British union to decide on deal to end mail strike

LONDON - British union leaders are to meet on Monday to decide whether to recommend a deal to end a postal dispute that has left 60 million items of mail undelivered.

Business and Enterprise Secretary John Hutton urged the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) executive to accept a deal agreed in principle with bosses from state-owned Royal Mail last Friday.

If it does, the agreement on pay, working conditions and pensions will be put to a vote of the CWU's 130,000 members.

Hutton said he hoped the deal would be ratified, adding "there's no justification for this industrial action continuing".

He told BBC One's "The Andrew Marr Show" on Sunday: "I think there is a sensible deal that's been hammered out, and I think everyone is just hoping that now the union will support this on Monday, and the members too when they're balloted will, will say 'yes, OK, let's get on with the future now'."

Royal Mail is fighting private competition from rivals after losing its 350-year monopoly on postal services last year.

Recent 48-hour stoppages have caused delays and disruption, particularly to firms dependent on mail order business.

The strikes are estimated to have cost Royal Mail millions of pounds. Hutton said it was likely that some business has been lost temporarily, but he hoped it could be recovered.

The details of the agreement reached between CWU leaders and Royal Mail management have not been disclosed at this stage.

Royal Mail said in a statement over the weekend: "We will deal with all mail in the order in which we received it, and will reinstate all service guarantees and promises as soon as we are able to honour them."

The agreement in principle came hours after the Royal Mail won an injunction at London's High Court outlawing a new wave of scheduled strikes.

But it did not prevent wildcat strikes taking place across the country on Saturday.

Royal Mail Chief Executive Adam Crozier said the company desperately needs to modernise to compete and that staff should be more flexible.

Union chiefs said that some working practices at Royal Mail amount to slavery.