Royal Mail workers will receive a three-year pay rise worth around 9% and legally-binding employment protections in an agreement between the company and the Communication Workers Union (CWU). This new agreement means the threat of a Christmas strike has now been averted.
Royal Mail’s boss Moya Greene said the deal would provide “long-term stability and certainty for Royal Mail, our employees and our customers” “Working together we can create a strong foundation for the continued success of our business,”
CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward has said: “The agreement breaks new ground in the UK by incorporating extensive legally binding protections for employees alongside a commitment to improve industrial stability.
“The legal protections for Royal Mail employees come hard on the heels of the privatisation of the company and are unprecedented in delivering the strongest protections for employees.”
The union said it has guaranteed it will not outsource, sell or transfer any part of its business until a legal review takes place in 2019. It also ensured any new employee joining the Royal Mail will not be on “inferior” terms and conditions which eradicates the threat of creating a two-tier workforce.
Ward has warned that the Royal Mail must keep to its agreements in the long-term. “Investors should be clear that this agreement commits them to growth and there will be no tolerance to a race to the bottom on services and jobs,” he said.