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Families will have one less week to post Christmas presents to loved ones elsewhere in the country this year as strike action brings the postal service to its knees.
Royal Mail has brought forward the last date for guaranteed festive deliveries by a week. It now recommends sending first class post by December 16 and second class post by December 12 to ensure it arrives in time for Christmas, compared to December 19 and December 21 previously.
The company has brought forward its recommended posting dates to help cope with planned strike action by members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on December 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer of Royal Mail, accused the union, which represents 110,000 postal workers, of “holding Christmas to ransom”.
He added: “We apologise to our customers for any disruption and delay that the CWU strike action is causing. We ask our customers to post early for Christmas to help us deliver Christmas.”
Royal Mail is at odds with the CWU over pay and working conditions. Bosses are trying to overhaul the 500-year-old business into a parcels-led company to try and compete against rivals such as Amazon. They say the business is losing £1m a day, making the status quo untenable.
The new guidance on Christmas posting came as industry regulator Ofcom warned Royal Mail it can no longer use the pandemic as an excuse for late deliveries, saying it has by now had “plenty of time” to learn from the disruption.
Strikes by post men and women are part of a wave of industrial action amid the cost of living crisis, with nurses, teachers and rail workers among the sectors planning disruption.
On Friday the Transport Salaried Staff Association served notice for strike action at a further six train operating companies and Network Rail just hours after meetings with rail minister Huw Merriman. Nine companies will now be affected by strike action by the union on Saturday December 17 as part of a long-running row over jobs, pay and conditions
Meanwhile, Heathrow baggage handlers have voted to strike for three days from December 16 in a dispute over pay with employer Menzies. The Unite union said it would trigger disruption for flights leaving Heathrow Terminals 2, 3 and 4, affecting airlines including Air Canada and American Airlines.
Laura Joseph, Post Office customer experience director, urged people to post presents early to avoid a rush around the day of the last Christmas post.
“December 12 is now likely to be even busier in Post Office branches as customers race to take advantage of the cheaper postage as this is now the last recommended date for sending second-class parcels to arrive for Christmas,” she said.
“As soon as you’ve got your parcels ready to go, don’t wait to come into branch and get them in the post – many Post Office branches are open long hours and some are open seven days a week so pop into your local branch and get your gifts sent in time for Christmas.”
Customers can still use Royal Mail’s Special Delivery Guaranteed service up until Dec 21 if they are prepared to pay, however.
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