Royal Mail employees leave in very first of 19 days of strikes

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Postal employees are leaving for 24 hours in the very first of 19 days of prepared strikes Royal Mail employees are holding the very first of 19 strikes in a long-running conflict over pay and conditions. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) stated 115,00 0 members throughout the UK would go out in a 24- hour strike on Thursday, beginning at 04: 00 BST. General Secretary Dave Ward stated employees dealt with the “greatest ever attack” on tasks, terms “in the history of Royal Mail”. Royal Mail stated even more strikes would “compromise” its monetary position. The prepared 19 days of commercial action consist of Black Friday week and Cyber Monday, along with 13, 20, and 25 October, and 28 November. Letters will not be provided and some parcels will be postponed, the Royal Mail has actually cautioned. This is the 6th strike for postal employees, and follows a summer season of discontent which saw rail employees and criminal lawyers go out in the middle of conflicts with their companies. The CWU has actually implicated Royal Mail of preparing structural modification. This would efficiently see staff members in safe, well-paid tasks developed into a “casualised, financially-precarious labor force over night”, stated the union. It stated strategies by the postal service consist of cutting employees’ ill pay, postponing arrival of post by 3 hours and inferior terms for brand-new workers. General Secretary Mr Ward stated the modifications might result in the “damage of the unique relationship that postal employees and the general public have in every neighborhood in the UK”. He explained the strategies as an “asset-stripping company strategy” that will cause the split of the business. Image source, PA Media Image caption, Royal Mail employees installed picket lines at previous strikes over the summer season Royal Mail stated it would do what it might to keep services running, however the strike was most likely to trigger disturbance. No letters will be provided throughout strike days, stated Royal Mail, however as lots of unique shipment and Tracked24 parcels as possible would be provided. It likewise stated it would prioritise the shipment of Covid-19 test sets and medical prescriptions. A Royal Mail representative stated: “Royal Mail is losing ₤ 1m a day and need to alter quicker in reaction to altering client needs.” Industrial action will threaten the task security of postal employees, stated Royal Mail, contacting the leaders of CWU to cancel the walk-out and accept invites for talks. Royal Mail apologised for any hold-ups to clients, including: “We are doing all we can to reduce any hold-ups and keep individuals, companies and the nation linked.”
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