| Performance Notes | There was planned strike action by postman and sorters to take place on the Thursday following this meeting. This was called off. The Union of Post Officer Workers accepted the proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to set up a committee of inquiry.
'Mr R Smith, the union general secretary, said last night it was hoped that the committee would complete its work in two or three weeks and negotiations would follow immediately. Any settlement would be backdated to January 1 this year. The union and the Post Office are committed to accept the ruling of the committee and, if the negotiations break down, to refer the dispute to the Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal.
Mr Smith obviously regards this as a victory for his union. Since the dispute began, he has been asking for an independent inquiry, while Mr Maudling and Mr Bevins have been insisting that any difference should be referred to the tribunal. On the other hand he had previously refused to bind his union in advance to accept any ruling...
...
UNION LEADER WINS APPLAUSE
If Mr R Smith, general secretary of the Union of Post Office Workers, could have heard the boos that greeted every mention of his name at the start of the postmen's victory rally last night in the Albert Hall, he might have stayed away longer than he did in addressing an overflow meeting in Central Hall, Westminster.
But when the 7000 postmen heard his explanation of the day's negotiations they gave him a standing ovation. Mr Smith convinced his audience that the union had won 80 per cent of its original demands.' (The Times 15 April 1964) |