Strikes end as postal deal reached
A deal to end wildcat strikes by postal workers has been agreed following lengthy negotiations.
A deal between the Communication Workers Union and the Royal Mail was reached in the early hours of Monday morning.
The postal strikes, which started in London and spread throughout the country, led to long delays, the closure of post boxes in some areas and a huge backlog of undelivered post.
A joint statement from the union and employers read: “The Royal Mail and the CWU are both pleased to have reached an understanding that allows both parties to recommend a return to work.
“We will be talking to our people today and will now go to Acas to resolve all outstanding issues relating to pay and major change.
“We wish to apologise to customers for the huge inconvenience that has been caused and our first priority is to clear the backlog that has built up and get services back to normal.”
Work on clearing the huge backlog of mail has now begun
At least 20,000 workers across the capital and in parts of Essex, the North West, Hampshire, the Midlands and the Home Counties went on strike.
The dispute started after a number of drivers in Southall, west London, were suspended. The CWU accused Royal Mail of bullying and intimidating workers following an official 24-hour strike in London over weighting allowance for workers in the capital.
The Royal Mail denied the accusations and blamed the strikes on union activists.
The unofficial strike has been simmering over two weeks ago with isolated acts of industrial action but the strike galvanised last Tuesday.
No details of the agreement reached are available. Both parties will take negotiations to the independent conciliation service, Acas, today.
