Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) leaders have signed a pay for jobs and ‘efficiency’ deal with Royal Mail.
They are attempting to sell it to members as being ‘set to increase basic pay’.
Yesterday’s CWU press statement claimed: ‘An agreement between the Union and Royal Mail takes a very important step forward in developing the union’s strategy of catching national average pay and dealing with change in the industry.’
However it added: ‘It has been agreed that an efficiency review will take place across the company with local negotiations in every workplace being the key to agreeing where improvements and savings can be made.’
To soften the impact the CWU statement added: ‘In addition, crucially, agreement has been reached that a share of those savings will lift the basic pay of postal workers.
‘In addition an assurance has been achieved that Royal Mail will not seek to replace full-time jobs with part-time jobs nor will any worker be compelled to go part-time.’
Dave Ward, CWU Deputy general Secretary claimed: ‘This agreement proves that the company and the union can work together to avoid a race to the bottom and raise the value and status of postal workers jobs.’
Angry postal workers showed News Line copies of the full agreement and a Letter to Branches explaining the agreement.
These revealed that it has been agreed: ‘All notified or planned managerial executive action and all formal notices of industrial action, concerning efficiency savings, are withdrawn as are all such ballots.’
It adds: ‘The moratorium on executive action and industrial action will be reviewed on 30th April.
‘Royal Mail and the national union will ensure that all managers and CWU representatives will carry out the approach outlined in this agreement.’
Outlining changes to the current productivity agreement, the new agreement says ‘there will be a mandatory efficiency review jointly undertaken in all offices to identify and secure savings as soon as possible with no pre-determined targets for those savings’.
It adds that ‘the emphasis should be on achieving savings quickly’.
The agreement states that only sustained operational savings ‘will be included in the basic pay calculation’ and both parties agree that no proposals should be dismissed.
Royal Mail and the CWU have agreed that ‘there will be no permanent conversion of full-time templated jobs to part-time unless agreed locally.
‘When jobs become vacant each office will jointly identify the resourcing approach (both full time and part time) most compatible with current workload and changes planned under this initiative whilst retaining our commitments to maximise full-time employment.’
In the CWU negotiators’ circular to the CWU Postal Executive, referring to savings and pay, they say that ‘offices that agree a reduction of more than five per cent will have the level above five per cent qualifying for an additional local sum. The staff share for this is set at 45 per cent (still based on the full 12 months value). The element will be consolidated into national pay in April 07.’