Postal workers in the UK launch Black Friday strike as industrial action sweeps the country

LONDON — Thousands of postal workers successful the U.K. are connected a two-day strike, disrupting Black Friday aft talks betwixt Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union fell through.

Leaders of the commercialized union, which represents astir 115,000 striking postal workers, re-entered negotiations with Royal Mail executives aboriginal past month, with talks present having spanned 7 months.

However, Royal Mail Group — precocious renamed International Distributions Services connected the London Stock Exchange — said successful a connection Wednesday that it had tabled its "best and last offer" and accused the national of "holding Christmas to ransom."

The CWU has announced 10 further days of onslaught enactment up until Christmas Eve, of which 4 person been formally notified, with the past falling connected Dec. 1.

In October, Royal Mail revealed plans to chopped up to 10,000 jobs by adjacent summertime and posted a half-year adjusted operating nonaccomplishment of £219 cardinal ($265.3 million), and CEO Simon Thompson said the strikes had already added £100 cardinal to the company's losses truthful acold this year. IDS shares person fallen much than 58% since the commencement of the year.

"In a materially loss-making company, with each further time of onslaught enactment we are facing the hard prime of whether we walk our wealth connected wage and protecting jobs, oregon connected the outgo of strikes," Thompson said Wednesday.

"The CWU's planned onslaught enactment is holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families crossed the country, and is putting their ain members' jobs astatine risk."

The national connected Wednesday said it met with Royal Mail executives, but claimed Thompson did not attend. In a statement, the CWU warned of "the extremity of Royal Mail arsenic we cognize it."

Royal Mail claims its latest connection includes an enhanced wage woody of up to 9% implicit 18 months, a caller nett stock programme for employees, a artifact connected compulsory redundancies until the extremity of March 2023 and an betterment to voluntary redundancy packages.

However, the national accused the company's executives of "turning Royal Mail Group into a gig economy-style parcel courier, reliant connected casual labour," imposing compulsory redundancies connected postal workers portion retaining bureau unit connected little pay, and offering a "wholly inadequate, non-backdated 3.5% wage increase."

It besides said the woody connected the array included cuts to sick pay, removal of a Sunday premium payment, aboriginal commencement and finishing times and the "introduction of exertion that volition show postal workers each infinitesimal of the day."

"We volition not judge that 115,000 Royal Mail workers — the radical who kept america connected during the pandemic, and made millions successful nett for bosses and shareholders — instrumentality specified a devastating stroke to their livelihoods," said CWU General Secretary Dave Ward.

"These proposals spell the extremity of Royal Mail arsenic we cognize it, and its degradation from a nationalist instauration into an unreliable, Uber-style gig system company."

Postal workers successful August voted overwhelmingly successful favour of onslaught action successful protestation astatine wage and conditions, aft Royal Mail initially imposed a 2% wage summation connected workers portion U.K. ostentation was heading toward treble digits. U.K. ostentation deed 11.1% successful October.

The national is calling for an improved 18-month wage deal, a warrant of nary compulsory redundancies and an "alternative concern strategy that would spot Royal Mail Group usage its competitory vantage to turn arsenic a company, alternatively of becoming a gig system parcel employer."

Strikes crossed sectors

Workers crossed the nationalist and backstage sectors are striking successful the U.K. implicit pay, moving conditions and pensions, with ostentation moving astatine its highest level for implicit 40 years and the autarkic Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) past week projecting the steepest autumn successful surviving standards since records began.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that an mean of 19,500 moving days per period were mislaid to concern enactment successful 2019, but this has risen since the Covid-19 pandemic, and deed 87,600 successful July 2022.

Rail strikes person brought the country's bid services to a virtual standstill connected aggregate days passim the year, and the RMT union, whose members enactment for Network Rail and 14 different bid operators, precocious voted successful favour of 4 much 48-hour obstruction strikes successful the run-up to Christmas.

The Royal College of Nursing precocious announced that its members volition signifier walkouts by the extremity of the twelvemonth for the archetypal clip successful its 106-year history.

The British Medical Association volition clasp a ballot successful January for inferior doctors successful England implicit a wage woody that would connection them a 2% summation this year, portion 18,000 ambulance workers represented by the sizeable GMB and Unite unions are presently voting connected onslaught action.

Scottish teachers held concern enactment connected Thursday which closed the immense bulk of schools successful Scotland, besides demanding a 10% wage rise, and respective U.K.-wide teachers' unions representing a full of much than 400,000 teachers and enactment unit are holding ballots which adjacent successful January.

Telecoms workers staged onslaught enactment for the archetypal clip successful much than 30 years successful July successful protestation implicit pay, on with further dates successful August and October, portion hose baggage handlers walked retired for 3 days connected Nov. 18.

Around 100,000 civilian servants, including Border Force officials, besides precocious voted to onslaught implicit the Christmas period, demanding a 10% wage increase.