Royal Mail workers to strike again on 16 February

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64504668

Royal Mail postal workers will walk out again later this month in an ongoing row over pay and conditions, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said.

About 115,000 workers will strike from 12:30pm on Thursday 16 February, until 12.30pm on Friday 17 February.

Mail deliveries are likely to be disrupted again, as seen during similar strikes last year in the run-up to Christmas.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said the CWU's action was "misguided".

The fresh action comes as workers in various sectors seek pay rises in line with the rising cost of living.

Royal Mail workers staged several strikes at the end of last year, in a move which cost the firm millions at one of the busiest times of the year for parcel deliveries.

Royal Mail: Views from both sides of the picket line
As the dispute over pay and conditions rumbles on, the CWU's Dave Ward said that Royal Mail management had shown a "complete lack of integrity".

He added that recent proposed changes by Royal Mail effectively remove the right of the union to negotiate at a local level and "viewed as a real step towards the derecognition of the union".

"Our members will not just sit back and watch as their working lives are destroyed by a company leadership hell-bent on ripping up historic arrangements that protect their rights and give them a voice through their union," Mr Ward said.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We entered facilitated talks... in good faith, believing that the CWU were serious in their claim that they wanted a resolution.

"In announcing further damaging strike action, the CWU have shown they are not interested in resolving this dispute and continue to focus on damaging our business further."

Royal Mail has offered a pay deal which it says is worth up to 9% over 18 months. However, the CWU says its members want more, given that inflation - the rate at which prices rise - is at a record high.

The union also objects to Royal Mail's proposed changes to working conditions, including the introduction of compulsory Sunday working.

Royal Mail's management says these changes are necessary in an increasingly competitive deliveries market.

"We need to agree on changes to make our business more competitive. That is the only way to secure well-paid, long-term job security for our people," a Royal Mail spokesperson added.

Royal Mail recently restarted the export of parcels after recovering from a cyber-attack in January.

Separately, the firm's chief executive Simon Thompson will be quizzed for a second time by MPs after "hundreds" of complaints were made about the accuracy of evidence he gave to a committee last month.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee said doubts were raised after Mr Thompson denied the firm tracked workers' productivity through their handheld computers, and also questioned his denial that Royal Mail prioritised parcels.

[marcus10111]

They haven't actually cleared backlog from previous strike or cyber attack. RM is a failing business, with a market share in freefall and the staff with zero focus on customers and the staff want a massive payrise. The staff and union need to wake up, you think Evri/Hermes etc have conditions as good as this?

[pieoftheday]

Well if Evr etc have it crap then we might as well

[marcus10111]

RM staff need to understand that they aren't protected in a public sector monopoly anymore, people can use other couriers and RM need to compete for their market share. Its makes zero business sense to improve pay and conditions when the overall business is shrinking. As a shareholder Evri etc. have a far superior business model despite being at a massive disadvantage to RM in terms of brand loyalty, access to planes, rail etc. and links to post office.

[SpacePhoenix]

They haven't actually cleared backlog from previous strike or cyber attack. RM is a failing business, with a market share in freefall and the staff with zero focus on customers and the staff want a massive payrise. The staff and union need to wake up, you think Evri/Hermes etc have conditions as good as this?

No backlog left from the strikes, not seen any from the cyber attack, unless that's being held somewhere

[marcus10111]

space phoenix thats interesting and good that strike backlog is cleared but i'm told cyber backlog is at heathrow and is 1m+ letters, does that sound unlikely do you think and it might be less?

[SpacePhoenix]

space phoenix thats interesting and good that strike backlog is cleared but i'm told cyber backlog is at heathrow and is 1m+ letters, does that sound unlikely do you think and it might be less?

1m+ letters seems very unlikely as letters AFAIK never require any sort of customs form

[Baldie1]

RM staff need to understand that they aren't protected in a public sector monopoly anymore, people can use other couriers and RM need to compete for their market share. Its makes zero business sense to improve pay and conditions when the overall business is shrinking. As a shareholder Evri etc. have a far superior business model despite being at a massive disadvantage to RM in terms of brand loyalty, access to planes, rail etc. and links to post office.

Evri are so good they named it twice

[marcus10111]

i hope you're right spacephoenix although i had to fill out a customs form for my intl tracked large letter

[PeterR]

No backlog left from the strikes, not seen any from the cyber attack, unless that's being held somewhere

There certainly is backlog. RM brought back selected Signed and then Tracked international services last week and at the beginning of this week. Yet people are still reporting pre-cyber-attack delayed international mail either not moved or only now moving. The sack of International Tracked I sent on Monday has not been tracked apart from the original scan of the manifest at the Post Office.

See https://www.reddit.com/r/royalmail/ and see how bitter customers, like the ones whose December international parcels are still delayed, are at the idea that RM staff are qoing to strike again.

Also check out the relevant threads at https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/foru ... -on-amazon

There are similar forums for Etsy, I believe.

[marcus10111]

thanks you for that Peter its useful (although those links make me even more depressed!). If RM haven't sorted int'l mail from pre-cyber before going on strike again that will not be a good look. It looks to the public that better conditions and pay are needed, but actually they don't care about the service anyway.

[Barnacle]

RM staff need to understand that they aren't protected in a public sector monopoly anymore, people can use other couriers and RM need to compete for their market share. Its makes zero business sense to improve pay and conditions when the overall business is shrinking. As a shareholder Evri etc. have a far superior business model despite being at a massive disadvantage to RM in terms of brand loyalty, access to planes, rail etc. and links to post office.

I’m sick of these false comparisons. Evri etc aren’t even the same type of business. They don’t deliver everywhere. We do. That’s our USP, and thanks to our USP, RM rakes in a fortune from direct mailing and leaflets. We also deliver for our so called competitors because of our USP.

RM staff don’t need to wake up, the owners of RM need to. We don’t need to be like Evri. Buy a parcel courier company like Evri if RM really wants a gig style parcel business. We need to keep being the company that reaches places others won’t.

[BuddyElf]

They haven't actually cleared backlog from previous strike or cyber attack. RM is a failing business, with a market share in freefall and the staff with zero focus on customers and the staff want a massive payrise. The staff and union need to wake up, you think Evri/Hermes etc have conditions as good as this?

RM are a failing business…so blame the union and the posties? Never mind the CEO used to run track and trace. Typical superficial BBC printing the company statement without any critique. Don’t believe all you read.

[marcus10111]

oh don't i firmly hold the management accountable as well don't worry! but if you're talking about striking to improve pay and conditions at the same time as the business is shrinking, that doesn't make sense and will not yield a long-term sustainable outcome.

[Royalman68]

The outdated union and its blinkered workforce need to wake up and smell the coffee. Otherwise, they will soon follow the fate of miners'.