Royal Mail Statement On Next steps for Universal Service reform – our path to reaching agreement

Today we have informed the Communication Workers Union (CWU) that we will move discussions regarding deployment of Universal Service reform into our Achieving National Agreement Procedure in an effort to reach agreement.

Universal Service reform is essential for our future and any further delay in deploying the changes threatens our financial resilience, particularly at a time of significantly increased costs for Royal Mail.

The Pay Agreement that we reached last year assumed that full agreement between Royal Mail and CWU on the approach to implementation of the USO reform required would be achieved by no later than 18 July 2025.

Six months past this deadline, we have unfortunately not reached an agreed position. The CWU has chosen to link an agreement on Universal Service reform deployment to ongoing discussions regarding new joiners’ terms. But these are separate topics, and the CWU’s current proposals for new joiners are simply unaffordable, particularly in light of the cost of Universal Service reform delays.

We want to deploy reform in collaboration with CWU, but the ongoing delay is costing us money and means we can’t realise the necessary savings. If we don’t deploy the changes soon, we risk undoing all our hard work getting the company back in the black last year, as well as jeopardising the future sustainability of the business and our obligation as the Universal Service provider.

We simply cannot afford to wait any longer.

The Achieving National Agreement Procedure (also known as the Dispute Resolution Process) was set up for exactly this sort of situation. It provides a framework to have focused and meaningful discussions so that we can reach an agreement as quickly as possible.

The process will last for a calendar month, and we expect to be in talks from next week.

Both EP Group and Royal Mail remain committed to securing a strong and successful future for our business where we deliver for both colleagues and customers. Separately, we continue to discuss potential options with the CWU that would ensure all colleagues can share in Royal Mail’s future success and benefit from new earning opportunities. We hope to share more details soon.

We want to reach agreement as soon as possible and will keep you updated as our discussions progress over the coming weeks.

Alistair Cochrane Stephenson

Chief Executive Officer

Royal Mail

Jamie Stephenson

Chief Operating Officer

Royal Mail