Postal workers in the UK launch Black Friday strike as industrial action sweeps the country

LONDON — Thousands of postal staff within the U.Ok. are on a two-day strike, disrupting Black Friday after talks between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union fell by.

Leaders of the commerce union, which represents round 115,000 putting postal staff, re-entered negotiations with Royal Mail executives early final month, with talks now having spanned seven months.

However, Royal Mail Group — not too long ago renamed International Distributions Services on the London Stock Exchange — stated in a press release Wednesday that it had tabled its “best and final offer” and accused the union of “holding Christmas to ransom.”

The CWU has introduced 10 additional days of strike motion up till Christmas Eve, of which 4 have been formally notified, with the final falling on Dec. 1.

In October, Royal Mail revealed plans to chop as much as 10,000 jobs by subsequent summer time and posted a half-year adjusted working lack of £219 million ($265.3 million), and CEO Simon Thompson stated the strikes had already added £100 million to the corporate’s losses thus far this yr. IDS shares have fallen greater than 58% because the begin of the yr.

“In a materially loss-making company, with every additional day of strike action we are facing the difficult choice of whether we spend our money on pay and protecting jobs, or on the cost of strikes,” Thompson stated Wednesday.

“The CWU’s planned strike action is holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families across the country, and is putting their own members’ jobs at risk.”

The union on Wednesday stated it met with Royal Mail executives, however claimed Thompson didn’t attend. In a press release, the CWU warned of “the end of Royal Mail as we know it.”

Royal Mail claims its newest supply consists of an enhanced pay deal of as much as 9% over 18 months, a brand new revenue share program for workers, a block on obligatory redundancies till the tip of March 2023 and an enchancment to voluntary redundancy packages.

However, the union accused the corporate’s executives of “turning Royal Mail Group into a gig economy-style parcel courier, reliant on casual labour,” imposing obligatory redundancies on postal staff whereas retaining company employees on decrease pay, and providing a “wholly inadequate, non-backdated 3.5% pay increase.”

It additionally stated the deal on the desk included cuts to sick pay, elimination of a Sunday premium cost, later begin and ending occasions and the “introduction of technology that will monitor postal workers every minute of the day.”

“We will not accept that 115,000 Royal Mail workers — the people who kept us connected during the pandemic, and made millions in profit for bosses and shareholders — take such a devastating blow to their livelihoods,” stated CWU General Secretary Dave Ward.

“These proposals spell the end of Royal Mail as we know it, and its degradation from a national institution into an unreliable, Uber-style gig economy company.”

Postal staff in August voted overwhelmingly in favor of strike motion in protest at pay and situations, after Royal Mail initially imposed a 2% pay improve on staff whereas U.Ok. inflation was heading towards double digits. U.Ok. inflation hit 11.1% in October.

The union is looking for an improved 18-month pay deal, a assure of no obligatory redundancies and an “alternative business strategy that would see Royal Mail Group use its competitive advantage to grow as a company, instead of becoming a gig economy parcel employer.”

Strikes throughout sectors

Workers throughout the private and non-private sectors are putting within the U.Ok. over pay, working situations and pensions, with inflation working at its highest stage for over 40 years and the unbiased Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) final week projecting the steepest fall in dwelling requirements since data started.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that a median of 19,500 working days per thirty days had been misplaced to industrial motion in 2019, however this has risen because the Covid-19 pandemic, and hit 87,600 in July 2022.

Rail strikes have introduced the nation’s practice providers to a digital standstill on a number of days all year long, and the RMT union, whose members work for Network Rail and 14 different practice operators, not too long ago voted in favor of 4 extra 48-hour rail strikes within the run-up to Christmas.

The Royal College of Nursing not too long ago introduced that its members will stage walkouts by the tip of the yr for the primary time in its 106-year historical past.

The British Medical Association will maintain a poll in January for junior docs in England over a pay deal that might supply them a 2% improve this yr, whereas 18,000 ambulance staff represented by the sizeable GMB and Unite unions are presently voting on strike motion.

Scottish academics held industrial motion on Thursday which closed the overwhelming majority of faculties in Scotland, additionally demanding a ten% pay rise, and a number of other U.Ok.-wide academics’ unions representing a complete of greater than 400,000 academics and help employees are holding ballots which shut in January.

Telecoms staff staged strike motion for the primary time in additional than 30 years in July in protest over pay, together with extra dates in August and October, whereas airline baggage handlers walked out for 3 days on Nov. 18.

Around 100,000 civil servants, together with Border Force officers, additionally not too long ago voted to strike over the Christmas interval, demanding a ten% pay improve.