Leeds No1 Amalgamated Branch of the Communication Workers Union

24/05/2026

The gig economy in parcel delivery is largely unregulated. There are no minimum standards for how courier companies treat workers, no requirements around pay or conditions, and no regulator with the power or mandate to intervene.

The Business and Trade Select Committee now wants that to change.

In its new report, The Regulation of Postal Services, the committee has put two specific mechanisms on the table:

A levy on rival operators, to reflect the benefit they get from Royal Mail's universal service network. Companies like Amazon cherry-pick profitable urban routes but rely on Royal Mail to deliver to the areas they won't touch.

The CWU told the committee that competitors "free-ride" on that infrastructure, and the current wholesale pricing "is nowhere near enough to cover the losses." A levy would force them to contribute to the network they depend on.

The second is minimum employment standards across the sector, covering both consumer service and worker conditions.

Royal Mail's owner Daniel Křetínský told MPs that Royal Mail's labour costs are double those of competitors using gig economy models. The committee is now explicitly saying that undercutting through self-employment structures shouldn't be a competitive advantage.

This isn't legislation yet.

But it's a select committee putting specific policy tools on record and giving the Government a six-month window to act. If Ofcom doesn't deliver, these are the options the Secretary of State has been told to bring back to the committee.

14/05/2026

FYI

11/05/2026

The political officer for the Leeds No1 Amalgamated Branch of the Communication Workers Union and Political Lead Asghar Khan spoke at The Communication Workers Union conference to oppose motion 45 which sought to disaffiliate from the Labour Party. After much careful consideration our union has voted to remain affiliated to the Labour party.🌹photo courtesy of Joanne Shaftoee 😊

11/05/2026

01/05/2026

Everything You Need to Know About The Royal Mail Ballot | CWU LIVE with Dave Ward & Martin Walsh

27/04/2026

This is excellent news!

BREAKING: UNISON WIN!

Workers at the National Coal Mining Museum have accepted a significantly improved pay offer.

It brings the strike, which began in August, to an end.

Read more 👉 unsn.uk/NCMMwin

27/04/2026

Our Branch works with the organising committee for With Banners Held High and promote as much as we can for the CWU.

One long standing policy that the CWU was at the heart of was the Employment Rights Act, that became law recently. The WBHH committee have scheduled a fringe session at the NUM hq in Barnsley. We are also streaming the event via our page. Tune in from 6pm tonight or afterwards on catch up on our YouTube channel to learn how the ERA will change workers rights for the better!

https://www.youtube.com/live/aK218BsN0lI?si=DfRu0C_1Hcv2lRwn

14/04/2026

We have long challenged the use of AI. It is outrageous how the Reform Party are using it and when it’s called out, it is unacceptable to mount personal attacks at the local candidates. One of the candidates is our own Branch Secretary, Scott Haslam.

Regardless of your personal political views, our Branch asks you comment on the original post with words of support for Scott and his colleagues. Our members are amongst the most respected public facing people in the UK. We deliver democracy, and these people need to be shown we support our own.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1429945145840613&id=100064754226288

13/04/2026

RESOLUTION OF RMG & CWU DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESSES -
DEPLOYMENT OF USO REFORM AND EQUALISATION OF NEW ENTRANTS’ PAY,
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Negotiations continued over the weekend, and we are pleased to announce that we have
today reached a negotiators’ agreement on both Dispute Resolution Processes relating to
the deployment model for USO reform and the equalisation of new entrants’ pay, terms
and conditions.
The agreement, along with the USO deployment annex, will now be considered by the
Postal Executive. A further update will be communicated at some point tomorrow.
Please see below a joint statement issued by the business and CWU announcing the
news.
Royal Mail and CWU reach negotiators agreement on Universal Service reform and
new entrants’ pay, terms and conditions
Dear Colleague,
Further to our previous communication, we are pleased to announce that Royal Mail and
the CWU have reached a negotiators agreement covering deployment of Universal
Service reform and equalisation of new entrants’ pay, terms and conditions.
This will now go to the Postal Executive Committee and IDS Board on Monday afternoon.
We will provide a further update by close of play tomorrow.
Thank you for your patience as the negotiations took place. It was important that both
parties took the time to get this right in the interests of employees, customers and the
company.
Alistair Cochrane Martin Walsh
Chief Executive Officer, Royal Mail Deputy General Secretary, CWU