Stay information updates: UK postal employees to strike for 19 days in subsequent two months

UK postal employees are set to strike for an additional 19 days over the subsequent two months in an escalating dispute with Royal Mail over phrases and situations.

The Communication Staff Union, which represents some 115,000 employees on the former state monopoly, stated on Tuesday night that the motion could be a mixture of single days and rolling motion and would cowl peak durations corresponding to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the build-up to Christmas.

The walkouts will add to the disruption attributable to a wave of business motion throughout the UK’s transport community, whereas unions representing lecturers, medical doctors, nurses and civil servants are additionally making ready to poll their members on strike motion over below-inflation public sector pay offers.

Royal Mail, which has already warned its UK postal service will probably be “materially lossmaking” this 12 months on account of industrial motion, stated it had invited the CWU to enter talks by Acas, the conciliation physique, with out response.

“Additional strikes and resistance to transformation by CWU will solely make our monetary place worse and threatens the long-term job safety of our postmen and ladies,” the corporate stated.

The CWU stated it was appearing in response to the “outrageous” choice by Royal Mail’s administration to withdraw from nationwide agreements with the union whereas pushing forward with cuts to employees’ phrases and situations.

The corporate stated final week that it deliberate to “evaluation or serve discover on a variety of historic agreements and insurance policies” that it claims the union is utilizing to “frustrate transformation”. 

Dave Ward, CWU normal secretary, stated the union’s announcement of recent strike dates was “vital” however “matches the extent of anger our members really feel” on the means the corporate had handled them.