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oyal Mail has brought its final posting dates for Christmas forward by almost a week amid industrial action by its workers.
It has brought forward the final suggested date for sending second class post to December 12 from December 19, and for first class to December 16 from December 21.
Six days of strike action by CWU union members are due in December as part of a dispute over pay and conditions.
Last week, the union rejected a pay deal that Royal Mail said was its final offer. The company is facing 18 days of strikes this year if all the planned action takes place. It has said the eight days of strikes up until November 16 cost it £100m.
Delivery deadlines to international destinations have been brought forward, with the last being to Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on December 12.
Members of the CWU union are due to strike on December 9, 11, 14, 15, 23, and 24.
Speaking about the decision to strike, CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “Nobody takes the decision to strike lightly, but postal workers are being pushed to the brink. There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve.
“We can’t keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks. When Royal Mail bosses are raking in £758 million in profit, and shareholders pocketing £400 million, our members won’t accept pleas of poverty from the company.”
The delivery giant is expected to fall to a £350 million operating loss for the year after being hit by industrial action, its parent group International Distributions Services (IDS) said.
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Who owns Royal Mail?
Royal Mail is a public service that was managed under a government department.
In 2011, the Government passed the Postal Services Act, which gave the green light for 90 per cent of Royal Mail to be privatised, while 10 per cent remained with Royal Mail employees.
In 2013, Royal Mail was floated on the London Stock Exchange for the first time in its 500-year history.
The Government initially retained a 30 per cent stake in Royal Mail, but sold its remaining shares in 2015 under Chancellor George Osborne.
It is now a public limited company, meaning it is owned by shareholders. It trades on the FTSE 250 as RMG, having been demoted from the FTSE 100 in June this year.
“The Government’s decision on the sale is practical, it is logical, it is a commercial decision designed to put Royal Mail’s future on a long-term sustainable business,” the then-business minister Vince Cable said.
Royal Mail’s privatisation was controversial, and led to widespread strikes called by the CWU. The company’s share price also shot up after it was floated on the stock exchange, leading to accusations it had been undervalued by the Government.
The company’s biggest shareholder is Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, who controls the group Vesa Equity Investment.
Křetínský, who also has stakes in Sainsbury’s and West Ham United, became the largest shareholder at Royal Mail in 2020. The 46-year-old billionaire is known for keeping a low profile and has not commented publicly on the strikes.
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