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Royal Mail workers are striking on Friday as part of a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have held a series of walkouts in recent months, which Royal Mail claims have cost it £100m.
Workers walked out over Black Friday, one of the year’s busiest shopping dates, and also on Wednesday 30 November and Thursday 1 December, coinciding with Cyber Monday.
Post will continue to be disrupted in the lead-up to Christmas. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s strikes, dates for future action in December, and how the Post Office is affected.
When are the Royal Mail strikes?
The CWU has formally notified Royal Mail it is calling on its members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to take national strike action.
The strikes involve roughly 115,000 workers.
Workers are set to walk out on the following dates:
- Friday 9 December
- Sunday 11 December
- Wednesday 14 December
- Thursday 15 December
- Friday 23 December
- Saturday 24 December
Will post offices close on strike days?
The Post Office is separate to Royal Mail, and is not involved in the dispute, so its branches will remain open.
However, it has warned there will be “some disruption to letters and parcel collections on the dates of the industrial action”.
The following services may be affected:
- Posting letters and parcels
- Drop and go
- Travel money
- Banking (cheque deposits)
- Some identity services (e.g. paper form passport check and send)
Most non-mail transactions will not be affected. For example, bill payments and most banking transactions.
A separate strike by Post Office workers has been announced for Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 December. However, the company has said 99 per cent of its branches will remain open.
You can find a list of branches that may be affected here.
How is post affected on strike days?
Despite “well-developed contingency plans”, Royal Mail has acknowledged that these “cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce”, with significant disruption on strike dates.
The most significant effect is that Royal Mail will not be delivering any letters or parcels on these days, except those sent by special delivery.
Royal Mail has 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.
Royal Mail, which has a full, in-depth list of FAQs which you can find here, advises its customers 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.
Postal deliveries – and collections from businesses, post offices and postboxes – should resume the day after each strike takes place.
Why are Royal Mail workers striking?
On the eve of the latest round of strikes, Royal Mail said it had made its “best and final offer” aimed at resolving the dispute with CWU workers.
The company said that its revised offer included “extensive improvements” that have been made during the negotiations with the CWU, including an enhanced pay deal of up to 9 per cent over 18 months.
Simon Thompson, Royal Mail’s chief executive, said: “Talks have lasted for seven months and we have made numerous improvements and two pay offers.”
More on Royal Mail
CWU general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “Royal Mail bosses are risking a Christmas meltdown because of their stubborn refusal to treat their employees with respect.
“Postal workers want to get on with serving the communities they belong to, delivering Christmas gifts and tackling the backlog from recent weeks.
“But they know their value, and they will not meekly accept the casualisation of their jobs, the destruction of their conditions and the impoverishment of their families.”
“We are disappointed that instead of reaching a compromise to avoid major disruption, Royal Mail have chosen to pursue such an aggressive strategy.”
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