As thousands of Royal Mail workers walk out from their positions today (October 13), there are many more days of strikes planned across the entire company - impacting post deliveries UK-wide.
Picket lines were mounted outside delivery and sorting offices once again on Thursday, in a continuing dispute over pay and working conditions. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are taking part in a 24-hour walkout today, and many more days across the coming months.
So, if you are expecting deliveries in time for Christmas across the next few weeks, there are a few dates you should be aware of, due to industrial action. Read below for more information.
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Why are Royal Mail workers striking?
The Royal Mail workers are planning a plethora of strike days in a dispute over pay and working conditions. The union accuses the company of planning structural changes, which would in effect transform employees in secure, well-paid jobs into a “casualised, financially precarious workforce overnight."
The general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “Postal workers face the biggest ever assault on their jobs, terms, and conditions in the history of Royal Mail. The public and businesses also face the end of daily deliveries and the destruction of the special relationship that postal workers and the public have in every community in the UK.
“It is insulting the intelligence of every postal worker for the Royal Mail chief executive, Simon Thompson, to claim that their change agenda is ‘modernisation’. It is nothing more than an asset-stripping business plan that will see the breakup of the company and the end of Royal Mail as a major contributor to the UK economy.
“Royal Mail Group claims to be losing £1m a day. The CWU believes these figures need to be scrutinised.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Three weeks ago, Royal Mail invited the CWU to enter talks through Acas to find a resolution to our change and pay dispute. We have not reached an agreement with the CWU on this request.
"Royal Mail is losing £1m a day and must change faster in response to changing customer demands. The CWU leadership’s choice of damaging strike action over resolution is weakening the financial position of the company and threatening the job security of our postmen and women.
“We call on the CWU leaders to cancel their planned strike action and accept our invitation to enter talks through Acas without further delay. We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU’s continued strike action will cause. We are doing all we can to minimise any delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
What days are the workers planning industrial action?
CWU members have planned 19 days of industrial action taking place throughout October, November and December 2022. Four days of widespread action involving all CWU workers, estimated to be around 115,000, have been organised.
The 24-hour walk-outs, starting from 4am, are on these dates:
- Thursday October 13 (today)
- Thursday October 20
- Tuesday October 25
- Monday November 28
Smaller groups of workers and teams will be striking on other days throughout the coming months. These include:
- Processing, distribution, international, collections and admin workers: Thursday November 3, Wednesday November 9, Tuesday November 15, Thursday November 24 and Thursday December 1
- Delivery workers: Friday November 4, Thursday November 10, Wednesday November 16, Friday November 25, and Friday December 2
- Network workers: Wednesday November 2, Tuesday November 8, Monday November 14, Wednesday November 23 and Wednesday November 30
The CWU have said that the strikes will have a "dramatic impact", and will be covering peak mail periods, such as Black Friday (November 25), Cyber Monday (November 28), and the build-up to Christmas.
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