RMCtv : Message from CEO Simon Thompson - Improved best and final offer presented to the CWU

[POSTMAN]

Simon Says

After seven months of talks with the CWU - including Acas talks over the last four weeks - we have presented the CWU with a revised ‘best and final’ offer with a significant number of improvements, including:

Offering an enhanced pay deal in Royal Mail* of up to 9% over 18 months (rather than two years) – bringing the next annual pay review forward by six months to 1 October 2023
Parcelforce colleagues would now also receive the enhanced base pay increase of 7% and we have committed to increasing weekly base pay for Parcelforce drivers to Royal Mail over a three-year period
Offering to develop a new profit share scheme for employees
Making our voluntary redundancy terms more generous than our original proposals – with an additional one-off £6,000 payment for those who choose voluntary redundancy in the first phase. Based on preferences expressed so far, it appears highly likely that the generous voluntary redundancy scheme will be over-subscribed
Committing to no compulsory redundancies until 31 March 2023 at the earliest
Offering to buy-out a number of legacy allowances, including delaying and phasing out the regional recruitment incentive supplement (RRIS) which will now reduce over three years from 2024/25, and be removed in 2026/27
Making Sunday working voluntary, and phasing the removal of the Sunday allowance over three years
Staggering the introduction of later start and finish times over three years. Committed to accommodating family friendly working where possible
Changing our seasonal working proposals so that employees would only work around two hours less a week in the summer, and two hours more in the winter (no more than 30 minutes a day) – with 4-10 weeks notice for employees
Agreeing to trial Yearly Flexi Hours before they are introduced at a later date
Withdrawing proposals to taper down ill health retirement payments
Offering to work with the CWU on a joint campaign to level up employment standards across our industry to avoid a ‘race to the bottom’ on terms and conditions in our sector
Offering to work with the CWU on projects to diversify and grow the business beyond letters and parcels.

You can read the draft agreement in full, along with the covering letter we sent to the CWU, here. (https://www.myroyalmail.com/sites/defau ... eement.pdf)

During the negotiations, broad agreement was reached on pay and most elements of the deal. However, over recent days, plans the company thought had been agreed became open-ended ‘reviews’ and three-month-long working groups to delay transformation, in proposals presented by the CWU. Unaffordable initiatives previously suggested by the CWU reappeared, including demands to reduce the current 37-hour working week without any corresponding change in pay, estimated to cost around £100m a year.

Although Royal Mail has made a significant number of concessions and improvements over seven months, the CWU leadership has consistently rejected offers without putting them to its members.

Royal Mail has urged the CWU to accept the offer and call off planned strike action.

Final offer
This is our final offer; we simply cannot afford any more. Further deterioration in the company’s financial position caused by industrial action will rapidly make the pay offer become unaffordable and it may need to be withdrawn.
We want to agree this further pay rise for you, on top of the 2% already paid in the summer. We recognise that the cost-of-living crisis is a serious situation, and you are already out of pocket due to industrial action.
The strikes have already added £100m to Royal Mail’s losses so far this year. In a materially loss-making company, with every additional day of strike action we are facing the difficult choice about whether we spend our money on pay and protecting jobs, or on the cost of strikes.
But we need to be clear that the 10 days of strike action planned between 24 November and 24 December – which impacts our busiest time of the year from the Black Friday deals through to Christmas – are very damaging to our business. They are also very damaging to our customers.
That’s why we have asked the CWU to call off the planned strikes. If they don’t, we have been clear with the CWU leadership we may need to withdraw the offer, look at further headcount reductions and restructuring and that the voluntary redundancy proposal of up to nine months could also become unaffordable.

Have your say
Talk to your manager and share your views on the offer, and make sure your CWU rep understands your view too.
I would urge you to think carefully about whether participating in the upcoming strikes - and risk this improved offer becoming unaffordable - is the right thing for you. If you want come back to work, we will support you.
The more we can deliver for our customers over the crucial Christmas period, the more we can protect this business – and your jobs.
Royal Mail is a great business, and I truly believe we can get through this and have a great future. I hope the CWU recognises the improvements we have made to the offer and accepts it.

Simon Thompson
CEO

*Excludes PFSL, Parcelforce and Fleet which operate as separate bargaining units.

NewCWUofferLetterandAgreement.pdf

[Ali831]

Am I the only one who feels they have lost track of who has said what. CWU say they rejected XYZ but put forward ABC as a counter offer. Sideways Simon says it wasn't XYZ he put forward it was XYX and he doesnt accept the DEF offer and knows nothing about the ABC the union said. I don't know what's offered or agreed anymore.
Then the latest statement says *upto 9%, the magic upto word that offers a get out of only giving 5% as that's upto 9% right

[bigal383]

Stroke me thomson am tsking u down with me son
Cwu till the end !!

[CRIBMAD]

shove it simon ! stand strong everyone he will soon be sacked ! bring on more december strikes !

[smok3y666]

shove it simon ! stand strong everyone he will soon be sacked ! bring on more december strikes !

And what you going do after the Dec strikes when strikes don't mean JAck?

[robson144]

“We simply cannot afford anymore”

Yeah okay mate.

[77SAMPOST77]

shove it simon ! stand strong everyone he will soon be sacked ! bring on more december strikes !

And what you going do after the Dec strikes when strikes don't mean JAck?

They will mean everything if we all stick together ,
The union are on the back foot and Simon is fighting to save is job despite all his bravado ,
More Dec strike dates required as many as legally possible .

[BigSacks]

He does talk a lot of bollocks but the CWU need to end their obsession with reducing the working week.

It’s not important at this time and lets them have a stick to beat us with.

[CRIBMAD]

shove it simon ! stand strong everyone he will soon be sacked ! bring on more december strikes !

And what you going do after the Dec strikes when strikes don't mean JAck?

keep striking you plank ! bring the greedy fookers down with us - now lets get that wine opened , world cup footy on tap and a nice 8 days off away from that shithole !

[redlen]

What are the CWU going to do after December 23 when the legal protections for industrial action expire

Harsh Language?

[CRIBMAD]

shove it simon ! stand strong everyone he will soon be sacked ! bring on more december strikes !

And what you going do after the Dec strikes when strikes don't mean JAck?

They will mean everything if we all stick together ,
The union are on the back foot and Simon is fighting to save is job despite all his bravado ,
More Dec strike dates required as many as legally possible .

proud to have you as a colleague , unlike some whiners on here !

[qwerty2]

730pm cwu live they might announce more dates

[CRIBMAD]

What are the CWU going to do after December 23 when the legal protections for industrial action expire

Harsh Language?

the manager has spoken again - ignore a person time methinks byee

[nightcrawler]

So if that’s RMs “final offer” what happens next? No more talks? Indefinite strikes?

[redlen]

Well some people care and want to protect their jobs with reality, not wishful thinking Comrade