Last modified on Tue 22 Dec 2020 11.30 EST
Royal Mail has ended a two-year dispute with workers in a settlement that gives staff an above-inflation pay rise and enables the company to transition to a parcels-led business to cash in on the online shopping boom.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) hailed the “landmark” deal, which it said was an “excellent agreement” for postal workers which offered job security, a reduction in work hours and a pay rise.
Workers will get a 3.7% pay rise, backdated to April this year, plus a one-hour reduction in the working week, which the union said equated to a 6.5% increase over the two-year deal. In addition, Royal Mail has agreed there will be no compulsory redundancies – it employs 143,000 workers in the UK – and in return the union has promised to support an ambitious modernisation of the business.
Royal Mail office in Glasgow at centre of Covid outbreak as 38 staff test positive
Bosses today confirmed the cases at the Glasgow Mail Centre in the city’s Springburn, where around 1,000 people are employed.
Updated
Glasgow Mail Centre in Springburn (Image: Google)
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Small businesses hit out at Royal Mail delays
SMEs say delivery times are erratic and some have reported delays of up three to four weeks for certain items
18 December 2020 • 3:07pm
Small businesses have criticised postal delays at Royal Mail, saying the FTSE 250 company is failing to be transparent about the disruption and customers are taking their anger out on SMEs as a result.
Companies have said delivery times are erratic and some have reported delays of up to three to four weeks for certain items, forcing SMEs to refund angry customers.
Tory Fox-Hill, founder of Fox and Moon, a Leeds-based stationery company, said hundreds of parcels it sent out on the weekend of Black Friday still have not been delivered.
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French transport workers’ strike in Paris
French transport workers on the Paris public transport network held a one-day strike Thursday. The Unsa, CGT, SAT, Solidaires and SUD union members are protesting plans to privatise the transport network by 2024, which will lead to attacks on jobs and conditions.
Strike by London Heathrow airport workers
Airport workers including baggage handlers, engineers, firefighters and other operatives at Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) in London held a 24-hour strike Monday, and a further two-day strike from Thursday. They held a one-day strike on November 30. On Monday, the striking workers held a car rally at Heathrow to promote their protest.