The CWU Postal Executive has rejected the PFSL pay offer as being inadequate as it doesn’t match the Real Living Wage for our Cleaning Members and it doesn’t make any progress on key policies including the critical issue of Pensions. Consequently, the Postal Executive has determined that we should engage with the members in a Consultative Ballot.
The Consultative Ballot will have the following 2 questions:
Do you support the CWU rejection of the PFSL pay offer?
Do you support the CWU policy for PFSL members to join the Collective Plan pension scheme?
We need all members to participate in the consultative ballot and we need members, for their own benefit, to vote YES & YES to send a strong signal to PFSL/Royal Mail management that we are not prepared to accept half measures and poor pay, and pensions.
Click the drop down sections below to find out more information. Check back regularly for further updates as the campaign develops.
Ballot Timetable
Ballot papers despatched – Thursday 12th November
Ballot closes and results declared – Friday 27th November
The two questions on the ballot paper are:
Do you support CWU’s rejection of PFSL’s inadequate pay offer?
Do you support the CWU’s policy for all PFSL members to be able to join the Royal Mail Collective Plan pension scheme?
Why YES & YES?
Delivering two massive YES votes, with a great turnout, will place pressure on PFSL/Royal Mail to return to negotiations with a better offer, and potentially a plan for pension equality and fairness.
Negotiations Thus Far
Real Living Wage – we have rejected £13.38 per hour for Cleaners, as this is 7p shy per hour of the Real Living Wage, which is £13.45. PFSL/Royal Mail can easily afford 7p extra for all Cleaners. Clearly, the attempt to not pay the Real Living Wage is a decision to move away from previous arrangements now and in the future, and if we were to give up on this principle on this occasion, we will struggle to match the Real Living Wage in future years.
Pensions – unfortunately we have made no progress on the issue of equity for pensions, which means that PFSL members are 2nd class citizens in comparison to all other Royal Mail employees. This is unfair as our PFSL members are losing out on the Employer contribution of 13.6%.
Real Living Wage for Cleaners £13.45 versus PFSL offer of £13.38
The Living Wage Foundation announced last month the new hourly pay rate of £14.10 for 2027. Our key objective will be to ensure Cleaners receive the £14.10 hourly pay rate from April 2027. If we don’t secure £13.45 per hour for this year, we won’t get anywhere near the new £14.10 Real Living Wage rate for 2027 and the difference will quickly be greater than 7p per hour.
Collective Plan 13.6% Employer Contribution versus current Pension arrangements
PFSL currently pays just 4%, 5% or 7% into the pension schemes that are in place for PFSL members. This figure will depend on whether PFSL members are in the NEST scheme or the L&G DC scheme and which Tier they are in. Whereas, all other employees of Royal Mail, including all managers, receive the benefit of 13.6% of their salary being paid into the Collective Plan by Royal Mail.
These arrangements are grossly unfair and will disadvantage PFSL members significantly in the long term and will mean that many members won’t be able to afford to retire and will have to work until they die. The current arrangements will definitely create pensioner poverty, especially for the lowest paid members across the Cleaning grades. All we are seeking is equalisation and fairness by ensuring that PFSL members are treated exactly the same as everyone else across Royal Mail.
Pay for Engineers
The 3% pay offer for Engineers is broadly acceptable as it matches the 3% achieved for all other grades across Royal Mail. However, we need to ensure the 3% flows through to the call-out allowance and all other allowances and overtime rates.
£200 Christmas Bonuses
The majority of operational grades in Royal Mail receive £200 Christmas bonuses and it is high time that our Cleaning and Engineering members received this benefit as well. Everyone needs extra money at Christmas time and why should Cleaners and Engineers be disadvantaged in comparison to other Operational grades.
Priority: Two Year Pay Agreement
Our primary objective is to conclude a pay agreement for 2026 as soon as possible. However, because we are now in November, and it has taken us over seven months to get to this position, bearing in mind the union lodged the pay claim back in March, an option is to reach a two-year Pay Agreement to include the pay increase from April 2027. PFSL members have waited long enough for this year’s Agreement; therefore, we want to get in front of this situation by addressing next year’s Pay Agreement in one package. This will provide certainty for our PFSL members as we approach 2027.
