Committee publication · Correspondence · 15 April 2026
Letter from the Communication Workers Union relating to the Committee's letter of 27 March following the evidence session on Royal Mail, 13 April 2026
From: Business and Trade Committee
Inquiry: Royal Mail
Summary
The Communication Workers Union responds to the Business and Trade Committee's March inquiry on Royal Mail service quality. The CWU disputes Royal Mail's account of reform measures, citing unresolved disagreements on resourcing, staff retention through pay equalisation, workload assessment accuracy, and local decision-making. The union provides detailed evidence of management misconduct under the previous CEO, including the "It's Our Business to Run" strategy, and criticises Ofcom's regulatory approach as ineffective and unfairly punitive.
Key findings
- CWU and Royal Mail disagree fundamentally on reform steps: CWU demands resourcing stability, full pay/terms equalisation for new entrants (50% leave within first year), and localised decision-making; Royal Mail has not shared its quality improvement plan with the union.
- Royal Mail's 'Operational Contingency Prioritisation Guidance' diagram issued by Ricky McAulay systematically deprioritises Second Class and Downstream Access mail (majority of volume) in favour of parcels and tracked products, contradicting company claims of no systematic deprioritisation.
- Previous CEO leadership (2022–2023) implemented 'It's Our Business to Run' strategy designed to bypass union consultation; resulted in suspension/termination of over 200 CWU representatives; Lord Falconer review overturned 97% of ~135 dismissals and all ~100 suspensions, describing systematic union-busting.
- CWU supports government 'level playing field' intervention on employment status but argues Ofcom regulation is counterproductive: £21m fine could have funded 532 additional jobs; competitors like Amazon use unregulated delivery and avoid USO infrastructure costs while Royal Mail bears full network maintenance burden.
- CWU demands Ofcom utilise existing enforcement powers under Schedule 7 of Postal Services Act 2011 (binding operational directions on staffing/resources) rather than financial penalties; government should legislate to fine executives personally or link remuneration to USO delivery.
Tone
AdversarialTopics
Key actors
Communication Workers Union (CWU), Royal Mail / International Distribution Services (IDS), Ofcom, Ricky McAulay (Royal Mail operational manager), Simon Thompson (former Royal Mail CEO), EP Group (new owner), Lord Falconer (independent reviewer), Dave Ward (CWU General Secretary)
Notable line
“… service quality has never recovered from this point in 2022. An overtly aggressive attitude towards union representatives and members was also implemented.”
Key Quotes
“At the moment, the CWU and Royal Mail have significant differences regarding the steps necessary to bring Royal Mail up to standard and we are trying to address this, in finalising an overall agreement on USO reform.”
“A core difference is that the CWU continues to assert, in the strongest terms, that unless Royal Mail's resourcing issues are resolved and stabilised, there will continue to be problems with the service.”
“50% of new entrants leave Royal Mail within the first year.”
“This was blatant financial mismanagement of the company, a cash grab with disastrous consequences for the service and the workforce.”
“These were union-busting tactics that underpinned the "It's Our Business to Run" strategy, which denigrated the views of both the workforce and the recognised union and sought to remove our influence at all costs.”
“… of the approximately 135 cases of dismissal, over 97% of these were overturned. Of the over 100 cases of suspension or other detriment, all were overturned.”
“If Royal Mail had committed £21m to extra resource, instead of paying this as a penalty to the Treasury, it could have funded an additional 532 full-time equivalent Royal Mail jobs for one year.”
“Parcel courier workers are not self-employed people or contractors, they are being used as a cost-cutting tool by the likes of Amazon, under the guise of "flexibility".”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