Royal Mail said on Friday that the 24-hour strike by 130,000 CommunicationWorkers Union members from Thursday to Friday had not prevented its over 14,000 post offices from
working normally and that in some areas of the UK as many as 60% of employees were reporting forduty.The strike, the second this month, forms part of the first nationwide postalstoppages in Britain for a decade and many observers wonder how it can end when the union andmanagement are in such clear disagreement.
On the table is a 2.5% increase from Royal Mail, but earlier the CWU tabled arequest for 27% according to Royal Mail. Postcomm, the UK regulator in one of the most liberalisedmarkets in the world, has told Royal Mail it pays far too much in labour costs to becompetitive.
Royal Mail’s rivals in the market have taken it to court for charging too muchin “final mile” access charges and have now taken over 25% of the bulk mail market. The state-ownedcompany says the only way it can survive is through a EUR 500 million cost-cutting andmodernisation plan that will reduce the number of collections, workers, overheads and High Streetpost offices.
The company’s chairman Allan Leighton commented: “Yet again the union hasrefused to grasp or understand the harsh commercial reality of the market in which Royal Mail nowoperates and the consequences for all of us if we don’t modernise – and do it quickly.
“Their decision to call another strike changes nothing and achieves nothingother than to damage the business and our customers and drive more of them towards the internet orto rival operators.”
Meanwhile, the CWU said that no Royal Mail services operated on Friday due toa 99% strike turnout in big cities It said Royal Mail intended to cut 40 000 jobs, cut postalservices and implement a business plan that will reduce pay by 25% over the next few years.
