The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) has confirmed it is planning a one day strike next week on the 15th of September. About 3500 Post Office staff are members of the CWU mostly at crown branches. The strike will be supported by 700 post office managers who are members of the Union.
CWU general secretary Dave Ward explained the reasons for the action: “The Post Office is relentlessly pursuing a programme of cuts that will mean a further 2,000 job losses, staff being left tens of thousands of pounds worse off in retirement and the privatisation of its flagship branches. The Post Office is at crisis point and the government has to step in.”
Kevin Gilliland, Post Office’s Network and Sales Director, says of the strike: “We can reassure our customers that 97 per cent of our 11,600 branches will not be involved in any action that goes ahead. We will also work hard to minimise any disruption to customers in our 300 Crown branches should they be affected by strike action.
We are making steady progress to modernise the UK’s biggest retail network. These changes are needed to make our services better for customers and ensure that Post Office branches thrive at the heart of communities for future generations.”
20 Responses
Worse still, they’re threatening Royal Mail delivery strikes too, over pensions as well.
Just in time for Xmas.
Nice.
I have never in my life(I am 66 years old) ever been on strike but years ago I did look at the figures for strikes in the past. There was a big bus strike in London years ago. Before the strike the usage of the buses in London was at a fairly high level. During the strike many found alternative ways to get to work. They bought a Car or a Bike or got together with other staff working at the same company and Car Shared etc. However they got to work after the strike the Bus Usage rates had significantly fallen. Obviously less passengers less need for Bus Drivers(and as the strike was many years ago Less Conductors as well).
The same general picture appears with many strikes. The current shambles on the Southern is going to lead to less Commuters and while in the short term this will cause less over crowding on trains. In the long term it will mean less usage and possibly less trains in the future(before anybody points out that much of the shambles is caused by numerous cancellations in the long term it could mean less trains in the timetable and with it less drivers, guards etc.
Strike action should always, I repeat always be the very last option. Today with the Junior Doctors Hell bent on destroying the NHS(Why does just about every Junior Doctor Leader who is interviewed on the TV always have a foreign sounding name?). Post Office Workers decide to jump on the bandwagon. Please do not you are going to be the long term losers
The problem here is that all these strikes are political.
Yes, there are grievances, but essentially the post office strikes, doctors strikes and possible royal mail strikes are designed to create problems for the government.
You can throw in the railway and tube strikes as well.
I have sympathy for many of the issues the strikers are taking action on.
But there is NO justification in trying to circumvent the democratic process.
If you want political change, you get it by putting your X on the ballot paper at a general election, not by coercive union militancy.
That’s undemocratic and drags millions of innocent customers into disputes.
They’ve conveniently timed this date one day prior to the Iphone 7 hitting the stores
Chris, so you think it is the Junior Doctors who are hell bent on destroying the NHS….These foreign doctors coming over here to destroy our NHS??
I suggest you stop reading the Daily Torygraph and join the real world
I look at my Post Office and it still looks like it did 15 years ago. It is bland and bear. So much unutilized space. The post office has never diversified or moved with the times, mine still has half days of during the week. I feel for the staff sometimes they seem to work with almost ancient IT systems are constantly being asked to do more by RMG. All I do is fill their office full of bags, I do not use any of their services really. Time it takes to actually prepare a Parcel for post, when I started out I moved on pretty quick from using the post office onto paypal post then on to account mail. More and more services are just being sub-let out it simply does not make any money. I do not think people understand some of the services offered by the PO. For example I still get paper cheques on occasion normally from out of date public services. All the banks have shut their branch’s here and I have to drive to another town, I only just realised I could pay the cheque in at the PO. Going on strike will not achieve anything. They need to actually move with the times. You cannot make steady progress these days you need to move now or you will just get left behind.
Every company labors has their own set of problems and through strike, they may achieve few benefits. Since not all are involved, it is not going to cause any major problems.
striking is great way to do yourself out of a job
ask the miners ship yard workers dockers and car workers
I was on strike with the CWU when I first joined Royal Mail. The CWU eventually caved in or ‘compromised’ so felt that the strike was a little pointless. They negotiated great wages for us though. It was always a battle, employers would honestly have us working in Victorian conditions with zero hours contracts. Unions are the political power of workers, a balance is needed. Otherwise employers will bring in foreign workers willing to work for crap wages and contracts telling us how much we rely on them. Not so Great Britain.