UK: Royal Mail, CWU union reach agreement on pay offer

The United Kingdom’s Royal Mail reached an agreement with the Communication Workers’ Union on a pay proposal over the weekend. The agreement comes amidst surges of strikes by workers in key sectors across the country.

The Royal Mail and the CWU issued a joint statement announcing that both sides have reached a proposed agreement over pay and employment. The proposal would be considered by the union’s executive first before it would be placed on the ballot for its members to vote. This follows strikes by over 110,000 Royal Mail workers in 2022, demanding higher pay to keep up with the rising inflation and the cost of living crisis.

“An announcement on the detailed content of the proposed agreement will be made when it is ratified by the union’s executive committee,” said the statement, adding that this is expected to take place in the coming week.

Friday last week, nurses in the country rejected a pay offer of five percent and set out plans to stage further strikes. The Royal College of Nursing trade union said around 54 percent of nurses who participated in a ballot voted to reject the deal, which the union recommended. The RCN said its members would stage a 48-hour strike from April 30 and would be joined by nursing staff from emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care, and other services that were previously exempted from the industrial action.

“Until there is a significantly improved offer, we are forced back to the picket line,” said RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen in a letter to British health minister Steve Barclay. “Meetings alone are not sufficient to prevent strike action and I will require an improved offer as soon as possible.”

Also on Friday, British rail companies made a new pay offer to rail workers in an effort to end the long-running strikes, according to a group representing the industry. A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said they have introduced a revised pay offer that made “important clarifications and assurances” on employment terms and conditions for the workers.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers said it was considering the offer and had yet to decide on the next steps.