Post Office workers stage fresh strike
Thousands of Post Office workers are today staging a pay strike, which comes after separate industrial action by postal workers was called off last week.
In the latest walkout to hit Britain’s postal service, staff employed at crown post office branches are striking after 5,500 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) rejected a two-year pay freeze proposed by the Post Office.
The union says that 465 crown post offices were affected last Monday 13th August.
A similar strike is also planned for Wednesday 15th August, with staff also disgruntled at plans to close 70 crown post office branches – main branches sited on the UK’s high streets – and transfer services to retailer WH Smith.
At the centre of the dispute are Royal Mail’s modernization plans, which union leaders claim will result in the loss of up to 40,000 jobs.
The CWU claimed last week that the plans involved “significant changes including later delivery start times and permanent reductions in customer services” and represented an “unnecessary attack on postal workers’ jobs, pay and conditions”.
However Royal Mail has said that the union is “ignoring the harsh commercial reality” of the UK postal market, which was recently opened up to full competition.
The postal services provider insists that modernization is necessary because it is losing business to rivals who have more efficient operations and lower prices.
