15th Oct 2019 06:38
(Alliance News) - Royal Mail PLC will discover on Tuesday if it is facing the threat of a national strike by postal workers in a dispute over job security and terms and conditions of employment.
Around 110,000 members of the Communication Workers Union have been voting on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action, with expectations of a yes vote when the result is announced.
The CWU says that Royal Mail is not sticking to an agreement reached last year covering a wide range of issues, including plans to reduce the working week, as well as job security.
Industrial relations at the company have worsened this year, with widespread unofficial strikes breaking out virtually every week.
Terry Pullinger, the CWU's deputy general secretary, said the union and its members were facing the "fight of our lives".
"We face an assault on our terms, conditions and national agreements like we have never seen before. I am confident our members will stand with the union and deliver a massive yes vote in what is the most important dispute the union has ever had," he said.
Shane O'Riordain, the Royal Mail's managing director of regulation and corporate affairs, said there were no grounds for industrial action.
He said: "We remain committed to open and constructive engagement with the CWU. We all want a successful and sustainable company that provides good quality jobs, fairness in workloads, and continues delivering a sustainable Universal Service.
"No industrial action can be taken before the conclusion of our mediation period. We will continue to engage in the agreed dispute resolution processes set out in the Agenda for Growth.
"Industrial action – or the threat of it – undermines the trust of our customers. It makes it harder for Royal Mail to pay for the existing industry-leading terms and conditions it provides."
He said Royal Mail was honouring the 2018 agreement. Since it was put in place there have been two pay increases of 5% and 2%, the working week had been cut by an hour, and the company was working with the CWU to lobby the government for a new pension scheme.
He added: "We have announced a transformation plan, through which we want to invest GBP1.8 billion over five years to return our UK business to growth. Hardly any UK companies are making that kind of investment right now."
By Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
source: PA
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