Unanimous Royal Mail strike vote at conference

Royal Mail is facing fresh industrial action unless it reverses changes to its pension scheme and gives assurances on the future of the business.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) voted unanimously to hold a strike ballot on the wide-ranging issues as an emergency motion at its annual conference.

The move is designed to put pressure on both Royal Mail and the Government as an independent review looks at the future of the postal network.

The postal group halted its final salary pension for all employees in April, and replaced it with one based on career average earnings. It has warned that it needs to make radical changes to the pension plan which has a £3.4 billion deficit.
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However, the CWU warned that it would push for industrial action unless Royal Mail backs down from its overhaul of the pension plan. The union is also demanding involvement in the reorganisation of mail centres and the introduction of greater automation, which it believes could cost 40,000 jobs.

Dave Ward, CWU general secretary, said that the strike ballot was part of a “major industrial and political campaign effectively to secure the future of our industry”. Mr Ward said the union accepted that there would have to be changes in Royal Mail but that they could not be enacted out on a piecemeal basis. The union’s motion said that the timetable for a ballot “will be designed to maximise pressure on the company and the Government”. Mr Ward said that Royal Mail would be offered talks before a ballot is implemented.