Royal Mail strike could delay Christmas post

The Communication Workers' Union(CWU) has made clear that it will maintain and intensify industrial action unless a deal can be reached on pay, pensions and new shift patterns.

Postal services have been paralysed since Thursday of last week when the first of two 48-hour stoppages was imposed.

The second 48-hour stoppage is due to run until Wednesday morning, creating huge problems and costs for thousands of small businesses.

However, the CWU has made clear it is planning to repeat the action, with a series of stoppages every week through the crucial Christmas postal system.

The cost of the current industrial action has been put at as much as £50 million in terms of orders for businesses that have been disrupted and delayed.

This could well escalate to create a black hole of £250 million in Royal Mail's income if it runs through until Christmas.

The Royal Mail currently delivers around 82 million items a day, however this normally rises to around 135 million a day around Christmas.

During a normal Christmas, the Post Office fails to deliver a significant proportion of First Class mail - around 30per cent - the following day. If industrial action is added to the equation, this will lead to a huge backlog.

Amazon, the online retailer which posts up to 600,000 books, CDs and other goods a day, said that it was struggling to cope with the strike but was already using alternative mail services.

DX, one of Royal Mail's biggest rivals, has taken on more than 100 staff to cope with a 25per cent increase in orders.

Chief operating officer, James Greenbury, said: 'Since this strike began we've had a lot of new business from the City and financial services industry, in particular – but also from holiday companies and ticket agencies who need to make sure customers get their tickets.'

The CWU has rejected a 2.5 per cent pay offer and is fighting off modernisation plans which change shift patterns and lead to 40,000 job losses.

Talks have continued between the union and Royal Mail chiefs over the weekend.

Royal Mail chiefs claim support for the strike is crumbling. It said that some 35,000 people turned up for work as normal during the first 24 hours of the 48 hour stoppage. That is around a third of those who were due to be at work.

A spokesman said: "Royal Mail desperately needs to modernise and improve its efficiency. A key part of this is simply asking our people to work all the hours they are already paid to work across the working week and to use the equipment Royal Mail is investing in."

The CWU said the shake-up amounts to the dismantling of the Royal Mail service. Its proposals including shifting most daily deliveries until the afternoon and axeing Sunday collections from post boxes.

"These changes will actually take the service backwards," said a spokesman.

"The strikes will not be called off until an agreement is reached."