'Settle postal dispute before it kills us,' mail firms urge

The direct mail industry has welcomed the suspension of next month’s postal strikes, set to cause widespread disruption in the build up to the festive season, but has urged both sides to find a settlement before it is too late for many firms.

The Communication Workers Union said it had decided to withdraw notices for industrial action on November 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10 after a letter from Royal Mail’s legal team, although CWU bosses insist they “will not be forced into submission so easily”. It added that strikes will resume on Saturday November 12.

Royal Mail said in a statement: “The CWU has withdrawn strike action following Royal Mail writing to CWU to highlight numerous material concerns with the formal notification of planned rolling strike action.”

The long-running dispute over pay and conditions has already led to nine days of strikes, which Royal Mail claims have cost the business more than £70m.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “We recognise the deep frustration felt by many members over this decision. The current focus of the coming days will be negotiations that can hopefully achieve a sensible deal to end this dispute.”

However, acting deputy general secretary Andy Furey has taken a much stronger stance. He added: “We entirely understand the anger felt by many over the decision but we believe it is a necessary move to protect our dispute.

“Our members have been facing down serious harassment from the highest levels of Royal Mail as they defend their industry and those communities they serve. They will not be forced into submission so easily.”

Earlier this month, Royal Mail warned that it could report a loss of up to £450m and be forced to axe as many as 10,000 jobs, in response to the industrial action.

The postal service – whose parent company is now called International Distributions Services – reported a UK operating loss of £219m between April and September this year, and a trading cash outflow of £274m.

Management claimed that strike action had already cost the business tens of millions, and complained that “agreed productivity improvements” had been obstructed.

Royal Mail estimates that it will have to cut around 5,000 full time roles by March 2023 and 10,000 by the end of August 2023, on a rolling 12 month basis. This is likely to involve between 5,000 and 6,000 redundancies.

Royal Mail and CWU have planned talks at ACAS today (October 31) and one industry source, who claimed to be speaking out for many in the sector, said a deal cannot come soon enough.

She commented: “This dispute has gone on far too long and ultimately there will be no winners; only losers. The direct mail industry has suffered enough, and this industrial action, following so soon after Covid, could be the nail in the coffin for many firms. For the sake of the sector, we need a settlement and we need it now – before it kills us.”