The “crunch talks” that took place over the past week have not, as yet, resulted in any resolution to the long-running and increasingly bitter dispute.
In an update to union members posted on Friday evening (24 March), CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “We completely understand the anger and frustration at the way the company are treating our members. We are making those points at every single meeting.”
“We are not going to shirk change, we’ve always said that, but it’s got to be the right change.”
Ward said that if Royal Mail cannot reach an agreement with the union by early this week, the union will serve notice for strike action.
“The company [Royal Mail] is in a serious financial position, we're not hiding away from that. But that's no excuse for the way they're behaving towards our members.”
He also said that no deal would be reached until issues around members and union reps that have been sacked or are facing suspension have been resolved. Around 115,000 CWU members work at Royal Mail.
In response, a Royal Mail spokesperson said that change “cannot continue to be delayed”.
“After 11 months of talks, making numerous improvements to our offer based on CWU feedback, and mediated talks by Acas and Sir Brendan Barber, we are deeply concerned that we have yet to reach an agreement. We remain committed to getting the right deal, which secures the future of Royal Mail and its workforce,” the spokesperson said, in a statement.
“We have been clear throughout the dispute that significant transformation of our network and working practices is essential for the business to survive. It is not sustainable for the business to be losing more than £1 million a day. Change cannot continue to be delayed.
“If CWU persists with further strike action, this would only serve to threaten the job security of our postmen and women and make our pay offer unaffordable.”
The situation is so bad that some postal workers have been speculating in online comments that Royal Mail could end up in administration, and that such a move would force the government to step in to rescue the business and reform the Universal Service Obligation.
Socialist Worker reported that CWU London division rep Martin Walsh, a member of the union’s postal executive committee, has also warned that if the union doesn’t agree a deal administration could be the end result.
Last month CWU members working at Royal Mail voted by 95.9% on a 77.3% turnout to take further strike action, in what Ward described as a “historic testament to CWU members across the country who have stood firm against the most severe attacks faced by any set of workers since the miners”.
The online response to Ward’s update was mixed. While some postal workers expressed solidarity, others said that the 18 days of strike action – and resulting loss of pay – that took place last year had failed to resolve the situation, and further action would be unaffordable.
