Undoubtedly, one of the biggest postage and delivery companies across the UK is the Royal Mail. But amid various problems within the industry, many of their workers and delivery drivers will be taking a stand in the following weeks due to the demand for increased pay for their service. The latest news on the situation reads:
“CWU members are taking national strike action on 9, 11, 14 and 15 December 2022. We’re sorry for the disruption this is likely to cause you. We are doing what we can to keep services running.”
Of course, this has left many people and families worried this Christmas, as deliveries may not make it on time for the 25th. Especially as Christmas Eve and Day fall on a weekend, there is even more need to get your shopping done as early as possible.
On 5 December, the Royal Mail issued the statement:
“The CWU has formally notified Royal Mail they plan to call on their members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to take national strike action on Friday 9 December, Sunday 11 December, Wednesday 14 December and Thursday 15 December 2022.
“Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but we cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce. We’ll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption.
“Following several months of talks between Royal Mail and Communication Workers Union, including ACAS facilitation, Royal Mail has shared a best and final offer for pay and change. The revised offer includes extensive improvements that have been made during the negotiations with the CWU, including an enhanced pay deal of 9% over 18 months and a number of other concessions to terms and agreements. The offer is subject to agreeing a programme of change with the CWU.
“We’re urging CWU leadership to accept the change and pay offer, call off future damaging strike action, for the good of our customers and our people. We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU’s continued strike action will cause. We are doing all we can to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.”
Will These Strikes Affect My Shipping?
Here at the Fulfilment Warehouse, we will remain open as normal, but with our work done primarily alongside the Royal Mail, we unfortunately will not be able to send orders out on the days of these strikes. This includes:
- We will deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked 24 parcels as possible
- We will prioritise the delivery of COVID test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible
- We will not be delivering letters (with the exception of Special Delivery) or Door to Door mail
- We will not be accepting customer handovers of Door to Door contracts at our Walk Bundling Centres
Our advice this Christmas is to post your items as early as possible to avoid the potential headache later on down the line. We recommend shipping all of your items by THIS WEEK at the latest, as this still gives 5-8 working days available for the Royal Mail service to deliver your parcel. You can continue to post your items at post boxes or Post Offices nationwide, however collections will be less frequent on days when strike action is taking place. Items posted the day before, during or in the days after any strike action will be subject to delay, even if you are ordering products online.
The Royal Mail want to continue to get services back to normal as quickly as possible after any strike action. After industrial action takes place, they will be increasing their network capacity and using additional resources to assist with getting services back to normal, working alongside companies like ourselves to ensure products are shipped on time for Christmas.
If you have any questions or queries surrounding your products or shipping requirements, then contact us today.
