Around 115,000 members are expected to take to the picket lines due to a worsening dispute over pay. “The CWU rejected our offer worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years,” he said. One of the CWU’s main grievances was Royal Mail’s modernisation plans to move to a gig economy-style parcel courier model. But he said Royal Mail’s chief executive and board “should seriously consider their futures” as the ballot was “also a vote of no confidence”.
Is there post on Royal Mail strike dates?
The deal, which was reached in April after 18 strike dates, has won 67% of the union’s vote. The union has been told a 3.5% is available subject to further talks and agreements, which would total a 5.5% rise. 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”. “While bosses rake in £758m in profit and shareholders take £400m, workers are expected to take a serious real-terms pay cut,” he added. 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. Chairman Keith Williams has said that the firm is losing £1m a day understanding ripple as parcel volumes fall and efforts to modernise the business stall.
“The CWU’s failure to engage on the changes we need is an abdication of responsibility for the long-term job security of their members.” Royal velocity trade Mail’s latest adjusted operating profit for the year to March was £416m, up from £344m the year before. “The CWU’s message to Royal Mail’s leadership is simple – there will be serious disruption until you get real on pay,” he added.
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. 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. The union had been told an additional 3.5% rise is available, subject to further talks and agreements – which would total a 5.5% rise. Ricky McAulay, operations director at Royal Mail accused the union of failing to engage in “any meaningful discussion” after more than three months of talks on changes to modernise the company.
A year of strikes: what has changed?
Royal Mail’s latest adjusted operating profit for the year to March was £416m, up from £344m previously. Inflation, the rate at which prices rise, is at a 40-year high of 10.1% and expected to surpass 13% later this year. The National Education Union’s general secretary says Labour MPs could pay a ‘high political price’. At the heart of the dispute are the Waste Recycling and Collection Officers, who were paid more than some other bin workers.
“Even the threat of more strike action by the CWU means more customers will switch their parcel business to our competitors. 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. It is battling several other major cost headwinds including the disruption to overseas parcel deliveries caused by a ransomware attack a month ago that saw hackers demand £67m to unlock the company’s IT systems. Royal Mail says eight days of strike action has cost it £100m while striking posties have each lost, on average, £1,000. Royal Mail says it is in such financial peril that without immediate changes to working practices it could go out of business. For the Communication Workers Union, this is a last stand to stop postal workers being turned into “gig-economy couriers”.
Royal Mail workers vote for further strikes
“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 said it had made its “best and final offer” and accused the union of “holding Christmas to ransom”. Royal Mail new life house california says it has “well-developed contingency plans” but “cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce”. The union said it will have a “dramatic impact” and will cover peak mail periods such as Black Friday on 25 November, Cyber Monday on 28 November and the Christmas build-up.
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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”. However Royal Mail says it “does not recognise” the pay cut figures and argues the job losses have been met through voluntary redundancy. “We remain committed to getting around the table with the CWU, resolving this dispute and agreeing a pay and change deal for our people. Its other efforts to reduce costs have already resulted in thousands of job losses through voluntary redundancy. They argued that the business was losing customer confidence because of the continuing dispute and risked becoming increasingly uncompetitive as it already paid its staff up to 40% more than cheaper rivals.
Workers on the railways and at airports are also in pay disputes with employers, with prices for goods in the UK rising at the fastest rate in 40 years. “The price of everything’s going up, people are having to do more and more overtime,” she said. It also said it would prioritise the delivery of Covid-19 test kits and medical prescriptions. Letters will not be delivered and some parcels will be delayed, the Royal Mail has warned. General Secretary Dave Ward said workers faced the “biggest ever assault” on jobs, terms and conditions “in the history of Royal Mail”. 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”.
The company also called for further talks with the union to avert the strikes, but said they “must be about both change and pay”. Royal Mail apologised to customers in advance of the industrial action, but said it had plans in place to minimise the disruption. The union has demanded that Royal Mail increases wages to an amount that “covers the current cost of living”. Staff will get a 10% pay rise over three years and a one-off lump sum of £500.
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“It has seen its parcels market share eroded by more dynamic competition that has been able to invest more in technology, and it has struggled with industrial relations to keep staff working towards a common goal. Royal Mail also wants to end the extra payments that postal workers get for doing things like driving bigger trucks. Postal workers I’ve spoken to say they’d lose £50 a week if those allowances were to end. Deliveries will be disrupted by 10 more strike days at the busiest time of the year for the postal service.
- Significant disruption is still likely on the dates below, but as not all staff are involved Royal Mail says it will only affect “parts of our operation”.
- “Should the CWU announce further strike action, we have plans to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as possible to keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
- Post Offices will stay open and offer their usual services but Royal Mail collections will be limited.
- “There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve,” he said.
- Some are already operating at several stores including ones in Clapham, Kidderminster and Chislehurst.
Services and information
- Royal Mail’s latest adjusted operating profit for the year to March was £416m, up from £344m previously.
- Terry Pullinger, deputy CWU general secretary, said the union wanted negotiations with Royal Mail, but claimed this was “rejected”, leaving reps with “no choice but to fight their disgraceful imposition”.
- As the CWU union secures a fresh strike mandate from its members, a company source tells Sky News there will be no improved pay offer as the demands are becoming increasingly unaffordable.
- This will include “accelerating” the delivery of NHS and healthcare letters together with “critical Government mailings”.
- Royal Mail said it had made its “best and final offer” and accused the union of “holding Christmas to ransom”.
- The USO has been under review by Ofcom, with Royal Mail hoping that the regulator will reduce the requirement to deliver second-class letters from six days a week to every other weekday.
But six months on, his bid to buy Royal Mail’s parent company was cleared by the UK government after he agreed “legally binding” undertakings. The group had added brick production, gas boilers and security transport to its core businesses of printing the world’s banknotes and postage stamps. 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.
His profile as a buyer was one that unions and ministers typically would be wary of because of his historic connections with Russia – his companies own a gas pipeline that has transported Russian gas to Europe. “A pair of scissors, one empty teapot and some hot water, please.” The slightly baffled staff at Claridge’s scrambled to comply with Daniel Kretinsky’s breakfast order as he sanitised and moisturised his hands. The departure of one of the UK’s oldest public companies from the London Stock Exchange is dispiriting. Under siege from veteran City financier Edi Truell, who offered £245million in cash, it has thrown in its lot with American buyout group Atlas. After the transfer of assets from public markets, a shroud of secrecy descends. Successive overseas owners of Thames Water drained it dry of resources, leaving behind waterways overflowing with effluent.
However, delivery cannot be guaranteed by 9am or 1pm the next day for items posted from 23rd November up to and including Saturday, 3rd December, and will be suspended for this period. “Items posted the day before, during or in the days after any strike action will be subject to delay,” Royal Mail advise. On strike action days, Royal Mail said it will prioritise COVID-19 test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible. So deliveries of purchases made on Cyber Monday – 28th November – could be delayed by strike action on Wednesday 30th November and Thursday 1st December. Around 115,000 postal workers are walking out for 48 hours during Thursday and Black Friday. Unite said Royal Mail managers will take their contracted breaks, start and finish exactly on time and take their rest days, leaving no manager on site.
Royal Mail is, after all, considered vital national infrastructure and as such the deal required review under national security laws. Royal Mail was split off from the Post Office in 2012 and privatised in 2013 at a value of £3.3bn. Its shares immediately rocketed by 38% on the first day of trading, leading to criticism – from the National Audit Office, among others – that it had been sold on the cheap. It has gone from a peak of 20 billion letters sent in 2004 to under seven billion sent last year.
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