In a statement, the CWU said that the agreement covered “all issues contained in the current dispute” including pay, legal protections for terms and conditions, industrial stability and pensions.
The proposals will now be considered by the CWU’s postal executive and legal team, with full details expected to be released by the beginning of next week.
The agreement will then be voted on by union members. A CWU spokeswoman said the union was hopeful of reaching a full agreement by Christmas, but that the process could take longer.
Royal Mail and the CWU have agreed that the union's ballot for industrial action remains valid. However, the CWU has confirmed that there will be no disruption through industrial action during the ratification process of the proposed agreement, including the whole of the Christmas trading period.
The CWU has been in a complex dispute with Royal Mail Group, since the first half of the year, over "pay, pensions and the impact of privatisation on job security [and] terms and conditions". Industrial action threatened by the union was postponed earlier this month pending the outcome of negotiations.
The dispute began when the former pay deal for workers came to an end in March, with both sides failing to reach an agreement on a new contract, and escalated as developments progressed towards the privatisation of Royal Mail.
The CWU was unable to clarify whether the proposed agreement that has been announced today also includes the issue of competition from downstream access (DSA) providers.
In December 2012 the union announced that it was considering a national boycott of competitors’ mail, with union members voting overwhelmingly in favour of the boycott, in a national ballot held in March.
In June, accepting the advice of its lawyers who said a boycott would be illegal on the back of a consultative ballot alone, the CWU backed down.
Chris Combemale, executive director of the Direct Marketing Association, welcomed the positive outcome of Royal Mail and CWU’s talks: “We’re pleased that Royal Mail and the CWU have reached agreement in principle and that postal workers will not be taking industrial action over the Christmas period. This is welcome news for the tens of thousands of companies, charities and people that depend on the postal service every day.
“The UK economy is only just emerging from recession and we cannot afford any further impediment to its recovery, especially at this time of year. The build-up to Christmas is a critical period that typically accounts for a significant proportion of businesses’ annual revenues and charities’ donations.
"Furthermore, commercial users account for the biggest portion of Royal Mail’s turnover. Any disruption to service would have led businesses to take their custom elsewhere, which is an outcome that would not benefit the postal workers that CWU represents.”
