Royal Mail workers are set to launch a new wave of strikes throughout December in a round of industrial action aimed at causing misery for millions of households posting presents in the run-up to Christmas.
The walkouts have been organized by the Communication Workers Union amid a dispute with the company over pay and working conditions.
What dates are Royal Mail strikes?
The CWU is planning a 10-day strike, meaning its 115,000 members will walk on the following dates:
- Thursday, November 24
- Friday November 25
- Wednesday 30 November
- Thursday, December 1
- Friday December 9
- Sunday December 11
- Wednesday December 14
- Thursday December 15
- Friday December 23
- Christmas night
Will postal strikes affect Christmas deliveries?
Yes. In particular, strikes on December 23 and Christmas Eve threaten to wreak particular havoc on late parcels reaching millions of homes.
During the last national strikes in August, heavy CWU representation among staff brought almost the entire postal network to a standstill, with only the most essential services and special deliveries still continuing.
What is the last date for sending Christmas cards and parcels via Royal Mail?
Royal Mail is urging customers to “allow plenty of time” for posting items this year.
If you want your cards and gifts to arrive on Christmas Day, 2nd Class items must be posted no later than December 19th, while 1st Class must be posted no later than December 21st .
Special deliveries and guaranteed items with tracking must be shipped by December 22nd. Special deliveries with the company’s “Saturday Guarantee” can be shipped on December 23rd.
Why are Royal Mail workers taking industrial action?
The dispute between the postal service and the CWU, which represents more than 100,000 of Royal Mail’s 140,000 workers, centers on pay and conditions.
In the wake of runaway inflation, the CWU argues that the company’s postal workers deserve a pay rise to match price rises. UK inflation topped 11% last month, a 41-year high.
They are also angry about changes to working conditions that Royal Mail bosses want to make, including a seven-day-a-week parcel service, reducing letter delivery to five days, increasing automation of parcel and letter sorting and subsequent completion times, to allow for more next-day deliveries.
Royal Mail says the company is losing £1m a day and that without radical change the business has no future. Bosses have threatened redundancies and a possible break-up of the company if striking workers cannot be brought into line.
What if I send messages internationally?
Then you should allow even more time. Royal Mail says mail to family and friends serving in the Armed Forces should be sent by December 2 at the latest.
For others using the International Economic Post, you have missed the shipping deadlines to the Far and Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Canada and the US by standard mail. The deadline for Cyprus, Eastern Europe, Greece, Iceland, Malta and Turkey was 25 November, while for Western Europe items should have been sent by 28 November.
Those using international standards or international tracking and signature services are too late for posting to British Virgin Islands, Dominica and Anguilla.
But for anywhere else, you still have time. The deadline for Australia and New Zealand is December 1, while for mainland China it is December 2, for the Caribbean it is December 5, for Africa, the Middle East and Asia it is December 7 December, for Cyprus and Malta it is December 8. and for Eastern Europe and Turkey it is December 10.
For Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the USA it is December 10, while for Western Europe it is December 12 and finally for Belgium, France and Luxembourg it is December 14
Travel plans for rail travelers will also be affected in the run-up to Christmas due to planned train strikes.