Royal Mail workers on Thursday walked out again on a national strike on Thursday, ahead of a potential 18 more days of industrial action in the next two months, with parent company International Distributions Services PLC (LSE:IDS) telling customers to anticipate delays to parcels and letters – with Black Friday and Christmas likely to be impacted.
Approximately 115,000 staff are taking action on pay and working conditions in what is the largest national strike of any sector this year.
What days will be affected?
13, 20, 25 October and 28 November: Likely to be the worst disrupted days as delivery and collection staff are involved, as well as parcel and letter handlers.
Special delivery letters will be delivered, while medical prescriptions and Covid tests will be prioritised but delays are still to be expected.
3, 9, 15, 24 November and 1 December: Processing, distribution, international, collections and admin workers all to walk out.
4, 10, 16, 25 November and 2 December: Expected to just involve delivery workers, so collections from post boxes and Post Offices should take place.
2, 8, 14, 23 and 30 November: "Network" staff strike but delivery and collection workers should be on the job.
Other UK strike action in next month
21 October: A GMB ballot of 100,000 local government workers closes.
2 November: A strike ballot of Royal College of Nursing members closes.
11 November: Ballot of sixth-form teachers over a pay dispute closes.
11 November: Ballot of Royal College of Midwives members opens.
Unannounced date: Strike ballots of GMB union members in all 10 ambulance trusts in England will be held.
Gatwick Mail Centre as strong as ever. Another fantastic turn out, good to see great support again! ????✊ #StandByYourPost pic.twitter.com/YX54P8Kmnb
— The CWU (@CWUnews) October 13, 2022
Why are strikes happening?
The decision follows the union’s ballot for strike action over pay, which saw members vote by 97.6% to take action.
The CWU union is demanding that Royal Mail make an adequate pay award that covers the current cost of living increases for its members.
Management "imposed" a 2% pay rise on employees, the union said, but with inflation above 10% and potentially rising higher these levels of pay are resulting in "a dramatic reduction in workers’ living standards".