The main postal union was urged yesterday to accept a peace deal to end its long-running and increasingly bitter dispute with Royal Mail.

The Communication Workers Union meets this afternoon to decide whether to back a deal on pay, pensions and flexibility agreed late on Friday after days of talks at the TUC. Even if the union agrees the deal, Postwatch, the consumer watchdog, gave warning that services will not return to normal for at least a week. About

30 million letters and parcels are believed to be stuck in the postal service.

John Hutton, the Business Secretary, repeated calls made by himself and the Prime Minister that the union should end its action. But the deal could be rejected by the union’s postal executive after sources described the prospects of acceptance as 50-50. If it is recommended, it must still go to a vote of 130,000 workers.

Even if the dispute is resolved, Labour could pay the price for the pressure from the Government to end the dispute. Union sources said there would be strong calls for disaffiliation from Labour at next year’s conference. The union has been offered a 6.7 per cent pay increase over two years, an improvement on the 2.5 per cent rise previously on the table. It has also forced Royal Mail to back down on plans to end the final-salary pension scheme for all employees and instead close it only to new recruits.

On working flexibility it is believed that work patterns will now be decided locally. Royal Mail had complained that there were too many practices that enabled employees to be paid for time they hadn’t worked. Devolving work patterns to local levels could trigger regional clashes if local unions do not accept different shift patterns.

Fresh strikes had been planned for today and tomorrow at mail centres and among delivery workers, but on Friday Royal Mail won an injunction at the High Court.

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