Obligation and their approach to social mail remain, and we will continue to lobby to protect our industry.
“Once the agreement is finalised it would be good to know what Royal Mail will be doing to tackle the backlog of mail in many areas and also to regain consumer confidence in their services.”
However, there’s no guarantee the deal will be accepted by the 115,000 postal workers represented by CWU out of the 140,000 employees at the 507-year-old British institution, with the Mail reporting that union bosses met on Sunday and yesterday to discuss the proposals before deciding whether to put them to a members’ vote.
The joint statement was revealed on Royal Mail’s website, with CWU general secretary Dave Ward and deputy general secretary Andy Furey responding: “On the basis that the negotiators’ agreement is endorsed by the postal executive, we will put in place a full communications plan to engage members. Thank you for your support and patience. It has got us to this point.”
The news has helped lift shares in Royal Mail’s parent company International Distributions Services (IDS) to 247.8p today from a recent low of 218.6.4p on 5 April, when talks between the opposing sides had concluded the previous night without agreement.
The CWU then issued a statement saying: “The company advised the union that the directors who have been leading negotiations are no longer available and that the board will be meeting today to determine their next steps.
“There has been progress in several areas, and the union made it clear last night that we are willing to continue negotiations today and tomorrow to finalise an agreement. This offer has been reiterated to the company this morning.”
Following 18 strike days in 2022, many around the Christmas period severely impacting festive card sending, talks resumed with the CWU pausing industrial action but, last month, the Royal Mail board threatened to put the loss-making postal service into a form of administration if a deal could not be struck, stating the strikes have cost the company £200m in lost business and in covering striking staff.
The politically-explosive move to declare the regulated body that delivers mail to every address in the UK as insolvent was said to be regarded by bosses as a last resort, with IDS claiming Royal Mail is on course to make operating losses of £350m-£400m this year.
Despite opposition from government and the whole greetings industry, with its view put forward by the GCA, Royal Mail has been angling to have its Universal Service letter-delivery obligation changed from six days a week to just Monday to Friday so no cards would arrive at the weekend for celebrations such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
It has announced above-inflation price rises in the cost of both first and second-class stamps, increasing by 15p to £1.10 and 7p to 75p respectively from 3 April, and the House Of Commons Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee has been forced to invoke an investigation by Ofcom to establish if any decisions taken by Royal Mail meant it has breached its obligations to the British public following its report which concluded the company has deliberately prioritised parcels over letters, and “systemically failed to deliver against parts of its USO”.
Top: Posties are a vital resource for Britain
