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"The CWU believes Royal Mail should be in public hands," Dave Ward, the CWU's general secretary, told the BBC in June.

But during negotiations, union representatives secured a series of time-limited commitments from him, including guarantees that he will protect Royal Mail's pension surplus, that there will be no compulsory redundancies for two years, no sell-off or break-up of any operational part of the existing company and no outsourcing of grades represented by the CWU.

Mr Kretinsky also agreed to restrictions on moving dividends out of Royal Mail Group and to respect agreements with and recognition of the CWU.

The Safe Sick Pay campaign co-ordinated the letter, with signatories including the leaders of the civil service union, the PCS; the teaching union, the NEU; the Bakers' Union, and the postal union, the CWU.

A spokesperson for the CWU said its meetings so far with the EP Group have been "honest and constructive and are set to continue in the coming days."