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Royal Mail workers are continuing to strike, as part of a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have held a series of walkouts in recent months, which Royal Mail claims have cost it in excess of £100m.
The strikes have disrupted post in the lead-up to Christmas, with videos showing warehouses stacked with built-up mail.
They come amid widespread industrial action across the UK, with rail workers, nurses and ambulance staff among those walking out. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming Royal Mail strikes.
When are the postal strikes?
The CWU has formally notified Royal Mail that it is calling on its members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to take national strike action. The walkouts involve roughly 115,000 workers. They are set to strike on the following dates:
- Friday 23 December
- Saturday 24 December
These will be the 17th and 18th days of action in the dispute.
How is post affected on strike days?
Despite “well-developed contingency plans”, Royal Mail has acknowledged that these “cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce”, with significant disruption on strike dates.
The most significant effect is that Royal Mail will not be delivering any letters or parcels on these days, except those sent by special delivery.
Royal Mail has promised to “prioritise the delivery of Covid test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible”, alongside other Tracked24 parcels.
Most post offices are expected to be open on the dates walkouts are taking place, although a few will be affected by the CWU action. But any items posted in postboxes or post offices the day before, during or following strike dates are likely to be subject to delays.
Royal Mail has a full, in-depth list of FAQs here. It advises its customers to:
- Post items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates;
- Keep posting items at post boxes or post offices, but be aware collections will be less frequent on strike days.
Postal deliveries – and collections from businesses, post offices and postboxes – should resume the day after each strike takes place.
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Why are Royal Mail workers striking?
This next round of strikes will go ahead after the CWU said Royal Mail rejected its latest offer of negotiations.
The union said: “An offer extended to the company to suspend the strikes and establish a period of calm from now until 16 January, 2023, as well as the union and the company both signing a joint statement incorporating Royal Mail’s latest promise of no compulsory redundancies, was rejected almost immediately.”
CWU general secretary Dave Ward, said: “For Royal Mail Group to reject our offer just hours after receiving it demonstrates that they were never serious about saving Christmas for customers and businesses.
“Our members will not stand for this, and further action will take place in 2023. Our message to the public and businesses is that postal workers do not want to be here, but they are facing an aggressive, reckless and out-of-control chief executive committed to wrecking their livelihoods.”
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Throughout December, we have urged the CWU to call off their strike action and work together to deliver Christmas for our customers.
“The CWU have consistently refused our offer to do so, choosing instead to repackage old pay offers, absent of the change needed to fund the pay deal, in the misleading guise of new proposals to resolve the pay and change dispute.
“Our priority is to deliver for our customers, and this has never been more important as we approach Christmas.
“We would like to thank the increasing number of posties returning to work each strike day. They have been joined by thousands of employees from across the business who have swapped their regular day jobs to work in the operation as we focus all our efforts on delivering Christmas for our customers.”
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