Postal pay row talks begin
Postal workers and Royal Mail meet today in an attempt to resolve their ongoing pay dispute.
The two sides’ representatives will come face to face today at ACAS – the arbitration and conciliation service.
The stakes could hardly be higher for Royal Mail, with CWU leaders threatening strike ballots among their 160,000 members if their demands are not met.
If the ballot was positive, the UK could face its first postal strikes in seven years.
Today’s meeting comes after confusion yesterday, when Royal Mail accused the union’s team of not turning up at ACAS.
In turn, the CWU delegation insisted that it had not known it was expected to attend a day ahead of the scheduled meeting.
The union has rejected Royal Mail’s 14.5 per cent pay deal, arguing that the 18 month package comes with too many strings attached.
“If Royal Mail will negotiate, a dispute can be averted”, senior union negotiator Ray Ellis told the BBC ahead of the meeting.
“If it will not, we will be launching a formal industrial dispute ballot”, he added.
