Royal Mail workers man picket line during strike action in Swadlincote

Royal Mail workers in Swadlincote were taking part in strike action today. They were manning a picket line outside the town’s sorting office off Swadlincote in freezing temperatures.

The action was part of a national strike by members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), with dates also set for strikes on December 23 and December 24. Christmas is the busiest time of year for the Royal Mail as it handles millions of parcels, letters and cards.

A spokesperson for the strikers in Swadlincote office said: “They want to move some of us to 10am to 5pm. When I first started I worked 5am to 10am. I deliver to a lot of industrial estates but what company wants their mail at tea time?

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“They also want to force Sundays on us, which means we would get a Tuesday off, for example, but if you have kids you can’t spend time with them on a Tuesday if they are at school. We were meant to have a 3.5 per cent pay increase but it won’t be backdated. It should be backdated to April which is a lot of money.

“With the cost of living it is having a big effect. This is complete mismanagement. Another term and condition issue is no sick pay. We were classed as key workers during covid. Every day during covid was as busy as Christmas because we had stacks and stacks of tests to deliver. And we delivered them all.”

At the Swadlincote delivery office, in Civic Way, there are about 75 workers and it is thought only about eight are working today, December 15. A spokesman for union members in Swadlincote said: “The main issue is the terms and conditions. They want to move our working hours, make us redundant and replace us with self-employed drivers on 20 per cent less pay.”

The dispute has been ongoing since the summer with pay being a key issue, as in the case of other industrial action by rail workers, in the NHS, teachers, border staff and driving examiners. A spokesman for the Royal Mail said the company has made an offer worth up to “nine per cent over 18 months”.

The spokesman has claimed that instead of working with the company, the union had announced plans to ballot in the New Year for further strike action. But a spokesman for the CWU said Royal Mail had offered workers a three per cent pay rise this year, three per cent next year as well as an additional two per cent if employees agree to “the absolute destruction” of terms and conditions.

The union has said the strikes are partly about what it claims is “uberisation” of the postal service, including “widespread changes”, introducing Uber-style owner-drivers, mail centre closures and changes to Sunday working.

The union says on its website: “Our Royal Mail members have had an unagreed two per cent pay deal imposed on them. This is at a time when RPI inflation is currently running at 11.8 per cent and when Royal Mail has announced Group profits of £758 million and when the company is paying out many millions to private shareholders.

“In a national strike ballot over pay, our Royal Mail members voted by a 97.6 per cent majority to take action. The pay dispute is not complicated. Our members are striking for a pay rise that fully addresses the current cost of living. Our members need it, our members deserve it – the company can afford it.”

Tomorrow, Friday, December 16, rail workers, buses, baggage handlers, highway workers and driving examiners are also due to walk out in what has become the UK’s winter of discontent.

The Royal Mail has said it has well-developed contingency plans, but “we cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce. We’ll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption”.

It said on its website: “We’re urging CWU leadership to accept the change and pay offer, call off future damaging strike action, for the good of our customers and our people. 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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