Ballot papers will be dispatched to members on 17 May, with the ballot closing and the announcement of the result set for 7 June.
A series of briefings and online Q&A sessions are underway as the CWU seeks to convince members of the merits of the deal, however, some posties have expressed vocal opposition to the proposals on social media channels.
The CWU said that it was a coincidence that ballot papers would be sent out the day before Royal Mail announces its results, and said the timeframe was required because the ”independent balloting company needed time for printing/checking data etc” due to the number of bank holidays in May.
At a briefing to area reps held in Birmingham last week, CWU national officer for delivery members Mark Baulch responded to a question about what the union would do if members rejected the proposals.
“We wouldn’t be recommending this agreement if there was a better alternative – but this is absolutely the correct way forward at this time,” he stated.
Baulch said the key objective was to win members’ support for the agreement, and to make that agreement work in the interests of workers, of the public and of the company itself going forward.
He also pointed out that the alternative to the proposed agreement is not a reversion to the previous arrangements, because Royal Mail has formally served notice on ending a number of previous agreements.
Therefore, a ‘no’ vote “would leave our members with no agreements in place at all over a whole range of vitally important issues”.
In a tweet (below) the union also expressed outrage at an anonymous letter it said was published by the Socialist Workers’ Party.
This letter was published by the Socialist Workers Party. It is an absolute disgrace.
— The CWU (@CWUnews) May 2, 2023
Our members can challenge, criticise and question the union anytime.
But we aren’t having this type of politically driven and vile behaviour spilling into our union. pic.twitter.com/377v32ODw1
The long-running and increasingly bitter dispute began a year ago and involves more than 115,000 CWU members, with 18 days of strike action taken last year causing disruption to printing industry users of Royal Mail services including publishers and direct mail specialists.