Next Steps
Members voting YES & YES in this consultative ballot, this will enable us to return to negotiations with the strong voice of our members behind us. This will demonstrate that PFSL members are not prepared to be treated in an inferior way to all other Royal Mail employees.
By voting YES & YES, PFSL/Royal Mail management will have to sit up and listen and take onboard the legitimate concerns of our PFSL members and they won’t be able to ignore two massive YES votes.
Further to LTB 304/26 dated 3rd November. Branches who were at the National Briefing in Bristol yesterday will be aware that I gave an update on the current situation in regard to our claim for Pay and Pension equality for our PFSL members. I encouraged Branches to engage directly with our PFSL members and particularly Cleaners in Delivery Offices,…
Further to LTB 304/26 dated 3rd November. Branches who were at the National Briefing in Bristol yesterday will be aware that I gave an update on the current situation in regard to our claim for Pay and Pension equality for our PFSL members. I encouraged Branches to engage directly with our PFSL members and particularly Cleaners in Delivery Offices, Parcel Depots, Distribution Units and Mail Centres etc.
Branches are reminded that the Consultative Ballot papers will be despatched on Thursday, 12th November, and approximately 75% of our PFSL members will receive the ballot paper that day via email. The remainder will receive a postal ballot. Therefore, Branches are urged to directly engage with our PFSL members in the coming days, to explain the importance of voting Yes & Yes in the Consultative Ballot.
The Consultative Ballot provides PFSL members with an opportunity to have their say and for their voice to be heard by management. It is imperative that all PFSL members are spoken to about our campaign and this also requires Unit Reps in Delivery Offices to speak with Cleaning members. To help in this regard, attached is a leaflet / poster explaining our policies and objectives for the Consultative Ballot.
Online Members’ Meeting – Wednesday 11th November
Branches are also advised that we are arranging for a PFSL members’ online meeting for Wednesday 11th November from 4.30pm – 6pm. A Teams link for this meeting will be provided nearer the time. Branches are asked to encourage their PFSL members to join this meeting to hear first-hand what has transpired during the negotiations and why we have reached a position whereby the Consultative Ballot is necessary. The online meeting will also enable our PFSL members to ask questions.
Please ensure full support is given to our PFSL members to deliver the Yes & Yes vote.
Royal Mail: PFSL Pay Negotiations – Consultative Ballot Timetable
Further to LTB 282/26 dated 23rd October. Branches will be aware we recently held two negotiating meetings with PFSL/Royal Mail, which concluded without an Agreement. As a consequence, we registered a Dispute Resolution Procedure (DRP) in line with the PFSL IR Framework Agreement. As a result, the Postal Executive has decided to undertake the Consultative Ballot (previously paused), with…
Further to LTB 282/26 dated 23rd October. Branches will be aware we recently held two negotiating meetings with PFSL/Royal Mail, which concluded without an Agreement. As a consequence, we registered a Dispute Resolution Procedure (DRP) in line with the PFSL IR Framework Agreement. As a result, the Postal Executive has decided to undertake the Consultative Ballot (previously paused), with the following timetable:
Ballot papers despatched – Thursday 12th November
Ballot closes and results declared – Friday 27th November
The two questions on the ballot paper are:
Do you support CWU’s rejection of PFSL’s inadequate pay offer?
Do you support the CWU’s policy for all PFSL members to be able to join the Royal Mail Collective Plan pension scheme?
The Ballot will be undertaken on the basis of a mix between postal and online ballot papers (we have 75% of members’ private email addresses). The two ballot questions are necessary due to our policy of seeking pension reform and fairness with PFSL members being able to join the Collective Plan. Royal Mail’s continued resistance to this position is detrimental to our PFSL members, who deserve to be treated with more respect. Equally, the failure of Royal Mail to at least match the Real Living Wage (RLW) is a retrograde position, bearing in mind that the Living Wage Foundation announced last month that the new RLW hourly pay rate is £14.10.
We will now renew our campaign to engage directly with the PFSL members, urging them to vote Yes & Yes and Branches are encouraged to do everything possible to rally the PFSL members behind our strategy.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
Royal Mail: PFSL Pay Negotiations – Impasse Reached
Further to our previous update.
Branches are advised that two negotiating meetings with PFSL management and the Senior IR team were held on Thursday 15th and Tuesday 20th October. The first meeting was broadly exploratory. We had hoped the second meeting would be more productive, and whilst there was an indication that there was potentially scope…
Further to our previous update.
