Following the news of a Post Office strike on Saturday the 3rd of December, the last postage date for sending cards and presents to loved ones living in Africa and the Middle East.
It is no accident that strikes have been scheduled in the run up to Christmas, but the Post Office should remember the Royal Mail strikes earlier this century where retailers simply switched to other couriers and many never came back. With the proliferation of online parcel booking companies available to consumers, there are alternatives to the Post Office for sending parcels.
With this in mind, it’s not surprise that the Post Office is reassuring customers that it will be business as usual over 97% of its network of 11,600 branches on Saturday, despite the strike action.
Kevin Gilliland, Post Office Network and Sales Director, said: “We want to reassure people that almost all of our network will be open and operating normally. Action affects fewer than three hundred of our branches, and many of these will be open to maintain services for customers preparing for Christmas. It will also be business as usual in the rest of our network – over 97 per cent of branches will be operating their usual Saturday service.
“Instead of trying to unnecessarily alarm customers during the festive season, we want the unions to join us in talks to discuss our strategy. Their members work very hard to give our customers the best possible service in the run up to Christmas, this action can only cause concern to customers.”
The Post Office said that around 1500 CWU grade employees are scheduled to work on Saturday, alongside around 100 Unite grade managers. It will be business as usual for the tens of thousands of people working across the rest of the network. Visit postoffice.co.uk to find out if your usual branch is open and for more information on nearest alternative nearby branches and their opening hours.
The strike action called by Unite and CWU does not involve Royal Mail employees. Royal Mail has informed Post Office that it has robust contingency plans in place and expects there will be little effect on the services it provides.
