Royal Mail: When are the postal strikes ahead of Christmas?

Postal workers are acceptable to clasp a bid of strikes, delaying missive and parcel deliveries successful the run-up to Christmas.

About 115,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are taking portion successful the quality with Royal Mail.

A 48-hour onslaught affecting the discount buying time known arsenic Black Friday took spot connected 24 and 25 November.

Further enactment volition travel connected 30 November and 1 December.

Another question of strikes is planned for 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 December - immoderate of the busiest days for pre-Christmas deliveries.

Postal workers belonging to the CWU voted overwhelmingly successful favour of strikes connected 19 July, and archetypal took enactment connected 26 August.

On onslaught days the Royal Mail says it volition not beryllium capable to present archetypal and 2nd people letters.

However, it volition present arsenic galore parcels and Special Delivery letters arsenic possible.

Priority volition beryllium fixed to prescriptions and Covid trial kits wherever possible.

The guarantees connected Special Delivery Guaranteed items volition beryllium suspended the time earlier the strike.

People volition not beryllium capable to assertion compensation for precocious deliveries.

Royal Mail transportation offices and lawsuit work points volition beryllium closed. Letters volition not beryllium collected from station boxes.

Royal Mail has hired thousands of bureau workers to assistance process the backlog.

The Post Office is simply a abstracted business, and station offices volition beryllium open, though immoderate services, specified arsenic posting letters, whitethorn beryllium affected. Other services specified arsenic measure payments and banking volition tally arsenic normal.

The past posting days to beryllium definite of a transportation earlier Christmas are presently 19 December for 2nd people and 21 December for 1st class.

However Royal Mail, whitethorn bring those dates guardant if the strikes opening 9 December are confirmed.

The enactment is implicit wage and conditions. It has already inflicted millions of pounds of losses connected Royal Mail.

Median wage astatine Royal Mail is £32,465 a twelvemonth and the mean wage for a postal transportation idiosyncratic is £25,777.

Royal Mail has offered a wage woody which it says is worthy up to 9% implicit 18 months.

However, this is beneath the existent complaint astatine which prices are rising - 11.1%.

The CWU wants a higher wage offer. It is besides objecting to projected changes to moving conditions, specified arsenic ending a fig of allowances and instauration of compulsory moving connected Sundays.

Royal Mail is moving from its accepted concern of delivering letters, which is nary longer profitable, to the fast-growing satellite of parcel deliveries.

It faces stiff contention from different couriers, which springiness their workers little generous wage and benefits.

The institution says it is losing astir a cardinal pounds a day, and cannot spend to springiness its workers a higher wage rise.

It says strikes person added £100m to the losses, and has announced plans to chopped up to 10,000 jobs.

It has improved its connection to workers, including much generous redundancy presumption and a profit-sharing scheme.

On 24 November the institution said it had made its "best and last offer" and accused the national of "holding Christmas to ransom".

Royal Mail was owned by the authorities until 2013, erstwhile it was privatised.

Shares were sold to fiscal institutions and backstage individuals, with 10% reserved for Royal Mail employees.

About 6% of the institution is owned by employees today.