Post chiefs in 'fat cat' pay row
POSTAL group Consignia was embroiled in a 'fat cat' pay row on Sunday night after it emerged that its chief executive is likely to receive a 10% pay hike. The rise for John Roberts comes at a time when the company is losing £1.5m a day and faces a possible pay strike by postal workers who have been offered 2.8%.
Consignia, formerly known as the Post Office, is seeking to cut costs and lose 30,000 jobs. It has admitted that it missed all its service targets from last April to December, and last week it signalled a future without a second postal delivery.
Despite all this, generous pay rises are in the pipeline for Roberts and Jerry Cope, the head of mail services. Roberts earned £216,034 last year, including benefits, while Cope was paid £149,659.
'The broad strokes of the rise are true but nothing has been implemented yet,' said a company spokesman. Acting chairman Allan Leighton is thought to oppose the rises but they have been approved by the Department of Trade and Industry.
Conservative spokesman Nigel Waterstone said: 'It is bizarre to reward failure like this. It is insensitive and provocative for the Post Office workers while their pay negotiations are going on.'
