Royal Mail's union has rejected a 8.6% pay rise as a
"misleading and unacceptable" sweetener from a company desperate to
win over staff ahead of plans to
privatise the 497-year-old postal service.
The
Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents more than 100,000 Royal
Mail staff, said the 8.6% increase in basic pay over three years was "only
there as a sweetener to swallow some very bitter pills" including
"damaging" changes to their pensions and working conditions. Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the
CWU, said: "Our members voted – by a huge 99% – for a pay rise without
strings attached yet the company ignores them. "Postal workers
want more security; what's on offer is less. With privatisation looming, the protections Royal Mail have put
on offer are not worth the paper they're written on."
Ward said the
company and the government had "reneged" on its promise to secure
workers' pensions after just one year. The union said it was
"scandalous" of Royal Mail to link the pay deal to previously
rejected pension proposals. "This is
daylight robbery of a further £2bn of pension scheme assets. The average full-time
postal worker's salary is £19,416. This would rise to £21,092 in 2015 if the
union were to accept the pay deal which includes a £300 lump sum in December.
The company has already agreed to a minimum £100-a-year bonus.//the guardian.co.uk-news//
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