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Postal strike escalates
Ben Bailey14 Jul 2009
Thousands of postal workers across the UK are to strike on Friday in a worsening row over jobs, pay and services, threatening the worst disruption to deliveries for years, it was announced today.
The Communication Workers Union said more than 12,000 of its members in cities ranging from London and Edinburgh to Bristol and Plymouth will walk out for 24 hours.
The action will be the latest stage in a series of strikes which have hit parts of the UK in recent weeks and is now threatening to escalate into a national dispute.
The union has accused Royal Mail of cutting the pay and jobs of postal workers without agreement and of reducing services.
Dave Ward, the union's deputy general secretary said: "There are serious and growing problems in the postal sector which urgently need resolving.
"We have renewed our offer of a three-month no-strike deal to Royal Mail in return for meaningful talks over modernisation.
"The current cuts, bullying managers and ever-increasing workloads on a shrinking workforce cannot continue.
"Pressure and stress is at breaking point for postal workers."
The union accused Royal Mail of abandoning the final phase of a deal which ended a national strike in 2007, claiming there had been no negotiations over changes to working practices.
Workers taking part in Friday's strike include those based in London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Darlington, Stoke-on-Trent, Plymouth, Norfolk and Essex.
The union will also deliver protest letters to the Royal Mail's chief executive, Adam Crosier, and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, and will release thousands of balloons over Royal Mail workplaces across the UK as part of a day of action.
The union said it was receiving an "ever-growing" number of requests for industrial action from postal workers across the country.
Around 400 ballot requests have already been made and Mr Ward warned that without progress the dispute would turn into a national strike.
Reader views (5)
So my delivery will take 5 days to reach me due to the strike action. So what else is new?? It's like the miners striking in the face of the overwhelming fact that their industry was dying. Maybe they should just keep pumping in money to let posties sit around and navel-gaze all day, should they?
- Bernard Heorge, Burgess Hill, 06/08/2009 17:11
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Welcome to the real world, everyone else is taking paycuts and redundancies, what makes you think that you are exempt. With email systems there can't be so much mail about, remember last year over 100 post offices were closed. Get real!
- C Cusano, Bedford, 06/08/2009 16:11
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Has there been a postal strike? Who knew?
- Bob, Cheam, 06/08/2009 16:11
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Sorry friends, but Mandelson and Crosier, will not help you, they want total disruption at The Royal Mail, so that they can ride in and privatise it, they will try every devious method in the book to get their way, just see what sympathy you get from a private owner.
- David Crocket, Bradford , UK., 06/08/2009 16:11
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Something our posties might like to take note of. The result of the last major disruption was the rise of the courier and private postal firms, which had a direct impact on RMG business and a knock-on on staffing requirements. So, if people can't trust the integrity of the post, they'll find other ways of delivering snailmail. To strike therefore may well lead to reduced jobs.
- Matthew, london, 06/08/2009 16:11
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