Royal Mail and CWU in talks over working conditions charter

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/16/royal-mail-cwu-talks-working-conditions-charter

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Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have started talks on a company charter to enshrine their post-privatisation agreement over working conditions for more than 100,000 workers so that the terms can only be overturned by a vote of the company's shareholders.

The two sides had initial talks on the charter last Monday after CWU members voted this month to ratify their industrial relations deal, drawn up to end years of strife. The union has made it clear that it wants Royal Mail shareholders to agree the charter.

Royal Mail and the CWU aim to complete the charter by June, ahead of its first annual general meeting as a private company later in the summer. Ratification by shareholders would lock Royal Mail into the agreement beyond its five-year term unless investors chose to overturn the charter at a later date.

The charter was mentioned briefly in the legal agreement announced in December, but Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said its importance had been overlooked and that it was a key element of the deal, agreed by 94% of CWU members who took part in a vote announced on 5 February.

"For me it's about setting out very clearly what the values and principles are of this company. We want it to demonstrate that we are up for growth, innovation and change but on the basis of the highest possible employment standards and service levels," Ward said.

In addition to agreements on pay and pensions, the union secured undertakings from Royal Mail on workers' contracts, keeping the company's universal service and other subjects it wanted agreed under privatisation. In return, the CWU agreed to industrial relations procedures designed to bring in mediators early and stop local strikes getting out of hand.

The government sold a 60% stake in Royal Mail to investors in October and will dispose of the rest in the coming years. The union opposed privatisation and warned of a "race to the bottom" if the City and management conspired to squeeze the workforce to boost their own rewards.

The union wants to cement an abiding set of principles to prevent new management imposing harsher conditions after the current deal expires. It also wants to guard against new investors such as hedge funds putting pressure on management to take on the union once the government's remaining stake is sold.

Nick Bacon, professor of human resource management at Cass Business School, said: "It's a great idea because at the heart of all good industrial relations are shared values and behaviours. It's certainly unusual in the private sector.

"The main downside for managers is it gives the union a set of values they can throw back at you and to tie you in to a particular type of process. In some situations managers may think they need to act more quickly and be more decisive."

The two sides will lock horns over how specific the charter's terms will be. The vote to shareholders is not yet agreed but the union has made it clear that is what it wants.

Royal Mail said: "We are commencing the process of developing a company charter, with the CWU's input. It will set out the values and principles Royal Mail Group stands for." The company did not comment on whether the charter would be put to shareholders.