What strike action is hitting the postal service?

This is the second, and biggest, wave of national strike action in a dispute which stretches back to the spring. The main postal union is to strike for two days starting at noon today and then again for two days starting Monday morning. After that it will mount selective action across Royal Mail’s operations. Two one-day strikes have already been held in July and the Communication Workers Union has mounted a month of selective walkouts at various operations in the postal network.

Why is it happening?

Royal Mail and the CWU are at odds over pay and pensions. Royal Mail has offered a 2.5 per cent one-year pay increase. The CWU wants to bring postal workers’ pay into line with the national average wage of £395 a week within five years — a rise of 27 per cent. Royal Mail also wants to end the final-salary pension scheme for all employees. This move is threatening to provoke additional strikes from its managers.

Will it affect postal voting if there is an election?

If the strike continues and a general election is called it will have serious implications for postal voting. Local authorities may be able to assist in delivering ballot papers to people but the challenge will come in sending them back and how Royal Mail can ensure they are able to be prioritised amid the backlog of mail. Royal Mail has so far only described the issue as “hypothetical” and will not say what its contingency plans are.

How long will customers be affected?

Normal postal service is not expected to be possible until October 15 after the current national walkouts, the consumers’ group Postwatch has said. But then the CWU begins its selective action, which will run until there is an agreement.

What is Royal Mail advising customers to do?

Royal Mail is advising people not to post mail during the strikes and, if they must do, to use a post office. Small post offices are franchises and are not included in the strike action. Large ones are being staffed by Royal Mail managers. But the post will not go anywhere until next Wednesday at the earliest.

Can people go elsewhere for postal services?

Customers can use courier services to ensure mail is delivered but these are much more expensive than Royal Mail. Royal Mail’s own premium special delivery service is not being guaranteed during the national action. Royal Mail’s big commercial rivals, TNT and UK Mail, are caught up in the strike because they use the state postal group for the last-mile delivery.

What is the likely backlog?

Royal Mail delivers 80 million items of post a day, so the backlog is likely to be about 400 million items, taking several days, at least, to clear. Royal Mail will not pay overtime to clear the backlog because it does not want to reward strike action, so the backlog will not be cleared quickly.

Will this mean fewer items of junk mail?

Royal Mail have a weekly limit of three items of unaddressed direct mail per house, so the strike is likely to leave millions of flyers and take-away menus undelivered.

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