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One striking Royal Mail worker has expressed fears that up to 25,000 staff could be sacked and new working conditions imposed on those left after the primary Christmas season ends.
The man, who usually delivers letters and parcels in the London area and was known as “Derek” because he wished to remain anonymous, was speaking on the eve of the latest strike, which began on Friday.
He said 115,000 frontline workers are fighting for the company’s future.
Their union, the CWU, claimed that the modernization program the company was pursuing, including volunteering on Sundays, in return for a bigger pay rise would turn Royal Mail into a “gig-style parcel courier, based on temporary labour”.
Royal Mail argued it was necessary to help it compete better as it focused more on the lucrative field of parcel delivery at a time when the company was losing £1m a day.
Derek, who is a union member but not a representative, explained that while part of the struggle was to get better pay, he and his colleagues were out to protect the company’s values from a future that could mean a worse deal for the public and employees. Both.
He said Royal Mail was trying to weaken its obligations to deliver letters and get its contract workers to go further, by increasing flexibility, to fit into shareholders’ pockets.
Image: The company has accused CWU chief Dave Ward of publishing unsubstantiated claims about Royal Mail’s modernization plans
Derek said the main problems covered working on Sundays and later start times for deliveries.
“A wage deal is something we wanted but 2% (with more in return for accepting new labor practices) was a joke,” he said.
“The vision is to start deliveries later and finish later, but if you don’t complete in your allotted time, we don’t know where we stand as Target posts are constantly changing. It becomes a behavior issue.
“They got us by b****.
“We cut[the final rounds before they’re done]on a regular basis because we don’t get paid any extra to clear the backlog.”
3:20 “We don’t want business to suffer”
Derek blamed staffing shortages, saying agency workers were brought in to help.
“We charge £12 an hour. The agency gets £15-20,” he said.
“Freelance drivers are being used to cover vacancies. They (Royal Mail) don’t want to hire.
“Christmas night shifts are another issue. The backlog is massive. Packages are prioritized when the company insists this is not the case.
1:37 Royal Mail boss: Union leaders ‘trying to ruin Christmas’
“Terms and conditions are the main issue in this dispute. They are trying to fix something that doesn’t need it.
“Once Christmas is over, they will do whatever they want and force these changes.
“Compulsory work on Sundays – I didn’t sign up for that. They say it’s voluntary but I have to do it now.
“The disease goes through the roof.”
He added that Royal Mail was deducting wages at £117 a day for days on strike.
“I only make £75 a day but they took allowances including lost posts,” he said.
Read more: Strikes every day before Christmas – which sectors are affected and why military forces can be deployed to help limit disruption to the Christmas strike
Royal Mail responded to the mounting cost of strikes in October by launching an advisory on job cuts that could result in around 10,000 jobs being cut by the end of August 2023. It later revealed half-year financial losses of £219m.
The company made what it called its “best and last” offer to end the dispute in late November.
However, “extensive improvements” were denied by the CWU and further strikes are scheduled for December 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said of Derek’s comments: “Dave Ward, General Secretary of the Telecommunications Workers’ Union, has made several false statements about job losses with the aim of misleading and creating fear and uncertainty among our staff.
On 28 November we wrote to Mr Ward correcting his false allegations that Royal Mail plans to ‘fire’ thousands of workers and wants to become ‘another courier’.
“It simply is not true. We have already announced that the cuts in 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs – made necessary as a result of industrial action, the need for better productivity and lower parcel volumes in the wake of the pandemic – will be achieved through natural attrition, temporary worker reductions and a voluntary layoff scheme.” Generous has been exceeded.
“We will be happy to look into any concerns the individual has about their salary.”
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