National Royal Mail strikes expected to start next week
The Communication Workers Union will likely begin three days of staggered 24-hour nationwide strikes against Royal Mail next Thursday, 22nd October. The union voted in favour of national strikes last week. Several days later, it sent Royal Mail what it termed a “peace deal”; if Royal Mail agreed to the terms by 15th October, the union would call off the strike.

Among the CWU terms: “That we agree, in principle, that improved Job Security arrangements and a new benefits package that rewards postal workers for delivering success for the business will form part of the final agreement” and “That Royal Mail agrees the principle that budgets should not drive staffing levels…”.

In a statement on 13th October, Royal Mail managing director Mark Higson said that the “‘peace offer’… is in reality a series of fresh demands against Royal Mail”.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said that a Royal Mail strike could cost the UK economy as much as £1.5 billion. (For more on the strike vote, see “Royal Mail v the CWU: misconceptions and misdemeanors” at catalog-biz.blogspot.com.)

The impending industrial action was the talk of ECMOD where Catalogue Exchange members vowed to deliver Christmas orders to their customers by whatever means they could and regardless of cost. The BBC, GMTV, Sky, and other media reported on the sector’s response to the strike threats live from the ECMOD event last week. 

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