ROYAL Mail postal workers will be taking strike action over four days in August and September, but how will your post be affected?
Over 115,000 postal workers announced the series of strikes earlier this month following a dispute over pay, the Communication Workers Union confirmed.
The CWU has said that it will be the biggest strike of the summer so far to demand a “dignified, proper pay rise”.
The Royal Mail responded by saying that the union rejected the offer of 5.5% which was "the biggest increase [they] have offered for many years".
When are the Royal Mail strikes?
Industrial action will be held on the following dates:
- Friday, August 26
- Wednesday, August 31
- Thursday, September 8
- Friday, September 9
The decision to strike came after a recent ballot which saw members vote by 97.6% for the industrial action on a 77% turnout.
How will Royal Mail postal services be affected by the strikes?
Royal Mail has said that it has “well-developed contingency plans” to minimise disruption.
It added that it was "focused on getting mail delivery back to normal as quickly as possible after strike action," but letters will not be delivered in strike day.
The company has apologised to customers but says it has plans to minimise the disruption.
On days when strike action is taking place, Royal Mail says it will:
- Deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible
- Prioritise the delivery of Covid test kits and medical prescriptions
Customers should be aware the items that they post the day before, during the strike or after could be caught up in the delays.
Customers are advised to post items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates and noted that collections will also be less frequent during the strikes.
Royal Mail has added that it cannot guarantee delivery of all special delivery items by 9 am or 1 pm the next day.
It confirmed that it would be suspending its regular guarantees while strike action is occurring.
Royal Mail users can continue to post items at the post box or at the post office but should be aware of the delays.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel