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Royal Mail workers declared its ongoing series of walkouts “the biggest strike in the UK since 2009” as it began industrial action last Friday.
The leader of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said more than 115,000 postal staff were striking over pay, with members gathering outside Royal Mail offices around the country.
Another walkout follows this week, and there are another two strikes in September – here’s when the next walkout is, and its impact on postal services explained.
When is the postal strike this week?
Following on from Friday’s walkout, this week’s Royal Mail strike is taking place on Wednesday 31 August.
It means that postal services are particularly disrupted this week, with deliveries around much of the UK severely restricted on Monday 29 August too due to the bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Here are the full dates of the planned Royal Mail strikes:
- Friday 26 August
- Wednesday 31 August
- Thursday 8 September
- Friday 9 September
How is post affected by Royal Mail strikes?
Royal Mail says it has “well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce”.
This means that major disruption to postal services is inevitable on all planned strike dates, and as a result Royal Mail is advising people to:
- Post items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates
- Continue to post items at post boxes or Post Offices, but be aware collections will be less frequent on days when strike action is taking place
For most people, the most significant impact of the walkout is that Royal Mail will not be delivering any letters on these days, except for those sent by Special Delivery.
More on Royal Mail
“We will therefore suspend the next day guarantee for items sent the day before, during strike action and until our services are back to normal.
“Customers will not be able to claim compensation for items which are delayed during this period.”
Royal Mail has also promised to “prioritise the delivery of Covid test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible” when strikes are taking place, alongside other Tracked24 parcels.
Any items posted in postboxes or Post Offices the day before, during or following strike dates are likely to be subject to delays.
The majority of Post Offices are expected to be open on the dates walkouts are talking place, although a small number will be affected by the CWU action.
There is fuller guidance on the disruption to Post Offices here, while you can check your local via the branch finder here before setting off.
Royal Mail has pledged to increase its network capacity and devote additional resources to ensure services return to normal following strike days.
Postal deliveries – and collections from businesses, Post Offices and post boxes – are set to resume the day after each strike takes place.
Why are Royal Mail workers striking?
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said his members voted in favour of the strike by 97.6 per cent in a ballot after management “imposed” a 2 per cent pay rise on employees but “rewarded themselves with record bonuses”.
He told the PA news agency: “It’s over pay, and our members just lost total confidence in the actions of the company, the board, and they’ve lost faith in the leadership and people will understand that when they see the way that the company have conducted themselves.
“The company made record profits last year: £758 million. They gave away over £400 million to shareholders, they rewarded themselves with huge record bonuses for achieving their financial targets and then imposed a 2 per cent pay increase on postal workers.
“Against the background of rocketing inflation, rocketing energy bills, it’s simply not acceptable.
“Postal workers in the UK are one of the last remaining pillars of our society. We are going to fight hard to get our members the pay deal that they deserve.”
Royal Mail CEO Mr Thompson denied the accusation that money from the company has been handed to shareholders, saying the Covid-19 “bubble has burst”.
On Friday, he told BBC Radio 4: “Since the business has been privatised in terms of dividends, we paid out £1.9 billion, but in terms of pay rises during that period of time, we paid out £4.8 billion and I would also just like to make it clear that over the last three years, we spent £900 million on our team’s future by building infrastructure for parcels so that we can compete and win in the market.
“But our reality is that the Covid bubble has burst, and we can see the economic situation around us all. And our reality today is we are losing a million pounds a day.”
Mr Thompson said he was open to talk to unions “as long as that discussion is going to be around change”, and apologised for the “disrupted service” during the first strike.
The CEO added: “What is actually on the table at this point in time is 5.5 per cent, which would cost us around about £230 million. And that’s an extra £230 million in a business that is currently losing £1 million a day.”
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