Royal Mail workers vote to strike in row over pensions and pay
Royal Mail workers have voted in favour of a strike in a row over pensions and pay.
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The Communications Workers Union said on Tuesday that 89% of its members had voted in favour of industrial action. With a 74% turnout and taking into account frontline employees who are not members of the union, the strike has 57% backing.
Earlier this year, Royal Mail said it was closing its current defined benefit scheme in March next year. Although the scheme is currently in surplus, the company, which pays £400m a year into the fund, said it could become unaffordable and was likely to balloon to more than £1bn in 2018.
The CWU said the vote to strike was sparked by Royal Mail's "attack on the pension rights of hard-working postmen and women and the refusal of the employer to engage seriously over pay, working hours, future job security and the need to improve and grow the service to the public".
Royal Mail said it was "very disappointed" by the announcement and insisted that it is committed to further talks "as a matter of urgency" to reach agreement with the CWU. "There are no grounds for industrial action. We want to reach agreement," it said.
"Industrial action is damaging for our business. It undermines the trust of our customers. It makes it harder to pay for the great terms and conditions we provide for our employees. National industrial action means the current offer from Royal Mail, including on pensions, will be taken off the table."
Royal Mail said it had proposed to continue providing "the best pay and terms and conditions in the industry by some distance".
"We are not proposing to change our core terms and conditions or our commitment to a predominantly permanent workforce. Many competitors pay around the National Living Wage. Royal Mail pays 45-50% more than this."
The group had offered to continue working towards a new pay deal, including an increase of up to 5% over two years, depending on productivity improvements, flexibility and a small number of trials. In addition, it was offering to replace its defined benefit pension scheme with another type of defined benefit scheme.
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “This is a fantastic result for our members and indeed the wider trade union movement. As the first union to test the Trade Union Act we have passed with flying colours. The mixture of a fantastic campaign, led by Terry Sullinger and the Postal Executive, a brilliantly innovative communications strategy and an inspirational ground force has returned a resounding result."