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Royal Mail workers to strike for 19 days in dispute over pay

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Royal Mail workers are to strike for a further 19 days across October and November in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the action by its members will have a “dramatic impact” on peak mail periods such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the lead up to Christmas.

Walkouts will be a mixture of single days and rolling action across Royal Mail Group’s (RMG) network, the CWU said.

The union said the move follows a threat centred around the “outrageous” decision by RMG’s senior management to withdraw from major national agreements, push ahead with cuts to workers’ terms and conditions and “completely sideline” the union.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, said RMG leaders were “treating postal workers as if they are stupid”.

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“These are the same people that have kept the country connected and returned Royal Mail Group to record profit,” he said.

Mr Ward pleaded with the public to “stand with their local postal worker” as they face “the fight of their lives to save their jobs”.

“We will not stand by and see the Royal Mail Group become the next P&O but we need your backing to win,” he added.

The latest round of strikes was supported by 93.5 per cent of CWU members, the union said.

Royal Mail said CWU had ignored an offer for talks facilitated by Acas, the government’s arbitration service. A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “On September 22, Royal Mail invited CWU to enter into talks through Acas to find a resolution to our dispute on change and pay.

“This evening, rather than responding to our offer of Acas talks, the CWU announced further damaging industrial action, once again taking the path of prolonging disruption over resolution.

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“Royal Mail is losing £1m a day and must change faster in response to changing customer demands. We operate in a competitive market, and our customers have choices.”

The company said strikes will make its financial situation worse and apologised to customers for the coming inconvenience.

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Source: Independent

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