Two sides in post dispute pledge better relations

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 21:46

THE two sides in the postal dispute have pledged to achieve a "radically different" culture in industrial and employee relations under a deal that ended the threat of fresh strikes, it was disclosed yesterday.

Details of an agreement that led to planned walk-outs being called off were released by the Communication Workers Union, which said "significant concessions" had been made by the Royal Mail.

Deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: "There is no doubt that the strength of support from postal workers in the strikes has made Royal Mail think again. They have made significant concessions that are clear for everybody to see.

"Those concessions have allowed us to suspend strike action and work towards a full and final agreement. The union has always been focused on achieving modernisation by consent, and now the company has finally acknowledged that is how we must go forward."

The document agreed by the union's postal executive on Thursday night said the aim was to make significant progress on further negotiations by early December, concluding a final deal by the end of the year.

"Exceptional efforts will need to be made quickly during the period of calm to rebuild trust and goodwill," the document said.

Changes implemented this year will now be reviewed, while there will be "genuine negotiations" where changes have been made without agreement.

The two sides have pledged to establish a "new and completely fresh approach that will bring about a radically different culture in industrial and employee relations".

Other goals include improved job security, a new and improved reward and benefits package, fair workload and commitment to modernisation.