London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Royal Mail talks over pay on brink of collapse

Royal Mail talks over pay on brink of collapse

Talks to resolve a long-running row with Royal Mail staff over pay and conditions are close to collapse.

Discussions are "precarious" and in their "last throes", with the next 24-48 hours key to settling the dispute, a source close to the talks said.

The Royal Mail board is reported as threatening to put the firm into administration if a deal is not done.

The BBC understands that there may be movement on the current pay offer to unions to try and resolve the issues.

"Administration is a real possibility for Royal Mail if the industrial action continues. It is not a negotiating ploy," the source told the BBC.

A separate source said that Royal Mail is in "uncharted territory" in terms of what would happen if it went into administration, but the unprofitable letter delivery part of the business would likely have to be split from the parcel delivery part.

A Royal Mail spokesman said the firm is "doing all we can" to resolve the dispute, and that the firm is "committed to getting the right deal".

But he said the firm has been "very clear about the damaging impact of strike action".

A CWU spokesman said it was "clear" that Royal Mail Group are in a "serious financial situation", but that this was due to "mismanagement and recklessness at the most senior level of the company".

"There is no positive future for Royal Mail without the support of the workforce," he added.

The government would have to approve a move into administration.

This could mean Royal Mail, including Parcelforce, is declared insolvent.

The dispute is not just over pay. Royal Mail is also trying to make changes to the way postal staff do their jobs including changes to start times and sick pay.

The long-running dispute has seen workers and management at loggerheads, leading to industrial action including a strike over Christmas, with further possible strikes.

The company has been beset by recent problems, including the prospect of further strikes, and a cyber attack which disrupted overseas mail.


'Crunch point'


Royal Mail has said it is losing £1m a day and that it is projected to lose more than £350m for the financial year ending in April.

It has said the strikes have cost the company £200m in lost business and in covering striking staff.

Talks between the company and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) have been ongoing since the end of last year.

In the past few days, Sir Brendan Barber, the former head of the TUC and ex-chair of conciliation service Acas, has been brought in to help facilitate the talks.

There is currently a pay offer of 9% over two years starting in April, including a 2% offer for 2022/23.

The business says modernisation is essential if the company is to improve its parcel delivery service.

The firm has been trying to move away from letter delivery, which it has said is unprofitable, but it is obliged to deliver letters to all parts of the UK.

The CWU has previously said that Royal Mail's management was trying to "casualise" the postal service and that they "want to turn it into an Uber-style employer".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×