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The Communication Workers Union (CWU), representing 115,000 postal workers, confirmed the strikes will also cover Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Strikes began early this summer as postal workers demanded a “proper pay rise”, after being offered 2 per cent at a time when inflation was nearing double figures.
When are the strikes and how can you get parcels delivered while they are taking place?
Why are they striking?
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For example, the majority of cleaners who received the Real Living Wage (RLW) adjustment in April didn’t receive an annual pay rise.
Instead, 10 per cent of cleaners were offered a 50p-an-hour pay increase, according to the CWU.
Royal Mail responded by saying the CWU had ignored an offer for talks facilitated by Acas, the arbitration service.
“This evening, rather than responding to our offer of Acas talks, the CWU announced further damaging industrial action, once again taking the path of prolonging disruption over resolution,” said a spokesperson for the Royal Mail.
“Royal Mail is losing £1m a day and must change faster in response to changing customer demands. We operate in a competitive market, and our customers have choices.”
The company said strikes will make its financial situation worse and apologised to customers for the inconvenience.
When is Royal Mail on strike?
The Royal Mail strike is scheduled to take place across 19 days in October and November. Strike action has been called for 24 hours from 4am on various days.
Having already taken place on October 13, further strike action is confirmed for these dates:
- Wednesday 2 November
- Thursday 3 November
- Friday 4 November
- Tuesday 8 November
- Wednesday 9 November
- Thursday 10 November
- Monday 14 November
- Tuesday 15 November
- Wednesday 16 November
- Wednesday 23 November
- Thursday 24 November
- Friday 25 November
- Monday 28 November
- Wednesday 30 November
- Thursday 1 December
- Friday 2 December
Different teams and combinations of teams will strike on other dates.
How to get parcels delivered during the strikes
No parcels and letters will be delivered during strike days unless they are sent by special delivery, according to Royal Mail.
Medical prescriptions, Covid tests, and Tracked2 packages will also be given priority on these days. Minor delays are still to be expected.
If you use Royal Mail for your business shipping, you could look for an alternative courier service to use during the strikes, so your sales aren’t affected, such as Parcelforce.
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