Striking postal workers from a Stoke Newington delivery depot have praised the local community’s support for the strike, despite disruption to Christmas services.
More than 115,000 Royal Mail workers were on strike yesterday (15 December) as part of an escalating row over pay, job security and working conditions.
The protest marked the eighth of ten days of industrial action planned for the winter period by the Communication Workers Union (CWU).
Matt Wood, a postman and CWU representative for the Stoke Newington Delivery Office, in East Bank, told the Hackney Gazette that yesterday’s picket line received “pretty good support”, with “quite a few toots from the roadside”.
He said the strike action, which has caused huge disruption to postal services in the run up to Christmas, was necessary despite workers “losing money every day that we’re on strike”.
“Everybody seems to think we're getting strike pay. We’re losing money and we're hurting but we're not prepared to give in. Because if we give in now, it'd be far more than just a day's pay that we lose,” he added.
The CWU are striking over proposed changes to working conditions including later shift finish times, reduced sick pay, increased casualisation of contracts, and a movement away from letters towards parcels.
The union has rejected Royal Mail’s self-styled “best and final” offer of a 9% pay rise over 18 months.
Colleague Chima Elefor, deputy CWU representative, emphasised that staff would “rather go back to work and deliver to people”.
“The [working] terms and conditions that they're [Royal Mail] trying to destroy has left us with no option but to strike. It's a shame,” he said.
After forming a picket line at the Stoke Newington delivery office yesterday morning, both Matt and Chima attended the rally outside Homerton hospital in support of striking nurses.
Matt said: “It’s important to show that the nurses’ fight is part of the same fight, it’s all part of working people not getting what they deserve.”
Further action scheduled for 23 and 24 December.
December 16 is the last day households can post first class letters and parcels for them to be delivered in time for Christmas.