Are Post Offices open today? What Royal Mail strike on Thursday 8 September means for postal services

Further Royal Mail strikes are planned this week, after two days of action disrupted services in August.

About 115,000 workers represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are involved in the walk-out, which has been called due to a dispute over pay.

Royal Mail has said the union rejected a pay rise offer “worth up to 5.5 per cent” after three months of talks.

The CWU is demanding a rise more in line with inflation, which is currently at 9.4 per cent and is expected to reach 13 per cent later this year.

Here’s when the upcoming strikes are planned, and what to expect.

When are the Royal Mail strikes?

There are two days of strike action planned this week:

• Thursday 8 September
• Friday 9 September

There are currently no strikes planned after Friday, but more could be announced if the CWU and Royal Mail fail to reach an agreement.

How will services be affected?

Royal Mail has said letters will not be delivered on strike days. However, Post Offices will remain open, as they are separate entities.

The company has apologised to customers, but says it has plans to minimise the disruption.

In a statement it said: “Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce. We will be doing what we can to keep services running, but customers should expect significant disruption.”

On days when strike action is taking place, Royal Mail says it will:

Items posted the day before, during or in the days after any strike action will be subject to delay.

Royal Mail says it cannot guarantee delivery of all special delivery items by 9am or 1pm next day, so it is suspending the regular guarantees during strike action.

The company 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.

Why are workers striking?

Dave Ward, CWU general secretary, said: “Nobody takes the decision to strike lightly, but postal workers are being pushed to the brink.

“There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve.”

He added that people “can’t keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks.

“The CWU’s message to Royal Mail’s leadership is simple: there will be serious disruption until you get real on pay.”

Ricky McAulay, operations director at Royal Mail, accused the union of failing to engage in “any meaningful discussion” after months of talks.

“The CWU rejected our offer worth up to 5.5 per cent for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years,” he said.

“In a business that is currently losing £1m a day, we can only fund this offer by agreeing the changes that will pay for it.”

Who owns Royal Mail?

Royal Mail is a public limited company, meaning it is owned by its shareholders. It trades on the FTSE 250 as RMG, having been demoted from the FTSE 100 in June this year.

For most of its life, Royal Mail was owned by the UK Government. It was established in 1516 as a government department, and remained a public service until the 2010s.

The Postal Services Act 2011 allowed the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government to sell off shares in Royal Mail to private investors. These shares were floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2013.

The Government initially retained a 30 per cent stake in Royal Mail, but sold its remaining shares in 2015.

Royal Mail’s privatisation was controversial, and led to widespread strikes called by the CWU. The company’s share price also shot up after it was floated on the stock exchange, leading to accusations it had been undervalued by the Government.

Who owns the Post Office?

The Post Office is a separate company owned by the Government.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which is responsible for the Post Office, explains: “Royal Mail and the Post Office are separate companies with independent boards.

“Royal Mail is the company that delivers parcels and letters – the provider of the universal postal service. The Post Office is the nationwide network of branches offering a range of postal, government and financial services. The Post Office is not for sale.”

Despite being separate, Royal Mail and the Post Office have an important commercial relationship. A long-term
agreement between the Post Office and Royal Mail for the continued supply of services was signed in 2012, after the Postal Services Act 2011 was signed.