Royal Mail has struck a deal with union leaders, bringing to an end a year-long dispute that has ground postal services to a halt.

In a letter to the 115,000 postal members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – signed off with an anti-Thatcherite slogan – union leaders claimed they had prevented Royal Mail from turning the business into a “gig economy employer”.

Staff will receive a 10pc pay rise across three years plus a £500 bonus lump sum.

Royal Mail has managed to obtain a key concession from the CWU with an agreement for staff to start work up to an hour later, meaning deliveries can be better spread out through the day.

Pushing starting and last delivery times back even further will restart next in March 2024. 

Although Royal Mail will still make around 10,000 redundancies, there will be no compulsory redundancies before April 2025.

The letter from CWU general secretary Dave Ward to union members was signed off “Yma O’Hyd” – a reference to Welsh language folk song by Dafydd Iwan that became synonymous with Welsh miners strikes against Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

The deal will now be put to a vote of CWU members. 

More to follow…