Royal Mail vows to ignore striking workers as thousands cross picket line

Proposed reforms include Royal Mail’s parcel arm switching to hundreds of freelance “owner-driver” postal workers. Until recently, only a quarter of Parcelforce drivers could be self-employed, but the changes will mean this can be lifted to 100pc, for instance.

Royal Mail expects to rack up losses between £350m and £450m this year.

Mr Williams, a veteran of disputes during his time as British Airways chief executive, said: “Most of that loss is not attributable to strikes. it’s actually attributable to the change that you need in the business.

“As you change the business, you’re actually improving the business. Yeah, they can be out on strikes, but the strikes are not are not the big element of the loss.”

Mr Thompson said that Royal Mail was determined to ensure that Christmas parcels would be delivered on time, with 2,000 administrative staff dispatched to the front line to help.

Mr Williams said: “We’ve now got all the accountants and lawyers on the front line delivering post.”

In autumn around 2,000 postal workers were prepared to cross the picket line, a figure that has now swelled to 12,000 members of staff. 

Tempers have flared with the police called in earlier this month amid claims of physical violence and vandalism. One CWU representative is facing accusations of headbutting.

Mr Williams said: “The irony of this one is that because it’s Christmas, the parcels market holds up nicely.”

But the strikes did impact on the letters business, he added. A quarter of Royal Mail’s letter volumes are typically delivered in December. “They [the CWU] are actually destroying Christmas cards, which are letters, which is what they’re trying to preserve.”

The CWU will ballot its 115,000 members at Royal Mail for another six-month mandate to strike in January.

Mr Williams said: “What they’re saying is that we’re threatening 25,000 compulsory redundancies. It is nothing more than a scaremongering tactic going into the next ballot.”

Meanwhile he sprang to the defence of Mr Thompson, who Mr Ward has attacked for being “out of his depth” as CWU members held placards saying “Thompson out”.  

He said: “If you look at the history of this one, it was [ex-CEO, Adam] Crozier out. Moya [Greene] out. Rico [Back] out. And now it’s Simon [Thompson] out. There’s a fact pattern here of playing the man not the ball.”

Mr Thompson added: “I am representing the voice of the customers. So is it ‘customers out’ when they say ‘Thompson out’?

“I don’t think it is nice. And I don’t think it’s necessary. But I think more fundamentally, it diverts us away from what are the real true issues.”