by René Lavanchy
Royal Mail has two weeks to strike an agreement with unions or workers will return to “dispute mode”, according to sources at the Communication Workers Union.
They were speaking as talks between Royal Mail bosses and union representatives, aimed at agreeing how to implement a modernisation plan, resumed this week with a target deadline of January 22. Failure to reach an agreement last year led to a two-week national strike.
A source close to talks said: “There’ll be an agreement or a breakdown” adding: “There’s progress being made but there are still fundamental issues to be resolved.” Another said: “If it isn’t done by [the end of January], we’re back in dispute mode.”
Independent chair Roger Poole, a former chair of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, is overseeing talks. Union officials said he was playing a positive role.
A CWU spokesperson said “lots of progress” was being made and dismissed strike talk as “speculative”.
