The threat of the first national postal strike for over a decade drew closer last night as the union representing 130,000 Royal Mail workers threw out management’s final pay offer and opted to ballot members.
The move is a blow to Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton and chief executive Adam Crozier who last week issued a personal plea to staff to ward off the first dispute since 1996.
Royal Mail had been offering staff either an up-front £600 lump sum payment or an increase of 2.5% on their basic pay. In addition staff would be granted dividends from a newly created company share plan, dubbed Colleague Shares. These could be worth up to £800 if performance targets within individual business units and across the group are met. Staff were also being offered a chance to benefit from any further cost savings made within their divisions.
But Communications Workers Union leader Dave Ward said: “Royal Mail has abandoned our agreed approach in favour of a short sighted business plan that amounts to a cost-cutting frenzy, reductions in pay and a defeatist attitude towards competition. This business plan is designed to fail and demonstrates a real lack of vision by the people running the company.” A spokesman for Royal Mail said it is “very disappointed” at the decision to ballot for strike action, adding: “Our belief is that the union does not seem to have grasped or understood the new commercial realities facing Royal Mail and our people. The UK mail market declined by 2.3% last year and by the end of this year around one in five of all letters will be handled by our competitors.”
In this climate of increased competition Royal Mail maintains that its postal workers are paid 25% more than people employed by its competitors while Royal Mail’s productivity is 40% lower. The union said it would serve Royal Mail with notice of the ballot on Tuesday. A result is expected on June 7.
Richard Wray
Saturday May 12, 2007
The Guardian