CWU union announces dates for renewed post strikes

The postal workers’ CWU union has announced a new programme of strikes as part of its dispute with Royal Mail.

The first 48-hour stoppage will start on Friday 5 October and will involve all parts of the business, including delivery, mail centres and the network.

That action will be followed by all-out strikes on Monday and Tuesday of the following week.

The two sets of strike action, taken so close together, will have a massive effect on Royal Mail. It is exactly the kind of action that many leading CWU activists have been calling for.

These initial walkouts will be followed by action in the different functions starting on 15 October and continuing on a regular basis until Christmas.

“Strikes are a proportionate response to an employer that is completely out of control. Rather than running the business, Royal Mail’s actions demonstrate they are intent on destroying it,” says the CWU’s deputy general secretary Dave Ward.

“The workforce has had enough of Royal Mail messing them around. We’re not going to tolerate an employer that ignores its workforce, ignores the union and ignores its customers.”

In the last week the company has announced the following:

• Executive action on pension proposals.
• Imposition of later starts on the 8 October.
• Imposition of network changes on the 23 October.
• Cessation of Sunday collections on 28 October.
• Cessation of Employee Share of Savings scheme (ESOS) on the 10 October.