THE Communic-ation Workers Union announced yesterday that there will be further strike action in response to Royal Mail’s draconian and destructive proposals on pay and business changes.
There remains no agreed pay deal, which was due on 1st April 2007, and the pay offer is linked to unacceptable propositions on flexibility and decreased pensions benefits.
Royal Mail has announced the implementation of unagreed operational changes.
The CWU’s Postal Executive have agreed the following strike dates:
A 48 hour strike on the 5th & 6th October.
A 48 hour strike on the 8th & 9th October.
On the week commencing 15th October a rolling programme of functional strikes to continue weekly until the resolution of the dispute.
Dave Ward, CWU Deputy General Secretary, said: ‘Despite five weeks of negotiations Royal Mail have failed to take on board the union’s message that in order for the business to succeed Royal Mail need to invest in their workforce.
‘Strikes are a proportionate response to an employer that is completely out of control. Rather than running the business, Royal Mail’s actions demonstrate they are intent on destroying it.
‘The workforce has had enough of Royal Mail messing them around. We’re not going to tolerate an employer that ignores its workforce, ignores the union and ignores its customers.’
In the last week the company has announced the following:
• Executive action on their pension proposals – Royal Mail will be communicating this to staff next week.
• Executive action through the imposition of later starts on the 8th October.
• Executive action through the imposition of network changes on the 23rd October.
• Executive action through the cessation of Sunday Collections on the 28th October.
• Executive action through the cessation of Employee Share of Savings scheme (ESOS) on the 10th October.
The union remains committed to reaching an agreement which benefits the business and employees and will continue talking to management.
Dave Wiltshire, ATUA secretary, commented to News Line yesterday: ‘The announcement today by the postal executive committee of the CWU of a programme of two 48-hour national strikes across all sections of Royal Mail, along with a programme of rolling strikes, is a huge blow against the Royal Mail and the Brown government.
‘It is also a major blow and exposure of the CWU’s top leaders who have spent the last five weeks locked in secret talks aimed at burying the dispute and forcing the Royal Mail plan onto the workers.
‘They have been seen off by the determination of the union’s members not to accept wage and pension cutting, super flexibility, mass sackings, selling pension rights for new entrants and an industrial framework agreement that spelt the end of the union’s role in industrial relations.
‘The best thing that these leaders, with Hayes and Ward to the fore, can do now is to resign and make way for new leaders who are prepared to fight.
‘If they won’t they must be made to, since this battle with the Royal Mail and the Brown government must be won, not just for the postal workers but for all workers.
‘Victory will require action by the whole of the public sector in support of the Royal Mail workers.’