Royal Mail strike: 115,000 postal workers begin strike

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.

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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“They should be focused on a resolution to this dispute for their members and the long-term health of the business, rather than damaging strike action,” it said.
It said plans by the postal service include cutting workers’ sick pay, delaying arrival of post by three hours and inferior terms for new employees.
Royal Mail has been attempting to make the company a “parcels-led” business as the number of letters being sent through the post declines and more people shop online.
It plans to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs through redundancies.

Industrial action will threaten the job security of postal workers, said Royal Mail, calling on the leaders of CWU to cancel the walk-out and accept invitations for talks. Royal Mail workers are holding the first of 19 strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. CWU members are striking over a pay deal Royal Mail offered earlier this year. As well as an additional 3.5% increase dependent on workers agreeing to certain conditions such as mandatory working on Sunday to deliver parcels. These are likely to be the days with the worst disruption as it involves delivery and collection staff, as well as those who sort parcels and letters. They also said there was “no grounds for industrial action” and accused Unite of putting out misleading claims over additional job losses to members.

Services

“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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“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 the company. This would effectively see employees in secure, well-paid jobs turned into a “casualised, financially-precarious workforce overnight”, said the union.

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.

Royal Mail postal workers vote to strike

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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.

This is the sixth strike for postal workers, and comes after a summer of unrest which saw rail workers and criminal limit order book visualisation 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.

“The CWU’s anyone uses autochartist from oanda 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.

Unite said Royal Mail grid trading strategy explained and simplified managers will take their contracted breaks, start and finish exactly on time and take their 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”.

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 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”.

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.