This is the sixth strike for postal workers, and comes after a summer of unrest which saw rail workers and criminal barristers walk out amid disputes with their employers. While the industrial action will be carried out by managers, the union warned postal staff might also refuse to work in unmanaged buildings. Unite claims the industrial action will “impact the postal and parcel service immediately across Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. The CWU rejected the offer describing the company’s plans as the “Uberisation” of the postal service.
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Unite said Royal Mail managers will take their contracted breaks, start and finish exactly on time and take their Acciones nio rest days, leaving no manager on site. Delays to key services such as next-day delivery and tracked items could potentially be impacted. Trade union Unite said the industrial action will impact the postal service across the UK “immediately”.
Royal Mail said it had offered workers a “deal worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years, which the CWU rejected”. “Postal workers won’t accept their living standards being hammered by bosses who are typical of business leaders today – overpaid, underqualified, out of their depth.” Dave Ward, CWU general secretary said there will now be a “small window” for talks to avoid walkouts before strike dates are set. The union has demanded Royal Mail group enters into negotiations to secure a “straight, no-strings pay increase for workers”. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) backed the action on Tuesday after ballot papers were sent out three weeks ago.
- The long-running dispute revolves around pay, jobs and conditions at the privately-owned firm.
- Letters will not be delivered and some parcels will be delayed, the Royal Mail has warned.
- Members of a second union have accepted a pay offer of either £1,292 or 3.6% for council staff.
- “Despite nearly three months of talks, the CWU have not engaged in any meaningful discussion on the changes we need to make to adapt,” a statement added.
- The plan was approved despite objections over increased flooding, sewage leak risks and traffic.
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“While bosses rake in £758m in profit and shareholders take £400m, workers are expected to take a serious real-terms pay cut,” he added. The company is encouraging people to post items as early as possible to avoid disruption. He described the plans as an “asset-stripping business plan” that will lead to the break-up of custom and enterprise software development company the company. This would effectively see employees in secure, well-paid jobs turned into a “casualised, financially-precarious workforce overnight”, said the union.
It said this included “the direct impact of eight days of industrial action” as well as lower volumes of parcels being posted. “In the event of industrial action, we have contingency plans to minimise customer disruption and will work to keep people, businesses and the country connected,” a statement said. No letters will be delivered during strike days, said Royal Mail, but as many special delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible would be delivered. It plans to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs through redundancies. Headcount will be scaled back by a further 4,000 through not replacing people when they leave, cutting temporary staff and reducing overtime. Royal Mail has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs by next August, blaming ongoing strike action and rising losses at the business.
The CWU has rejected the offer, saying it failed to match rising inflation, which is currently running at a 40-year high of nearly 10%. “It could have a huge how to create an app impact on our business especially at this time of year. Much of what we sell is gifts and obviously Christmas is a key gifting period for everybody.” Apart from the redundancies, the firm will cut roles through natural attrition, for example by not replacing workers who leave. Royal Mail says it has “well-developed contingency plans” but “cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce”.
Twenty-one days will be affected by the strikes, which the union says will have a “dramatic impact” on peak periods such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the run-up to Christmas. Around 115,000 staff are walking out over pay and conditions in what the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) says is the biggest national strike of any sector this year. “But those in charge of Royal Mail need to wake up and realise we won’t allow them to destroy the livelihoods of postal workers,” it said. The long-running dispute revolves around pay, jobs and conditions at the privately-owned firm. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said “the livelihoods of postal workers” were at stake. The action is on top of four days already announced for late November, around the Black Friday shopping weekend.
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“After industrial action takes place, we’ll be increasing our network capacity and using additional resources to assist with getting services back to normal,” says Royal Mail. However, given the close proximity to the other strikes and a build-up of delayed mail, disruption is still very likely and people are advised to post items well in advance if possible. Royal Mail says it’s “doing what we can” to keep services running but customers are warned of “significant disruption”.
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Any strike dates are yet to be decided but the CWU said if a walk out goes ahead, it could amount to the biggest ever action taken by its members. “Let’s be totally clear the company posted record profits back in April”. Letters will not be delivered and some parcels will be delayed, the Royal Mail has warned. Royal Mail said that if workers go ahead with further walk-outs “the loss for the full year would increase materially and may necessitate further operational restructuring and headcount reduction”. Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. “Network” staff walk out but delivery and collection staff should be working.
The card company Moonpig has advised customers to order early where possible but said its gifts and flowers use different delivery services so would be unaffected by the strikes. On strike days it will deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked 24 parcels as possible, it said. It will also prioritise the delivery of medical prescriptions where possible. The union representing the workers is demanding a pay rise that more closely reflects the current rate of inflation. Letters will not be delivered on strike days and some parcels will be delayed, Royal Mail warned. It is the first of four days of industrial action, with walk-outs also taking place on 31 August as well as 8 and 9 September.
More than 115,000 Royal Mail workers have voted to go on strike in a dispute over pay. Chairman Keith Williams has said that the firm is losing £1m a day as parcel volumes fall and efforts to modernise the business stall. A seven week strike was linked to an employment dispute between Unite and the local council.
“The CWU’s decision to choose damaging strike action over resolution regrettably increases the risk of further headcount reductions.” These walkouts are currently set to only involve delivery workers, so collections from postboxes and Post Offices should take place. Delivery staff are not yet involved on these days, so some people may still receive items. Tracked 24 mail, including medical prescription items and COVID tests, will also be prioritised but people are again warned to expect delays. The new strikes have been called for 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 December, the busiest time of the year for deliveries.
