Royal Mail relying on skeleton staff as 115,000 postal workers strike

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ers-strike

The company says 379 of its 1,200 delivery offices are processing mail, with ‘essential items’ the priority

Royal Mail has said it is relying on a skeleton staff to deliver only “essential items” after 115,000 postal workers went on strike in year’s biggest industrial action so far.

The 500-year-old postal service’s employees are striking on Friday, Wednesday next week and 8 and 9 September in a dispute over pay and working practices.

Royal Mail workers across Great Britain demonstrated on Friday morning, with picket lines in Dunfermline, Hull and Preston among other places.

In east London, striking employees called for Royal Mail’s chief executive, Simon Thompson, to quit. They chanted: “Thompson out” to the beat of drums on the picket line and sang: “Simon Thompson, you’re not fit to be the CEO.”

Other collective cries include: “What do we want? Thompson out. When do we want it? Now.”

Royal Mail, which employs 140,000 staff including managers, has offered workers a 2% pay rise, backdated to April, and further benefits equivalent to a 3.5% increase if they agree to changes in working practices. Executives say the changes are needed in order to grow Royal Mail’s parcels business in the face of intense competition from rivals including Amazon and DPD.

The CWU argues that staff should receive a pay rise in line with inflation in recognition of their work delivering post during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dave Ward, the union’s general secretary, told the PA news agency: “The way that companies in the UK, particularly companies like Royal Mail, are working at the moment is just not sustainable. They’ve got to start looking after the people who made the very profits that have got them in a good position.”

Royal Mail said that 379 of its 1,200 delivery offices were processing mail and were staffed by about 4,000 managers and “supported by contract hauliers”. It said their priority was “delivering essential items”, including prescribed medicines, Covid test kits and special delivery packages.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Our contingency plans to minimise disruption and keep people, businesses and the country connected are operational.”

About 6,000 temporary workers will “assist with our recovery plans” after Friday’s strike, the company said.

Royal Mail executives have threatened to split the company if workers do not agree to its proposals. “Without modernisation we die,” its non-executive chair, Keith Williams, told the Guardian.

A fresh twist in the corporate drama unfolded on Thursday when it emerged that the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský has hopes to increase his company’s stake in Royal Mail from 22% to 25%. The government is reviewing the move.