Royal Mail caves in to the militants: Union wins £1,400 bonus, 7% rise and shorter hours

By
Becky Barrow
Last updated at 10:09 AM on 09th March 2010

Royal Mail last night bowed to union demands by offering workers a
'gold-plated' pay package which will give them more money - for less
work.
The generous deal involves a 7 per cent pay rise, a £1,400 bonus and increased maternity leave.
It is in stark contrast to the experience of millions of
private- sector workers crippled by pay freezes or pay cuts, redundancy
and forced to work part-time.
Bumper deal: Royal Mail postal workers are set to receive a 7 per cent pay rise over three years as well as further bonus paymentsThe deal follows three months of bitter negotiation with the militant Communication Workers' Union.
Both sides yesterday insisted the deal was a ground-breaking move which will allow the company to modernise.

But it comes with an expensive price tag for a workforce which
last year caused misery for Britain with five months of strike chaos
and by failing to meet its first-class post delivery target. The deal was heavily criticised by the TaxPayers' Alliance,
which labelled it 'lunacy' at a time when most private sector workers
were suffering pay cuts.
Long-running dispute: Strike action by Royal Mail postal workers led to targets for the delivery of first and second class letters being missedThe 170,000 Royal Mail workers will get a total pay rise of
nearly 7 per cent over the next three years. It will start with a 2 per
cent rise next month, followed by 1.4 per cent in April 2011 and a
further 3.5 per cent in April 2012. They will also get a bonus of £1,400 for agreeing to the deal in addition to other bonuses they already get.
They will be allowed to work one hour less each week, with a
typical working week cut to 39 hours, and their job security is also
unrivalled. In the past eight years, the company has cut 60,000 jobs
without forcing anybody to go.
The agreement includes a pledge to try to avoid making any
compulsory redundancies. Royal Mail has promised to keep 'at least 75
per cent of workers as full-time', and will not force any full-time
worker to work part-time, or vice versa, according to the union. Mark Wallace, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Given Royal
Mail's severe financial problems, it is lunacy to pay staff more money
for less work. 'It seems the Royal Mail have buckled in the face of aggressive strike action and pressure from the unions.
When you consider that most people in the private sector
couldn't dream of getting a gold-plated deal like this in the next few
years, this is clearly an excessive settlement.' Royal Mail workers will also enjoy a generous pay package for parents. Under the agreement, which is
called 'Business Transformation 2010 and Beyond', women on maternity
leave will be paid their full basic salary for 26 weeks, rather than
18. Fathers will also win, with the paternity package doubled from one
to two weeks, also on full basic pay.
'Fair and good': Adam Crozier says the deal will help Royal Mail get on with its 'modernisation'On average, Royal Mail workers already enjoy a much better
deal than counterparts at rival companies. At UK Mail, workers get a
less generous pension, typically work a 40-hour week and get only
statutory maternity pay. Last night, Shadow Business Secretary Ken Clarke raised his fears about the cost of the deal.
He said: 'The Government committed several months ago to an
injection of private capital and private sector management into the
business in order to resolve the pensions crisis and carry though the
change which is now needed. 'What we have instead is a rather expensive-looking industrial
relations settlement with pay rises and a shorter working week which we
are told will buy the modernisation that is required. 'It will be interesting to discover how much the taxpayer is paying for these promises.'
Negotiations between Royal Mail and the CWU became so bitter
that they were forced to hire an independent third-party - Roger Poole,
the former chairman of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission - to
mediate. Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier said: 'This agreement
is good for the business as it allows Royal Mail to get on with its
modernisation. It is a good and fair deal for our people.' CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: 'It's been a long
time coming, but this deal delivers on the major issues which postal
workers have fought for.'

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