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- 11 October 2022
- Transport / Logistics Services
Royal Mail has warned that there could be serious disruption to deliveries in the UK over Christmas as postal workers’ strikes seem set to continue.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) have announced 19 more days of strikes that could have a ‘dramatic effect’ on the peak delivery period. Dates of walk outs include Black Friday on the 25th November and Cyber Monday on the 28th November.
Negotiations are at an impasse, and while the last day of industrial action is set for the 2nd December there is a strong possibility that there will be more strikes into the Christmas period.
A union source said: “This dispute could easily spiral into Christmas if the CEOs don’t stop playing games and evading meaningful discussions with the union.
“They have provoked the biggest industrial dispute of the year for no other reason than they don’t think their workers are worth a decent wage.”
Meanwhile the postal operator has said it would use managers to try to reduce the impact of the strike – though they will handle far lower volumes as there are so few managers available to do a job done by many more postal workers.
Royal Mail has invited the union to negotiations through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). In a statement it said, “Our invitation to enter into talks through Acas remains open. Our people need the CWU leadership to recognise the reality of the situation Royal Mail faces as a business, and to engage urgently on the changes required to adapt to customer demands in a highly competitive market.
“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU’s continued strike action will cause. We are doing all we can to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
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