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THERE is set to be further disruption to the postal service in the coming weeks as the ongoing pay dispute between workers and Royal Mail continues.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) has warned “further action will take place in 2023”, after several days of walkouts, the latest of which came on December 23 and Christmas Eve.
Members of the CWU voted in favour of continuing their industrial action into the new year by 91.24 per cent in a national re-ballot in November, from a 65.21 per cent turnout.
However, Royal Mail has urged the CWU to take its latest offer, warning the company “is not too big to fail”.
A CWU spokesperson said: “Royal Mail Group keep telling us they have no money. They find it to spend millions on agency staff just for show.
“Make no mistake – this isn’t about clearing mail, it’s about breaking the spirits of postal workers. They will never succeed.”
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “When a company openly boasts of having built a £1.7 billion fund to crush its own workers rather than use that money to settle the dispute and restore the service, then you know dark forces are clearly at work.
“Their sole intention is to destroy the jobs of postal workers and remove their union from the workplace.
“Our members will not stand for this, and further action will take place in 2023.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for the disruption and delay that CWU strike action has caused to our customers.
“We continue to deploy contingency plans to keep communities, businesses and the country connected.
“Throughout, we have prioritised essential government mailings and NHS letters for delivery.
“After each period of industrial action, we have increased our network capacity and used additional resources to assist with getting services back to normal as quickly as possible.
“Collections from business customers, Post Offices and post boxes resume the day after any strike action has finished, as do deliveries.
“Customers can find the latest information on our services during industrial action at royalmail.com.”
When asked whether further talks were planned, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We urge the CWU to seriously consider our pay offer of up to nine per cent, and to work with us to bring the company back to profitability.
“Royal Mail is not too big to fail. The company’s future and all our employees’ jobs depend on Royal Mail modernising so that we can better serve customers’ changing demands.
“That is in the best interests of Royal Mail, its employees and its customers.”
So far in the dispute, picket lines have been held at: Abercarn, Abergavenny, Abertillery, Blackwood, Caerphilly, Caldicot, Chepstow, Cwmbran, Ebbw Vale, Hengoed, Monmouth, Newport, Pontypool, Tredegar, and Usk.
