The government is to go ahead with the privatisation or sale of Royal Mail.
Business Secretary Vince Cable made the commitment after receiving updated recommendations from the businessman Richard Hooper.
The government is to go ahead with the privatisation or sale of Royal Mail.
Business Secretary Vince Cable made the commitment after receiving updated recommendations from the businessman Richard Hooper.
Postal workers have voted to accept a deal to settle the long-running dispute with Royal Mail over pay and working practices.
Workers voted by two to one to accept a deal agreed between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Royal Mail. The deal commits Royal Mail to retaining full-time staff, improved flexibility and a voluntary approach to any redundancies.
The union has agreed not to strike again before Christmas. Further talks will take place in December with the aim of finalising a deal by the end of 2010.
The national strikes have been called off until at least the New Year to allow for fresh talks between Royal Mail and the Union. Royal Mail deliveries should be free of any additional disruption over Christmas.
The Mail union accuses the Royal Mail of using agency workers as strike breakers to do the work of CWU members involved in the continuing UK-wide industrial dispute and is seeking an injunction preventing Royal Mail from using 30,000 agency workers.
Two more strike days have been announced. These are Friday, 6th and Monday, 9th November.
Unlike the current strikes, which have involved members in different roles striking on different days, the two new dates will be all-out strikes.
Royal Mail has said that the strikes have delayed 35 million items. That’s 35 million bits of business that other providers could be taking.
The second phase of the CWU’s nationwide postal strikes are now happening with 44 thousand members striking on Thursday (today). Further 24-hour strikes are due to take place on Friday and Saturday.
“I can see the strike action increasing now,” CWU general secretary Billy Hayes has said – great!
British mail is in decline. The British government wants to sell to sell a minority stake in the national Mail provider Royal Mail to a private company. These plans have now been delayed because of the economic downturn.
Meanwhile postal workers under took three days of strike action in London in a dispute over jobs and pay, amid claims of cutbacks to services