Branches are advised that two negotiating meetings with PFSL management and the Senior IR team were held on Thursday 15th and Tuesday 20th October. The first meeting was broadly exploratory. We had hoped the second meeting would be more productive, and whilst there was an indication that there was potentially scope for marginal improvements around the edges of the rejected offer, it quickly became apparent that progress in a number of key areas, such as pensions, was unfortunately not possible, and therefore we were not able to reach an Agreement.
To all intents and purposes, an impasse had been reached; however, it was agreed we would reflect on where we had arrived at. Disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, Royal Mail have today confirmed there is currently no ability for them to improve the offer to an extent where we believe an Agreement would be possible. Essentially, we have now broken down and there are no further talks planned.
The Postal Executive is due to meet on Tuesday 27th October, and the intention is to review our position and determine next steps, which could include the Union formally instigating the Dispute Resolution Process via the PFSL IR Framework. Following the Postal Executive meeting, we plan to meet with our Senior Representatives for both Cleaning and Engineering grades at the earliest opportunity to discuss our strategy, which may also include re-activating the plans for a consultative ballot of members.
Branches are asked to share this update with PFSL members and also to thank them once again for their patience, whilst reassuring them that the Union is seeking to secure the best possible deal that fully recognises the value of our PFSL members’ contribution to Royal Mail Group.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
PFSL Pay & Pensions Negotiations
Two negotiating meetings have been held – Thurs 15th & yesterday Tues 20th Oct. Whilst it is fair to say some progress has been made the meetings haven’t been as productive as we would have hoped for.
RM will hopefully reflect on how the meeting ended as they have agreed to formally put a revised offer in writing. Once received…
Two negotiating meetings have been held – Thurs 15th & yesterday Tues 20th Oct. Whilst it is fair to say some progress has been made the meetings haven’t been as productive as we would have hoped for.
RM will hopefully reflect on how the meeting ended as they have agreed to formally put a revised offer in writing. Once received our Postal Executive will carefully consider if the progress made is sufficient or whether we enter a formal Disagreement Procedure and escalate the matter to higher authorities within Royal Mail.
The Postal Executive are due to meet on Tuesday 27th October. Thereafter we will plan to meet with your Senior Representatives asap to discuss next steps.
The negotiating team would like to thank all members for your patience and reassure you we are doing everything we can to get the best deal possible and further developments will be reported.
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
Recommencement of PFSL Pay Negotiations
Both CWU and Royal Mail have kept open the communication channels in respect of the negotiations for PFSL pay and associated matters. As a consequence of these informal conversations, both parties have agreed to recommence negotiations on a without prejudice basis. Obviously, we welcome the opportunity to have further dialogue to explore if a resolution can be found,…
Both CWU and Royal Mail have kept open the communication channels in respect of the negotiations for PFSL pay and associated matters. As a consequence of these informal conversations, both parties have agreed to recommence negotiations on a without prejudice basis. Obviously, we welcome the opportunity to have further dialogue to explore if a resolution can be found, and a meeting has been arranged for this Thursday 15th October.
There is a collective recognition that you have been waiting patiently for a pay agreement from 1st April and we would like to thank you for your patience and support. However, due to the recommencement of negotiations, we have taken the decision to pause the consultative ballot that the Postal Executive was planning in respect of our agenda for both pay and pensions. Whilst we remain hopeful of making progress in these new talks, if it transpires that the fresh talks do not enable us to find a way forward, the consultative ballot will be conducted as soon as possible thereafter.
Like me, I’m sure you will welcome the new talks, and I will update you on any meaningful developments.
Thank you for your support in this important matter.
Andy Furey
Member Communications
Today, we have written to PFSL cleaning members and PFSL engineering members via email with further updates. Please see below:
If you are an affected member and did not receive an email, please contact membership@cwu.org to add your email address to your membership record and ensure you receive future communications.
Today, we have written to PFSL cleaning members and PFSL engineering members via email with further updates. Please see below:
If you are an affected member and did not receive an email, please contact membership@cwu.org to add your email address to your membership record and ensure you receive future communications.
Click the drop down sections below to find out more information. Check back regularly for further updates as the campaign develops.
