Royal Mail pensions future a cause for concern, says Unite

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Today’s (Thursday 5 January) announcement that the Royal Mail has started a consultation process on the future of its pension plan is ‘a matter of concern’, Unite, the country’s largest union, said.

The Royal Mail said it was consulting with the trade unions about the future of the plan from April 2018.

Unite officer for the Royal Mail Brian Scott said: “This is a cause for concern to Unite and we will be looking to mitigate the impact of any proposed changes during and after the consultation process.

“We will also be strongly encouraging our members to participate in the consultation process.

“The consultation is complex and the company needs to ensure that its employees, our members, clearly understand the potential impact on them, and the reasons and justification for the proposed changes.

“It is too early to make any pronouncements on industrial action, but if the company does not respond positively on this and other issues we cannot rule this out.”

The company statement said: “The member-wide consultation phase will end on 10 March 2017. No decisions will be made until the consultation process is completed, Royal Mail has considered members' views and discussed responses with its unions as part of the pension review process.”

Unite has about 6,000 members working for the Royal Mail that is now a privately-owned company, following its controversial sell-off by the coalition government after five centuries of state ownership.