UK's CWU union announces two 48-hour Royal Mail strikes in October

Postal workers will stage two 48-hour strikes on Oct 5-6 and Oct 8-9 in the next stage of their dispute with Royal Mail over job cuts and pay, the Communication Workers Union has announced.

The workers will also start a rolling program of strikes from Oct 15 and continuing weekly until the dispute is resolved, the union said.

CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said the strikes were a proportionate response to Royal Mail’s actions.

“The workforce has had enough of Royal Mail messing them around,” he said. “We’re not going to tolerate an employer that ignores its workforce, ignores the union and ignores its customers.” Earlier this month the union rejected the latest package put forward by Royal Mail, which consisted of a 6.7 pct increase on basic pay over two years, because of a disagreement over working hours. The pay offer comprised the 2.5 pct increase originally proposed for this year, plus a further 0.5 pct from money accrued in “share of savings schemes” and an additional 800 stg if targets are met.

Royal Mail condemned the strike action, saying it is clear that the CWU leadership does not begin to understand the challenges facing Royal Mail and the very serious consequences for the business if we do not push ahead and modernize.

“We have been negotiating with the CWU over pay and flexibility since March 2007 and, as a result of the CWU decision to return to strike action, we will now begin to make the changes that we have been discussing with the union and our people for many months,” it said in a statement.