Delivery of postal backlog to begin

Up to 130,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will start returning to work at 3am on Wednesday after another bout of industrial action which has crippled services for almost a week.

Union leaders will meet on Wednesday to review the dispute, which developed into a war of words after Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier accused the CWU of talking "cobblers".

He disputed claims by the union about working practices in the postal organisation, especially a statement by deputy general secretary Dave Ward accusing the company of "slavery" over the way it makes its staff work. Mr Crozier described the claims as "cobblers" and said the Royal Mail was only trying to make people work the hours for which they were paid.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement on pay and pensions, leaving flexibility as the outstanding issue. Mr Crozier said: "I doubt there is a company out there that does not ask its people to work all the hours they are paid for. For the union not to accept that is not a tenable position."

Mr Crozier claimed there were 1,442 so-called "Spanish practices" in the Royal Mail a few years ago which had been cut to 92. He said: "You cannot have that situation in the modern world. These are practices that went out in the 1970s in practically every other company."

He claimed one example was that postal staff asked for overtime if they finished two hours early and were requested to do other duties to complete their shift. "All we are asking is that people work the 37 hours 20 minutes for which they are paid. If they work longer than that, of course they will receive overtime."

Mr Crozier said Royal Mail staff were paid 25% more than workers in rival post firms. He said other companies in the business were 40% more efficient, which is why the Royal Mail wanted a long-term solution to the current dispute to help it compete more effectively.

Mr Ward responded: "What Royal Mail has got at the moment is a dedicated, hard-working and flexible workforce. To get their work done within their hours, postal workers are carrying more mail than they should, not taking their breaks, and using their own cars to take mail out on deliveries. This all ensures flexibility for Royal Mail."

The union has announced a series of rolling strikes involving different parts of the service from next Monday after talks aimed at resolving the row ended without agreement on Monday night.