Start of Royal Mail strike looms

A two-week campaign of staggered strike action throughout Royal Mail is set to begin at 1900 BST.

Each division within the firm has been allocated a different day to strike, in a move designed to cause continuous disruption throughout the period.

Union members are protesting over pay and job losses which they say will come from the modernization of the firm.

Royal Mail says the changes are needed for it to stay competitive and vowed to keep delivering mail during the action.

The first action will see staff at Post Offices and Royal Mail sorting offices walk out in a 24-hour strike.

Royal Mail called the Communication Workers Union’s (CWU) decision “hugely disappointing”, but said it could not change its position. It also said it would have contingency arrangements in place.

The strikes will see each section of the company, from the sorting and collection centers to those who make the deliveries, walking out for two separate 24-hour strikes over two weeks.

The move is designed to cause continuous disruption to the nation’s postal service throughout the period at a “minimum cost” to CWU members, union officials say.

The union says the action reflects its growing frustration with the Royal Mail for its failure to take worker demands for job protection and increased pay “seriously”.

The CWU fears 40,000 jobs will go as a result of increased mechanizations of the system. It is also objecting to a 2.5 pct pay offer.

Union officials argue that they support modernization and the introduction of new technology and automation, but not in the manner that the Royal Mail has outlined.

The CWU says that automation and modernization can still be achieved without huge job cuts.

Royal Mail insists that change is essential if the business is going to survive against tough competition from a growing number of entrants in the UK mail market.

The group has recently made representations to the UK mail regulator Postcomm to be allowed to lift the price of its bulk business mail deliveries.

It says this will allow it to claw back some of the 40 pct of market share it has lost to rival operators since it lost its monopoly 18 months ago.

‘No pension decision’

Two 24-hour walkouts have been held in the last month – the first national industrial action at the Royal Mail for more than a decade.

Earlier this week Royal Mail denied a report that it plans to cut the pensions of 167,000 of its staff.

Staff would have to work for five more years before collecting their retirement pay, according to a company document published in the Daily Mirror.

Royal Mail said the document was “out of date” and that no decision on pension provision had yet been taken.

But a CWU spokesman said that the letter would “strengthen our resolve”.

“The plans are so detailed they would appear to have made up their mind already.”