An estimated £10 billion pensions deficit needs to be underwritten, the CWU claims.

The future of the Royal Mail will remain uncertain unless the government agrees to underwrite the organisation's pension deficit, which is rumoured to be as much as £10 billion.

Talks have been taking place today between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Royal Mail bosses which are aimed at avoiding further national postal strikes scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

However, Dave Ward, deputy leader of the CWU, said Royal Mail's future will not be safe unless the pension deficit is resolved and the government steps in.

He said that, until those in power take care of the issue, the organisation faces uncertain times, something which may encourage people to use the services of alternative parcel delivery providers, such as Parcel2Go.com.

"We will deal with the issues around the industrial side of the Royal Mail but there are things that the government have to deal with. Unless we fund a solution to the pensions deficit very quickly then this company has no prospect of building a successful future," Mr Ward said.

Meanwhile, research by the London Chamber of Commerce has shown that the regional and national postal strikes have cost the capital more than £500 million in lost business.

Written by Sarah Gower


Article Added: 26/10/2009 16:27:57