Royal Mail reaches agreement on pay and pensions

Royal Mail Group has reached an agreement on pay and pensions, averting the threat of strike action over the Christmas period.

Details of the agreement, which is subject to approval by the Royal Mail board, will be made available following the conclusion of the meeting of the Communication Workers Union’s (CWU) postal executive.

The agreement will be considered by the executive before being balloted on by the union’s membership.

A strike planned for 4 November was called off because the Royal Mail Group and CWU had made progress in talks.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail Group said: “Royal Mail and the CWU have agreed that the union’s ballot for industrial action remains valid.

“However, the CWU has confirmed that there will be no disruption through industrial action during the ratification process of the proposed agreement, including the whole of the Christmas trading period.”

A spokesperson for CWU added: “The proposed agreement will now be considered by the union’s postal executive over the next few days and will ultimately be subject to a ballot of the union’s members. During the ratification process, the industrial action ballot remains valid.”