Postal services were disrupted today in Burton as Royal Mail workers walked out as part of one of the biggest strikes of the year. It comes as industrial unrest continues to spread across the country in disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Postal workers are joining university staff and teachers in the walk-outs today, Thursday, November 24 and tomorrow, November 25. Royal Mail services are expected to be disrupted.
It is expected to impact people in Burton as the delivery office in Falcon Close will be closed for the two days of the strike. The delivery office is set to reopen between 8am and 1pm on Saturday, November 26, and between 11am and 3pm on Sunday, November 27.
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There may also be some delays to postal delivery over the two days the strike is going on. A series of strikes is also planned in December, including Christmas Eve, in one of the longest running disputes of a year dominated by stoppages. Workers are set to strike for 48 hours on Wednesday, November 30, and Thursday, December 1, and will also carry out single days of action on December 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and on December 24, Christmas Eve.
Royal Mail said it has made its “best and final offer” aimed at resolving the dispute, including “extensive improvements” made during negotiations with the CWU, such as an enhanced pay deal of up to nine per cent over 18 months, offering to develop a new profit share scheme for employees, and making voluntary redundancy terms more generous.
Communication Workers Union general secretary Dave Ward said: “We are disappointed that instead of reaching a compromise to avoid major disruption, Royal Mail have chosen to pursue such an aggressive strategy. We will not accept that 115,000 Royal Mail workers – the people who kept us connected during the pandemic, and made millions in profit for bosses and shareholders – take such a devastating blow to their livelihoods.
“These proposals spell the end of Royal Mail as we know it and its degradation from a national institution into an unreliable, Uber-style gig economy company. Make no mistake about it, British postal workers are facing an Armageddon moment. We urge every member of the public to stand with their postie, and back them like never before.”
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