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Royal Mail workers are set to strike on Thursday (October 20) which will be fourth of 21 strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. 115,000 members across the UK will walk out for a 24-hour strike on Thursday, beginning at 4am, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said, according to HertsLive.
The planned industrial protests will include Black Friday week and Cyber Monday, as well as October 25 and November 28 in the run-up to Christmas. The strikes will result in letters not being delivered and some parcels being delayed causing disruption to Essex residents as people begin their Christmas shops.
Workers are striking over a dispute over pay and working conditions and the strike comes as Royal Mail recently announced that they will cut 10,000 jobs. The CWU has accused Royal Mail of planning structural change, leading to employees’ jobs being turned into a “casualised, financially-precarious workforce overnight”.
Read More: East of England Ambulance Service faces strike in potential industrial action
It said plans by the postal service include cutting workers’ sick pay, delaying arrival of post by three hours and inferior terms for new employees.
The strikes are taking place as the workers are in a fight against the “biggest ever assault” on jobs, terms and conditions “in the history of Royal Mail”, according to Royal Mail general secretary Dave Ward. The parcel and letter delivering company state that the upcoming strikes will weaken the financial position of Royal Mail.
The upcoming strike dates are on
- October 20
- October 25
- November 2
- November 3
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November 4
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November 8
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November 9
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November 10
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November 14
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November 15
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November 16
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November 23
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November 24
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November 25
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November 28
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November 30
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December 1
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December 2
General Secretary Mr Ward said the changes could lead to huge change, affecting the relationship the postal workers and the public have in every community in the UK, including Herts. He described Royal Mail’s plans as an “asset-stripping business plan”, which will lead to the separation of the company.
Royal Mail said it would do what it could to keep services running, but the strike was likely to cause disruption. No letters will be delivered during the strike days but as many special delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible would be delivered. It also said it would prioritise the delivery of Covid-19 test kits and medical prescriptions.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Royal Mail is losing £1m a day and must change faster in response to changing customer demands.”
Industrial action will threaten the job security of postal workers, said Royal Mail, calling on the leaders of CWU to cancel the walk-out and accept invitations for talks. Royal Mail apologised for any delays to customers, adding: “We are doing all we can to minimise any delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
Herts residents are advised by the Royal Mail to post their “items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates” and to continue to use their services but that collections will be less frequent on days when strike action is taking place. For more information, visit the Royal Mail website here.
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