Royal Mail staff are poised to walk out again as a dispute over pay continues. From Thursday (October 20), workers will walk out on 18 days from October to December, covering the busy pre-Christmas period which includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Over summer more than 100,000 postal workers took industrial action. The CWU said members felt forced into such a position after fighting for a 'dignified, proper pay rise'.
The union rejected Royal Mail's offer of a 2% pay rise. The CWU believed an increase at this level would lead to a “dramatic reduction” in workers’ living standards because of soaring inflation, LancsLive reports.
When the latest strikes were announced, CWU general secretary Dave Ward said the decision "matched the level of anger" members felt. Royal Mail says people should post items as early as possible in advance of strike dates and continue to send items via post boxes or Post Offices - but it warns that collections will be less frequent on days when strike action is taking place
Strike action is planned for the following dates:
- October 20
- October 25
- November 2
- November 3
- November 4
- November 8
- November 9
- November 10
- November 14
- November 15
- November 16
- November 23
- November 24
- November 25
- November 28
- November 30
- December 1
- December 2
Royal Mail has also announced its intention to consult on up to 6,000 redundancies. The firm said the move is in response to the “impact of industrial action, delays in delivering agreed productivity improvements and lower parcel volumes”.
Chief executive Simon Thompson said last week: "I regret that we are announcing these job losses. We will do all we can to avoid compulsory redundancies and support everyone affected.
“We have announced today losses of £219 million in the first half of the year. Each strike day weakens our financial situation. The CWU’s decision to choose damaging strike action over resolution regrettably increases the risk of further headcount reductions.”
Mr Ward said the move was the result of “gross mismanagement and a failed business agenda”. He added: “This announcement is holding postal workers to ransom for taking legal industrial action against a business approach that is not in the interests of workers, customers or the future of Royal Mail. This is no way to build a company.”
