Strike action to affect services in run up to Christmas

ANYONE sending cards or parcels to friends and family in time for Christmas is advised to do so ahead of strike action by the Royal Mail.

Royal Mail workers began their strikes on Friday, September 30, and on Saturday, October 30, and more strikes are planned in the coming weeks.

Strike action has also been called on the following dates:

Thursday, October 13
Thursday, October 20
Tuesday, October 25
Monday, November 28

Further dates have also been announced by the CWU for functional strike action which impacts parts of Royal Mail’s operations:

• Processing, Distribution, International, Collections, Admin: 3, 9, 15, 24 November and 1 December 2022
• Delivery: 4, 10, 16, 25 November and 2 December 2022
• Network: 2, 8, 14, 23, 30 November 2022

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: “We’re sorry this strike action is likely to cause you some disruption. We will be working to get our services back to normal as quickly as possible.

“Royal Mail 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 you should expect significant disruption on dates when strike action is taking place.”

Royal Mail has also said that whilst strike action is taking place they will prioritise the delivery of COVID test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible.

They have also asked the public to post items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates.

National Rail has also announced strike action which will affect its services.

Strike action by both the ASLEF and RMT unions has already been held on Saturday (Oct 1) and more action is planned on:

• Wednesday 5 October 2022 (strike action by the ASLEF union)
• Saturday 8 October 2022 (strike action by the RMT union)

A spokesperson for National Rail said: “The rail industry is working hard to minimise the effect that this will have on our services but it is inevitable that services will be cancelled or severely disrupted. It is likely that there will be a very limited service on these days with no services at all on some routes.”

They have also said that services will also start later on Thursday 6 and Sunday 9 October and that customers are strongly encouraged to plan ahead and please check before travelling.