Seven day strike at City Link called off

The RMT union has called off a week-long strike at City Link after the parcel carrier applied for an injunction at the High Court.

Nearly 800 staff had planned to strike for seven days beginning Tuesday 24 September over pay, conditions and alleged changes to contracts, following a ballot which closed on 3 September. The RMT has now withdrawn its notification to strike after the threat of legal action.

City Link said it believed the ballot, which saw 157 drivers and 91 warehouse staff vote to strike, was “fundamentally flawed” and considered any strike action as a result would be illegal.

City Link’s HR director, Scott Maynard, said: " We are pleased that the RMT have called off next week’s driver strike. This is the right outcome for our customers and our colleagues. At the heart of this dispute have been our efforts to make pay and conditions fair for all our front line colleagues and we remain entirely convinced that this is the right thing to do."

Earlier this week, the union claimed that since business turnaround firm Better Capital bought the loss-making parcel carrier for £1 earlier this year, staff face pay cuts of up to £4,000, enforced overtime and the removal of a bonus scheme.

Maynard admitted that employees doing the same job in different depots are getting paid different wages, but said it was “a legacy that the current management team has inherited” which it considers “fundamentally unfair”.

"Our approach has always been to ensure that the views of all City Link colleagues are heard, respected and where appropriate reflected in our plans and we will, of course, continue to do this," he said.

City Link said RMT members represent just 12% of its workforce and believes that only half the union’s membership voted in the ballot.

The strike was expected affect its sites in Portsmouth, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Coventry, Chelmsford, Heathrow, Warrington, Guildford and Basingstoke.