‘Expect Christmas cards in February’ warn union sources after more Royal Mail strike days

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers, are planning further walkouts on Dec 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward claimed the “unachievable” conditions proposed by postal bosses, which includes starting work three hours later, would “destroy the future of Royal Mail”.

Urging the two sides to restart negotiations, Catherine West, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, who has been campaigning about postal delays for several years, said: “If the strikes go on and on and on I imagine it will be Feb” by the time some people receive their Christmas cards.

Last year the Labour politician had “countless distressing emails” from residents who had spent Christmas “alone and isolating without a single card or gift arriving”.

Last year some households did not receive festive cards until January because of staff absences as the omicron variant of Coronavirus swept through Britain. One customer described how 25 to 30 Christmas cards last year arrived in mid-January.

The unprecedented delays also affected packages, legal documents and hospital appointment letters. Post that should have arrived in one or two days took weeks.