The source at Royal Mail signalled a deep frustration within the firm on the lack of progress in the negotiations to date, accusing the union of misleading its members. “These people will never be bullied, intimidated or harassed into submission, and this result is a concrete demonstration of that spirit.” This will include “accelerating” the delivery of NHS and healthcare letters together with “critical Government mailings”. Customers will not be able to claim refunds for delayed items or consequential loss due to delay for items sent on those dates. More strikes are planned for 30th November and 1st, 9th, 11th, 14th, 15th, 23rd and 24th December. “The price of everything’s going up, people are having to do more and more overtime,” she said.
When are the last posting days for delivery before Christmas?
This is because Parcelforce is owned by Royal Mail, so some CWU members who collect, sort and deliver parcels for Parcelforce will be striking. As per the Trade Union Act in 2016, the result of a ballot is only valid for six months, which mean the CWU will have to re-ballot members if it wants to continue strike action past August 2023. This could mean all of the Royal Mail business – including the universal service obligation to deliver to every address six days a week – and Parcel Force declared insolvent. The company is concerned that further industrial action could lead to large customers – such as retailers – pulling multi-million-pound contracts.
- Around 5,000 members of the TSSA union that represents transport staff, have said they will strike on 26 and 27 September in an ongoing dispute over their pay and conditions.
- Post offices will remain open as they aren’t involved in this dispute, so businesses can still post parcels for delivery.
- The TSSA union warns of a “summer of discontent” for passengers with Scotland’s nationalised rail operator.
- On strike days it will deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked 24 parcels as possible, it said.
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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. Post offices will remain open as they aren’t involved in this dispute, so businesses can still post parcels for delivery. Along with the rail industrial action on Tuesday and Wednesday, there will also be train strikes on Friday and Saturday. Tuesday’s walkout by rail staff left services running at about a fifth of capacity, on a day when snow, ice and fog hampered road and air travel. As well as holding strikes this week, 115,000 Royal Mail workers from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will also take industrial action on 23 December and Christmas Eve.
Royal Mail in crisis: can the service survive the strikes?
The most significant effect is that Royal Mail will not be delivering any letters on these days, except for those sent by Special Delivery. “There comes a point when the pay deal becomes unaffordable,” the source added. “It is proof that workers loyal to an historic institution like Royal Mail will not accept it being turned into an Uber-style, bog-standard gig economy employer.
Royal Mail profits
No letters – except those marked Special Delivery – will be delivered, with people advised to dispatch items as early as possible. Royal Mail workers are also walking out on several other crucial days over the busy shopping and Christmas period. They also said there was “no grounds for industrial action” https://www.1investing.in/ and accused Unite of putting out misleading claims over additional job losses to members. Mike Eatwell, Unite national officer with responsibility for Royal Mail, said members have been “forced to the position of taking industrial action because those running Royal Mail refuse to see sense”.
Strike dates: Who is striking and what pay do they want?
Twenty-one dates are affected by Royal Mail strikes in September, October, November and December. The firm says it will try to keep services going to some extent but disruption and delays are likely to be significant. General Secretary Mr Ward said the changes could lead to the “destruction of the special relationship that postal workers and the public have in every community in the UK”. It said the strikes have cost the company £200m in lost business and in covering striking staff. At the time, Mr Ward said the union’s leaders did not believe more strikes were the right thing to do but there might come a time when more industrial action is called.
In May 2022, Royal Mail announced they had turned a profit of £758m that business year. Although this was a £56m rise from the year before, it was below analysts’ average forecast of £771m and the company has announced it is losing £1m a day. arrears meaning in education They add, “We’ll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption.” Over the six months from April 2021, the company had average revenues of £22m per day.
The average pay rise for workers in the private sector was 6.9% between August and October. The dispute has been going on since the summer and like all the industrial action across rail, the NHS, teachers, border staff and driving examiners, pay is a key issue. Some parcel companies claim the walkouts are having a knock-on effect, and forcing them to delay next-day deliveries as people and firms seek alternative ways to send their post.
But a spokesman for the CWU said that Royal Mail has offered workers a 3% pay rise this year, 3% next year as well as an additional 2% if employees agree to “the absolute destruction” of terms and conditions. Firms have warned of the hit to Christmas sales as postal workers squeezed by rising costs fight for higher pay and better conditions. This means major disruption to postal services is inevitable on the full strike dates, with “some disruption” likely on the days of partial action. No international parcels and letters will be delivered on strike days with services resuming the following working day. When Unite members voted for industrial action at the end of last month, a Royal Mail spokesperson said the postal service has “contigency plans in place to keep letters and parcels moving in the event of a strike”.
On strike days it will deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked 24 parcels as possible, it said. Letters will not be delivered on strike days and some parcels will be delayed, Royal Mail warned. The unions has warned of disruption to post and parcels across the UK, though the Royal Mail says it has “contingency plans” in place. The company says it is losing about £1m a day, and cannot afford to give its workers a higher pay rise. About 115,000 workers had been expected to walk out as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
Post Offices will stay open and offer their usual services but Royal Mail collections will be limited. A spokesman for CWU said Royal Mail’s management was trying to “casualise” the postal service. Different teams and combinations of teams will strike on other dates, but that will have a knock-on effect on all deliveries on those dates, the CWU spokesman said. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the strikes will cover Black Friday and Cyber Monday. “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.
Staff represented by CWU announced 19 days of action taking place throughout October and November 2022. Its plea to save money through a reduction in the universal service obligation for letter deliveries, over five days instead of six, has been met with government opposition. “This vote is a historic testament to CWU members across the country who have stood firm against the most severe attacks faced by any set of workers since the miners,” Mr Ward said in a statement. “Fewer customers means a smaller business and means we need fewer people”, the source said. Royal Mail’s Estimated Delivery Window will be suspended before, during and immediately after any industrial action to “avoid giving misleading information”.
“Instead of working with us to agree on changes required to fund that offer and get pay into our posties’ pockets, the CWU has announced plans to ballot in the New Year for further strike action.” The long-running dispute has led to several staff walkouts, including a strike over Christmas, the busiest time of the year for postal deliveries. Unite and Unison, the UK’s largest unions have said they will seek to co-ordinate strike action this autumn to try to secure better pay deals. They work for nine train companies – including TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains, who voted for strike action last week – and for Network Rail.
