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Royal Mail staff are reportedly being told to focus on deliveries instead of letters and Christmas cards. The Communication Workers Union (CMU) claim managers have given the instruction to “suspend delivery of letters this week”, the Mirror reports. Royal Mail said although it “does not operate a policy of prioritising parcels” it may occasionally “clear parcels to free up space”.
It comes as postal workers stage more strikes over pay disputes in the build-up to Christmas with a 48-hour walkout beginning on Friday.
Royal Mail has been offered a pay deal worth up to 9 percent over 18 months but the union wants more.
The CWU opposes proposed changes to working conditions, including compulsory Sunday working.
A letter from CWU assistant secretary Mark Baulch says staff have instead been told to “only focus on the delivery of parcels, tracked items and special delivery”.
In response Royal Mail said: “At particularly busy times, such as in the recovery days after a strike, we may occasionally at a local level clear parcels to free up space and address health and safety concerns so that we can keep all mail, including letters, moving efficiently.”
Royal Mail strikes join National Highways Border Force, NHS Nurses, Ambulance Staff and DVLA employees and rail workers who have all staged strikes in December.
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There is at least one walkout a day before the end of the year over industries seeking better pay and working conditions.
Royal Mail said it had “well-developed contingency plans” to deal with losses during the strikes by acknowledging that these “cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce”.
The service did promise to “prioritise the delivery of Covid test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible”, alongside other Tracked24 parcels.
Royal Mail urged the CMU to “call off their strike action” claiming the union had “consistently refused our offer”.
It added: “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.”
CWU general secretary Dave Ward, said: “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.”
