(Alliance News) - Royal Mail PLC on Thursday said that after five months of talks, it has not been able to reach an agreement with the Communication Workers Union and hopes to take the union to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
The CWU is the main trade union for the telecommunications and postal delivery industries in the UK. Members of the union have organised a series of strikes against Royal Mail, in a worsening dispute over pay and conditions.
The London-based postal service and courier company said it has been in talks with the CWU for five months, including three dispute resolution procedures, but it is still in deadlock with the union.
It added that it made a loss of GBP92 million in the first quarter and it needs to "adapt much faster to adapt to changing customer demands in a highly competitive market."
"The CWU has blocked any meaningful discussion on the change agenda the company has set out, and has not put forward any viable alternatives that will fund further pay increases," it continued.
Given the lack of progress, Royal Mail explained that it has taken two steps to move forward with the CWU.
First, Royal Mail has written to propose that talks should be taken to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in a further attempt to find a resolution.
Secondly, Royal Mail has informed CWU that it wants to modernise the ways of working with them. "As part of this, Royal Mail will review or serve notice on a number of historic agreements and policies which are currently being used by the CWU to frustrate transformation, and intends to move to a more modern industrial relations framework designed to make the business more agile, and able to compete more effectively," the company explained.
Royal Mail explained that its relationship with the union has been characterised by "a complex web of CWU agreements and structures."
It noted the Agenda for Growth agreement, which was signed at the time of privatisation in 2013. The company explained that it "is the only agreement of its kind in the UK that includes certain legally binding undertakings."
Royal Mail said: "This was designed to ensure long term stability and growth, including industrial stability." It entitles the company to give notice on certain undertaking in the event that the CWU takes national scale industrial action.
Most recently, the CWU announced strike action for September 30 and October 1.
The CWU also called for strike action on August 26 and August 31, as well as September 8. The decision followed a ballot for strike action, which saw members vote by 98% on a 77% turnout to take action.
Royal Mail said that it is not changing quickly enough, and this is "reflection of the unique, complex, costly and highly restrictive union agreements and structures built up over many years."
It is therefore taking steps to "modernise agreements".
Royal Mail noted that it wants to speed up decision making on a daily basis; trial and introduce new technology more quickly; revise attendance policy to address persistent instances of short term absence; reduce complexity and cost; and remain competitive and retain its position in the industry.
Royal Mail said: "To do this we want to work with CWU on what new, modern, ways of working between the two will look like. These changes are important steps towards modernising the industrial relations framework. They will allow Royal Mail to move from a system where the CWU has many powers to veto and block change, to a more consultative relationship."
Shares in Royal Mail were down 3.0% to 208.40 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
