Royal Mail update

Letter to Branches

No: 780/13 Ref: 21003 Date: 26th November 2013

To: ALL POSTAL BRANCHES

Dear Colleague

National Dispute

As explained in LTB 771/13, the Postal Executive met yesterday to receive a further report on progress in national negotiations.

As a result it was agreed that we should provide Branches, Representatives and Members with a brief summary of the current state of play in national talks, as well as explaining our next steps.

To do this we are using the headings contained in the agreed CWU/Royal Mail Joint Statement of the 30th October 2013.

The current position is as follows:

1. Legal Protections

We have now secured extensive legally binding undertakings from the employer on all the issues put forward by the Union. These protections will extend beyond 3 years. There are a couple of final points to resolve and we do not anticipate these preventing an agreement being reached.

2. Pay

We are currently considering an improved closed offer from the company.

3. Pensions

Negotiations have been concluded on pensions and we have secured legally binding commitments on the future of the RMPP alongside additional improvement to the Defined Contribution Scheme. The company has accepted that a pension’s agreement will be balloted on separately.

4. Industrial Stability, New Culture and Agenda for Growth

We are in the process of finalising a section on Industrial Stability which strengthens the existing IR Framework with new mediation procedures. The agreement will not include any commitment to binding arbitration or a no strike deal. The new approach will also offer CWU unprecedented access to business structures and provide the opportunity for real influence on the future direction of the company.

5. Delivery Workload Issues

Whilst some progress has been made there are still difficult areas to resolve and a fresh approach is being considered.

6. Future Parcels and Letter strategy

Drafts have been exchanged and we are confident that there are no issues that will prevent us reaching an agreement on future strategy.

7. Company Charter

The company has accepted the principle of a charter setting out the values on how Royal Mail Group will operate in the future. Drafts have been exchanged and we do not anticipate this being an issue that will prevent us reaching a final agreement.

8. Ongoing Programme of Work

We do not anticipate any issues preventing us from reaching an agreement in this section.

Next Steps

In providing branches with this summary it can be seen that real progress has been made and that the differences between us and the company have significantly narrowed from the outset of this dispute.

We understand that CWU members will be concerned about the length of time that it is taking to finalise an agreement. However, turning elements of a collective agreement into what will become a legally enforceable contract is a complicated process. It also has to be recognised that the issues involved in this dispute are in themselves wide ranging and in some cases were always going to be difficult to resolve.

The current ballot extension period continues until 23.59 on Wednesday the 27th November 2013. In our last LTB we explained that this was the last extension permissible in law. However, upon further clarification between the lawyers of both parties, it has now been confirmed that the ballot can be extended in law and remain legally valid until the 3rd December 2013, which is the last date that 7 day notice of Industrial Action can be served.

Having carefully considered the situation and the fact that in the overall negotiations good progress has been made, the Postal Executive has agreed to the company’s offer to extend the ballot until the final permissible date.

We are confident that negotiations will conclude during this period and that a final agreement will soon be placed before the Executive Council for endorsement in the very near future. The Postal Executive will meet again on Monday 2nd December 2013.

Please ensure the content of this LTB is circulated to CWU members in all workplaces.

Any enquiries on the content of this LTB should be directed to the DGS (P) Department.

Yours sincerely



Dave Ward
Deputy General Secretary (P)


Ray Ellis Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary

Bob Gibson Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary