This was supported by 10% growth in Royal Mail despite weaker than expected parcel revenues over the period. EP Group specialises in buying up undervalued assets and injecting capital to make long-term profits. The deal has been leveraged through the borrowings of £2.3 billion from major investors who will demand their pound of flesh from the workforce. Ward’s claim that the CWU’s “engagement plan” is about mobilising the members’ “collective strength” to “protect jobs and terms and conditions” at Royal Mail is farcical.
Grim determination & solid unity among CWU Royal Mail reps
Significant disruption is still likely on the dates below, but as not all staff are involved Royal Mail says it will only affect « parts of our operation ». Post Offices will stay open and offer their usual services but Royal Mail collections will be limited. The Postal Executive is recommending a YES vote top 18 best day trading stocks in 2021 and, last week the union broadcast a live question and answer session dealing with the full range of issues. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders.
- This de facto pay cut has transformed Royal Mail into a minimum-wage employer with the hourly rate for new entrants standing at just 54 pence above the current National Living Wage.
- Royal Mail workers are also walking out on several other crucial days over the busy shopping and Christmas period.
- Pip Haywood, managing director of online card company Thortful, has calculated that each day of action is costing the firm up to £50,000 a day.
The union criticised Royal Mail’s « aggressive » stance over the talks and called for an improved pay deal, a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies and other improvements to the offer. So the company wants to switch its focus to parcels and in particular to next-day parcel delivery. They apologised « to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU’s continued strike action will cause ». « Further strikes and resistance to transformation by CWU will only make our financial position worse, and threatens the long-term job security of our postmen and women. » It says strikes have added £100m to its losses, and has announced plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs. It also objects to proposed changes to working conditions, such as ending a number of allowances and the introduction of compulsory Sunday working.
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Further action appeared to be on the cards when results of the CWU’s latest ballot on 21 February showed almost 96 per cent of workers were prepared to strike again. Royal Mail workers are also walking out on several other crucial days over the busy shopping and Christmas period. All the dates of Royal Mail strikes for November and December, and how your post will be affected. Its other efforts to reduce costs have already resulted in thousands of job losses through voluntary redundancy. « Fewer customers means a smaller business and means we need fewer people », the source said. Special Delivery mail will still be prioritised « as resources allow » but the usual next-day guarantees are being suspended and customers can’t claim compensation for delays.
When are postal workers striking again?
The dispute has been going on since the summer and like all the industrial action across rail, the NHS, teachers, border staff and driving examiners, pay is a key issue. As well as holding strikes this week, 115,000 Royal Mail workers from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will also take industrial action on 23 December and Christmas Eve. General Secretary Mr Ward said the changes could lead to the « destruction of the special relationship that postal workers and the public have in every community in the UK ».
« Should the CWU announce further strike action, we have plans to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as possible to keep people, businesses and the country connected. » Royal Mail says tezos news analysis and price prediction eight days of strike action has cost it £100m while striking posties have each lost, on average, £1,000. Royal Mail also wants to end the extra payments that postal workers get for doing things like driving bigger trucks. Postal workers I’ve spoken to say they’d lose £50 a week if those allowances were to end. Thousands of postal workers have begun a 48-hour strike in the run-up to Black Friday after talks between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) ended without agreement.
Royal Mail workers walked out again on Wednesday, marking the third of six Trading insurance strike days across the festive season. This would effectively see employees in secure, well-paid jobs turned into a « casualised, financially-precarious workforce overnight », said the union. In every country the union bureaucracy is working with management and governments to block or isolate opposition to the prioritisation of profits and increased competitiveness. Through the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and- File Committees the PWRFC and its affiliates are waging a fight to unify these struggles against the race to the bottom.
It said plans by the postal service include cutting workers’ sick pay, delaying arrival of post by three hours and inferior terms for new employees. This is the sixth strike for postal workers, and comes after a summer of unrest which saw rail workers and criminal barristers walk out amid disputes with their employers. Royal Mail workers are holding the first of 19 strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. The Chancellor revealed a £25.7 billion change to employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) in the Budget, which would increase the rate of the tax and reduce the threshold at which firms must pay. The firm said a £134 million write-down linked to the national insurance increase has stopped it returning to profit for the past six months. The CWU rejected the offer describing the company’s plans as the « Uberisation » of the postal service.