STRIKING Post Office workers are set to vote on whether to accept a substantial pay boost after their “bravery and determination” won new concessions from bosses, their union has announced.

The latest deal includes a permanent 9 per cent wage increase from next month, significant one-off payments and a “wide array of additional benefits,” the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said on Saturday.

A two-week ballot on whether to accept the package, which comes after nearly a year of industrial action by the state-run firm’s workforce following a pay freeze last spring, is set to open early this week, it confirmed. 

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “This deal simply would not have happened without the bravery shown by striking Post Office workers all through last year.

“Without their clear determination, this dispute couldn’t have moved on to where we are now.

“They should be proud of themselves and I hope they let their voices be heard in this upcoming ballot.”

The offer includes lump-sum payments of between £1,925 and £3,000, an increase in fully paid paternity leave and parental bereavement leave from two to three weeks and a boost to the night duty allowance for supply chain workers, according to the union.

The agreement, which was unanimously endorsed by the CWU’s postal executive, follows a series of eight strikes and various other forms of industrial action between May and December 2022, which led to stoppages at all 114 larger stores — known as crown post offices — and huge disruption across supply chains.

This dispute is unrelated to bitter industrial action at privatised Royal Mail, where intermittent walkouts over jobs, pay and working conditions, launched in August last year, are ongoing.