Draft Deal Agreed By Royal Mail And Union

Postal workers and Royal Mail have agreed on a draft deal that could end the long-running strikes, according to Sky sources.

Negotiators from the Communication Workers' Union have been in talks with Royal Mail for weeks but it is thought some progress could now have been made which could lead to tomorrow's walk-out being cancelled.

The two sides have been locked in talks at the TUC headquarters but the 17 members of the CWU's executive committee will need to decide if the deal is acceptable or not.

Sky News' business correspondent Joel Hills said this development needs to be treated with caution.

However he said: "My understanding is that a form of words has been agreed and this does suggest that progress has been made in the last couple of days."

He added: "An announcement's expected this afternoon because the entire workforce is due to walk out again tomorrow."

Last week it was reported that the CWU and Royal Mail were close to an agreement but the talks unravelled and another set of strike dates were announced.

Joel said that even though this agreement could end the current dispute, "it is unlikely to end the ongoing problem that Royal Mail has which will need to be ironed out over a longer period".

The Communication Workers' Union is accusing Royal Mail of not being serious about reaching a settlement in a row over jobs, pay and modernisation.