115,000 Royal Mail workers are to go on strike later this month after rejecting a payrise offer of 5.5%.
Royal Mail had initially offerd a raise of 2% backdated to April 1st however after further negotiations added a further 3.5%, which has been rejected.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) members voted overwhelmingly in favour of national strike action with a yes vote of 97.1% to walk out on August 26th, and 31st and then again on September 8th and 9th.
CWU general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “This result sends a clear message to Royal Mail Group – Our members will not stand by as you rip up their terms and conditions and destroy the service they give to the public and businesses of the UK.
“We would urge Royal Mail Group to now enter serious negotiations with this union. We also call on the public to get behind this dispute and your postal workers. We are very proud of our members today. They have stood by their union in record numbers and given hope to workers across the nation.”
Ricky McAulay, Operations Director, Royal Mail said: “After more than three months of talks, the CWU have failed to engage in any meaningful discussion on the changes we need to modernise, or to come up with alternative ideas.
“The CWU rejected our offer worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years. In a business that is currently losing £1 million pounds a day, we can only fund this offer by agreeing the changes that will pay for it.
“Royal Mail can have a bright future, but we can’t achieve that by living in the past. By modernising we can offer more of what our customers want at a price they are willing to pay, all whilst protecting jobs on the best terms and conditions in our industry. The CWU’s failure to engage on the changes we need is an abdication of responsibility for the long-term job security of their members.
“We apologise to our customers for the disruption that CWU’s industrial action will cause. We are ready to talk further with CWU to try and avert damaging industrial action but, as we have consistently said, it must be about both change and pay. We have contingency plans in place, and will be working hard to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as we can to keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
