The agreement, which was thrashed out during intense negotiations in December following a 12-month dispute, includes a 9.06% pay increase over three years as well as legally binding protections for employees that will be reviewed in 2019. Full details of the pay deal are listed below.
Just over half of Royal Mail employees voted in a postal ballot that was opened on 22 January and closed yesterday (5 February). Of the 57% of employees who responded, 94% (65,640) cast a ‘yes’ vote.
“We have achieved extensive and unprecedented legally binding protections for employees that not only strengthen their job security but also shape the values and principles that the Royal Mail Group will operate under as a private organisation,” said CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward.
“The pay deal is at the very top of the range in either the public or private sector and the commitments to legal protections and industrial stability changes the dynamic of privatisation.”
Legal protections contained in the agreement include: no outsourcing, selling or transferring of any part of the Royal Mail business; no franchising out of the business; no ‘inferior terms and conditions’ to be given to new employees (no two-tier workforce); an objective to deliver future change without recourse to compulsory redundancy; and that the employment model will remain predominantly full-time.
Under the terms of the deal, new mediation and governance procedures will also be put in place in an effort to limit the potential for future industrial action.
Ward said: “Although we retain the right to strike, a fresh approach to industrial relations will help create industrial stability and new governance arrangements will increase CWU's influence in the day-to-day running of the business.”
"This agreement commits Royal Mail to an agenda for growth, rather than managing decline. There will be no tolerance for a race to the bottom on services and jobs and we believe this agreement will set the standard for pay, employment rights and services for the rest of the postal industry,” he added.
Executive director of the Direct Marketing Association Chris Combemale, welcomed the news and said the announcement should inspire renewed confidence among brands to make advertising mail a key part of their one-to-one customer communications.”
He added: “The rapid rise of e-commerce, and the dynamic integration of advertising and transactional mail with digital channels in customer communications has breathed new life into advertising mail and delivery of parcels.
“Investing in modernising the business, and a solid and stable workforce, is therefore essential for achieving long-term development and business growth for Royal Mail’s commercial customers."
Pay deal agreement
April 2013-14: 3% increase on pay and overtime rates backdated to 1 April 2013 (against an RPI of 2.9%)
April 2014-15: 3% increase on pay and overtime rates
April 2015-16: 2.8% increase on pay and overtime rates subject to a review if RPI is 0.5% higher or lower
A one-off lump sum of £200 paid before Christmas 2013
New incentive arrangements to be introduced by April 2014
