The government has responded with the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which proposes to mandate a minimum level of service during industrial action from public services, with unions being sued if they fail to comply. Royal Mail workers, represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have accepted a deal that will end a 14 month dispute over pay and conditions. Industrial action will threaten the job security of postal workers, said Royal Mail, calling on the leaders of CWU to cancel the walk-out and accept invitations for talks. 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.
Complete digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Nathan Clements, chief people officer at food service company SSP Group, said the dispute served as a reminder of the importance of communication. Staff will get a 10% pay rise over three years and a one-off lump sum of £500.
“Once the relationship is ‘broken’ there needs to be a reset, refresh and a coming together after the dispute is resolved,” he said. Several professions have gone on strike in the past year, including teachers, junior doctors, rail workers, nurses, passport office staff and civil servants. He described the plans as an “asset-stripping business plan” that will lead to the break-up of the company. Letters will not be delivered and some parcels will be delayed, the Royal Mail has warned.
More walkouts in the post: Royal Mail faces industrial action after talks with union collapse
See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times. He said employers should try and maintain direct communication with their employees. The bill is reaching its final stages, with the consideration of Lords message due to occur next week (17 July).
Seasonal working proposals would also be changed so that employees would work around two hours less a week in the summer, and two hours more in the winter. No letters will be delivered during strike days, said Royal Mail, but as many special delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible would be delivered. Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. In order to rebuild employee relations following strikes, and prevent further disputes, Clements said HR teams need to ensure any remaining frustration is dealt with.” The union said this would erode workers’ rights and rely on casual labour.
- However, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) is understood to be preparing to announce it will reject the terms in its dispute over pay and conditions.
- Nathan Clements, chief people officer at food service company SSP Group, said the dispute served as a reminder of the importance of communication.
- Check whether you already have access via your university or organisation.
- It means the CWU’s 10 days of strike action will go ahead, meaning its 115,000 members will walkout on November 24, 25, and 30 as well as December 1, 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.
- Its silence leaves Ward’s intervention exposed – and it is his members, more than half of whom did not vote, who now shoulder the consequences.
Royal Mail settles dispute after 14 months of strikes
The episode underscores just how thin the truce really is. What was billed as a turning point already risks becoming another flashpoint if the promised cultural overhaul fails to materialise. Old fears of Křetínský as an asset-stripper have resurfaced. The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee has been especially vocal, calling the takeover – endorsed by CWU leaders and the Labour government – a façade for austerity and exploitation.
The company has also confirmed it would be committing to no compulsory redundancies until the end of March next year, at the earliest. Royal Mail added it could offer to buy out a number of legacy allowances, make Sunday work voluntary, and stagger the introduction of later start and finishing times over three years. Unite members at the James Walker factory in Cockermouth vote to reject an “insulting” pay offer. Workers have been offered a new pay deal at Leonardo, which runs the UK’s only helicopter factory. Check whether you already have access via your university or organisation.
Royal Mail makes ‘best and final offer’ as industrial action confirmed for this week
The planned 19 days of industrial action include Black Friday week and Cyber Monday, as well as 13, 20, and 25 October, and 28 November. The deal, which was reached in April after 18 strike dates, has won 67% of the union’s vote. Platinum Jubilee bunting fluttered, but beneath it inflation rose; energy bills spiked and groceries rose by the week.
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This new offer includes an enhanced pay deal of up to nine per cent over 18 months, making voluntary redundancy terms more generous, and offering to develop a new profit share scheme for employees. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have held a series of strikes in recent weeks which the company said had cost £100 million. A new, 48-hour strike is set to be held at the end of this week, on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25.
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. The company said despite 11 months of discussions with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents around 115,000 postal workers, no agreement had been reached. Royal Mail bosses have warned union leaders that if the strikes go ahead, previously tabled deals on pay and working conditions will be withdrawn. However, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) is understood to be preparing to announce it will reject the terms in its dispute over pay and conditions.
- They argue Křetínský is steering Royal Mail towards a low-cost, parcel-driven model of job cuts and “value extraction”, not investment in a universal service.
- The eventual deal – a 10 per cent rise and a one-off £500 lump sum – passed with 76 per cent support.
- The company has also confirmed it would be committing to no compulsory redundancies until the end of March next year, at the earliest.
- Royal Mail workers are holding the first of 19 strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
- 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.
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Inside sorting offices, staff faced job cuts, longer rounds, and intrusive scanners that tracked their every pause. Royal Mail’s new handheld devices promised efficiency but delivered only exhaustion, cuts, and control. It was the cost of living crisis that pushed those pressures to breaking point, not idleness. If a deal is not reached the 507-year-old postal service could be placed into administration. Royal Mail said it had increased its offer for workers to a 10 per cent pay rise over three years, with a lump sum of either £500 or £1,500. A source said further walkouts were almost guaranteed, following the 18 days of strike action last year.
Royal Mail was sinking into steep losses; postal workers into weeks of lost wages, cancelled holidays, sudden arrears. The eventual deal – a 10 per cent rise and a one-off £500 lump sum – passed with 76 per cent support. One of the longest and most bitter industrial disputes in Royal Mail’s modern history ended not in victory, but compromise. In July 2022, Royal Mail PLC quietly rebranded as International Distribution Services PLC – a move widely read as the prelude to splitting off its jewel, the profitable parcels arm GLS, from its burden, the loss-making UK postal service. Its silence leaves Ward’s intervention exposed – and it is his members, more than half of whom did not vote, who now shoulder the consequences.
They argue Křetínský is steering Royal Mail towards a low-cost, parcel-driven model of job cuts and “value extraction”, not investment in a universal service. It was about whether one of Britain’s last public goods could survive under private, and now foreign, ownership. Companies across the UK are facing a surge in industrial action as soaring inflation fuels pay claims while labor remains scarce. Additionally, the union intends to continue its strike through the Christmas season, which is expected to result in significant losses for the business. Royal Mail announced its plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs by the end of August 2023, attributing the decision to ongoing staff strikes that contributed to the first-half loss in 2022.
Royal Mail’s decision came after employees staged the first of 19 planned walkouts in the run-up to Christmas. The worker’s strikes in the past few months caused delays in delivering agreed productivity improvements, and lower parcel volumes, resulting in losses for the company. Talks between health unions and the minister are ongoing after unions rejected a renewed pay offer and said they will ballot for industrial action. Royal Mail workers are holding the first of 19 strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
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”. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. It means the CWU’s 10 days of strike What Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average action will go ahead, meaning its 115,000 members will walkout on November 24, 25, and 30 as well as December 1, 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.