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The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), which represents 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 two per cent at a time when inflation nears double figures.
When are the strikes and how can you still get parcels delivered during this time?
When is Royal Mail on strike?
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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.
The strike action is confirmed for October 13, 20, and 25, and November 28.
Different teams and combination 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.
Why are they striking?
Royal Mail workers are striking because the Royal Mail Group has chosen to withdraw from significant national agreements and reduce terms and conditions for employees.
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 Government’s 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 coming inconvenience.
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