Royal Mail says change is the only option
8 June 2007
Royal Mail said that it would continue its drive to modernise the business to allow it to compete and thrive in the competitive market.
Commenting on the outcome of a strike ballot held by the Communication Workers Union on pay, conditions and the business plan, the company said that the union had balloted 127,000 people and that 66,064 people had voted for strike action. That’s around half of the number balloted and excludes more than 20,000 people who aren’t union members.
Allan Leighton, Chairman said, “As ever, we are listening hard to our people but this is not a popularity contest. Change is difficult for everyone – and we understand that – but we have no option but to become a modern, efficient business if we are to compete and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. We urge all our people at Royal Mail to work together to meet these challenges and to refrain from any industrial action that would hurt both our customers today and our prospects for a successful and profitable business in the future.”
“If we don’t modernise we’ll fail – and we’ll end up in the “race to the bottom” that the CWU say they are against. So our position remains – we can’t afford to pay any more right now and we certainly can’t afford to put all our future in danger by putting off the need to change and modernise.”
Royal Mail said that the CWU had tried to create a political issue rather than focussing on a pay deal which offers 2.5% on basic pay as well as a dividend of £800 and a 50:50 productivity sharing scheme. Colleagues in Parcelforce, the group’s parcel’s division, have already voted to accept a similar pay offer on a recommendation by the CWU.
