Background To Royal Mail Dispute

The CWU Website Explains The Unions' Position:

The scale of change planned by Royal Mail is frightening and unprecedented. The postal industry, along with the workplaces and jobs of our members, could be unrecognisable.

Royal Mail is rolling out those changes with little or no concern for the views or interests of our members, the hard-working postal staff who deliver to every address in the UK year-round. Worse still, we have seen an alarming rise in bullying and harassment cases with managers using the flimsiest of reasons to sack postal workers with long service.

Change necessary

The CWU has offered a three-month no-strike deal in return for negotiations and a suspension of the current changes which are forcing postal workers into industrial action. Change is a reality with modernisation of the company. The combined challenge of competition, pensions and the need to adapt to a rapidly changing world of communications makes change necessary.

Royal Mail's current approach clearly isn't working so we're seeking intensive talks to establish a national agreement that will pave the way for rolling out the change that the company desperately needs.

What we are for: Fairness

· A new job security agreement - reflecting the sheers scale of change our members face. Sustainable full-time jobs, no compulsory redundancies, maximising choice over the future.

· Benefit from change - modern and enhanced terms and conditions. Higher pay, shorter working week, better attendance patterns providing more quality time away from work, including weekends.

· A better local working environment - work systems that ensure daily workload is based on fair and objective measurement so that postal workers can cope. Staff and CWU having a genuine say over how the job should be done.

What we are against: Unfairness

· Royal Mail imposing change by diktat - not honouring national agreements leading to a part-time industry and compulsory redundancies.

· Royal Mail constantly driving down terms and conditions - not giving workers a real share in the savings that are being made or the benefits from automation. Continuous driving down of pay, earnings, pensions and conditions.

· Royal Mail imposing unfair work rates to meet unrealistic local budget demands - chaos management creating workloads that people cannot cope with. A bullying managerial culture.

Front Page