5th Feb 2014 13:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Royal Mail PLC Monday said its workers have accepted a pay increase of about 9% over the next three years plus guarantees over some rights and protections in return for agreeing to curbs to their rights to strike.
The deal was agreed by member of the Communication Workers Union, which represents 139,000 workers at the recently listed postal company.
Under the deal, workers will get a 3% pay increase for the current financial year plus a GBP200 bonus, a 3% pay rise next year, and a 2.8% pay increase in the third year which will be reviewed is inflation is below 2.3% or above 3.3%.
The agreed worker protection includes a pledge by the company not to introduce zero hour contracts, to continue with the current model of employing mostly full-time staff, and to continue with its restructuring programme without turning to compulsory redundancies.
In return, workers have accepted that workplace issues will be resolved at a much faster pace than previously and without disruption, have agreed to work with the company to improve industrial relations and create a "can-do" culture, and agree to defined timetables for resolving disputes. New mediation procedures and training programmes will also be introduced.
Royal Mail has historically been prone to strikes by workers, and management wanted to ensure that its future as a listed company was less prone to worker disputes as it continues to try and improve the business.
"This is the first critical step to provide long term stability and certainty for Royal Mail, our employees and our customers," Chief Executive Moya Greene said in a statement.
"The Agreement underlines the importance of the continued implementation of Royal Mail's modernisation and transformation programme across its operations. Royal Mail is adapting its core network to accommodate an increasing number of parcels. This is one of the biggest transformation programmes in UK industry and it is changing every aspect of the way our people work. The Agreement emphasises that efficiency is a prerequisite for growth," she added.
The deal also confirms a pledge by the company to raise the contributions it is making to company's pension plan.
Union members had in October threatened to strike unless their demands for a pay rise, better terms and conditions and job protection was met, but the action was called off as the two sides started to make progress in talks. A strike would have been the first national strike to affect Royal Mail in almost four years, and would have come just after the company's high-profile privatisation.
The company reached a deal in principle with the union back in December.
Royal Mail share were trading up 0.2% at 588 pence Wednesday afternoon.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected];
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