Royal Mail finally strikes pay deal with union bringing long-running dispute to an end
The long-running dispute that cost Royal Mail millions of pounds and a chief executive has finally come to an end after posties backed a pay deal.
Some 76 per cent of union members on a 67 per cent turnout voted in favour of the three-year agreement, which includes a 10 per cent pay rise, later shift start times and a profit-sharing scheme.
More than 115,000 staff walked out for 18 days between September and December for better pay and conditions as rising inflation hit wages.
Agreement: Some 76% of postal union members voted in favour of a three-year pay deal, which includes a 10% pay rise, later start times and a profit-sharing scheme
Royal Mail, which is owned by International Distributions Services, said the strikes by the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) cost it £200million as it haemorrhaged more than £1million a day.
Although a breakthrough came in April when the firm agreed a deal for unions to vote on, ending the worst campaign of industrial action since it was privatised in 2013, Royal Mail’s embattled chief executive Simon Thompson was forced to resign a month later.
He is expected to get a £700,000 payoff when he formally steps down in the autumn after around two years at the top.
CWU chief Dave Ward said: the appointment of a new chief executive was ‘the most important ever’, adding: ‘If the new CEO is someone that wants to take the workforce with them this company can have a bright future.
‘If the same old mantras continue, Royal Mail Group will be finished for ever.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk