Royal Mail workers in Paisley joined the ranks of striking workers this summer as they held the first of three days of industrial action yesterday.
A picket line, organised by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), was in place outside the Underwood Road Royal Mail depot from 5.30am with the first wave of workers participating getting honks of support from motorists passing them by.
The second shift came through at 11.30am and continued their demonstration against a two per cent imposed pay rise from Royal Mail bosses.
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Royal Mail say the pay rise is actually 5.5 per cent, but the CWU have disputed this.
They say two per cent is guaranteed, with a further 1.5 per cent contingent on postal workers agreeing changes which would “rip up their terms and conditions”.
And a further £500 payment, branded an ‘above and beyond’ bonus by Royal Mail is planned for 2023.
The CWU say the pay offer “is the imposition of two per cent and nothing else”.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “[The] strike thrusts Royal Mail into the most uncertain time of its 500-year history. It is putting jobs at risk and making pay rises less affordable. We are losing £1 million a day. We must change to fix the situation and protect high quality jobs.”
However, the company reported making record profits of £758m just a few months ago in their annual accounts for the year ending March 27, 2022.
The Royal Mail spokesperson continued: “Our future is as a parcels business. We must adapt old ways of working designed for letters to a world increasingly dominated by parcels, and we must act fast. We want to protect well-paid, permanent jobs long-term and retain our place as the industry leader on pay, terms and conditions. That is in the best interests of Royal Mail and all its employees.”
In response the CWU said: “Royal Mail Group claim this is about being able to compete with the competition. This is untrue. What it is about is a race to the bottom on terms and conditions, including pay.
“It is also worth highlighting the hypocrisy of them taking this position whilst at the very same time handing Parcelforce work over to EVRI well in advance of strike action. They are literally handing work over to the competition rather than focussing on resolving our dispute.”
Commenting on today’s strike action CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “Today has seen a tremendous outpouring of workers’ unity in villages, towns and cities across the country.
“There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve.
“We strongly advise Royal Mail to stop the shenanigans and thrash out an agreement with us.”
Royal Mail industrial action will be held on the following dates:
Friday, August 26
Wednesday, August 31
Thursday, September 8
Friday, September 9
The decision to strike came after a ballot which saw members vote by 97.6 per cent for the industrial action on a 77 per cent turnout.
Royal Mail has said that it has “well-developed contingency plans” to minimise disruption.
It added that it was "focused on getting mail delivery back to normal as quickly as possible after strike action," but letters will not be delivered on strike days.
The company has apologised to customers but says it has plans to minimise the disruption.
On days when strike action is taking place, Royal Mail says it will:
Deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible
Prioritise the delivery of Covid test kits and medical prescriptions
Customers should be aware the items that they post the day before, during the strike or after could be caught up in the delays and they are advised to post items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates and noted that collections will also be less frequent during the strikes.
Royal Mail has added that it cannot guarantee delivery of all special delivery items by 9am or 1pm the next day.
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