Postal talks to resume
Tense discussions between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union adjourned last night with no sign of a breakthrough
The talks, which lasted six hours, will resume again today, aiming to end the nine-day dispute over London weighting allowances.
Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier has accused union activists of prolonging the dispute, while the union has accused managers of “bullying” and intimidating workers.
Roger Baynes, head of operations for Royal Mail, said last night that staff had been intimidated into joining wildcat strikes.
“The vast majority of our employees don’t want to be out on strike, they don’t want to lose money, they don’t want to disrupt services to our customers,” he said.
“But you have picket lines and they are scared for those reasons.
“I am desperate to get this sorted out, for our employees to come back to work, get on with job, restore services to our customers and get on with business.”
Last Friday, workers had downed tools at delivery and sorting offices in Maidstone, Essex, Milton Keynes, Coventry, Oxford, Portsmouth, Warrington, Rugby and Stansted airport.
About 30,000 postal workers were now on strike across the country, the CWU said yesterday.
Separately, Royal Mail lawyers are considering suing the CWU union for tacitly condoning unofficial strike action.
The CWU said it had “repudiated” the unofficial action and was confident it could survive the legal challenge.
The two sides are expected to meet at the conciliation service Acas on Monday to renew negotiations over the London allowance.
