Royal Mail Christmas Eve Strike

Royal Mail workers will be walking out in a Christmas Eve strike this year. There will be no last post and they’re out on the 23rd as well so it could be a bad year for last minute shoppers.

Black Friday & Christmas Eve Strike Dates

The full list of strikes now covers the whole Black Friday weekend period in addition to the final days before Christmas.

• Thursday 24^th November
• Friday 25^th November
• Wednesday 30^th November
• Thursday 1^st December
• Friday 9^th December
• Sunday 11^th December
• Wednesday 14^th December
• Thursday 15^th December
• Friday 23^rd December
• Saturday 24^th December

The CWU want a negotiated settlement with Royal Mail Group and will continue to engage the company to that end.

But those in charge of Royal Mail need to wake up and realise we won’t allow them to destroy the livelihoods of postal workers.

– Spokesperson – CWU

While this will be little comfort for online retailers and indeed the general public who will be dismayed at the prospect of a Christmas Eve strike, at least we know now what we are dealing with. Anyone selling online needs to be prepared to shut up shop and have everything shipped by the 21st if you are using Royal Mail and after that date use alternative couriers. Even the 21st is dodgy and only good for next day deliveries and if there is any delay goods won’t arrive on time.

We can all hope that a negotiated settlement will be reached, but the reality is that with so many industries walking out in industrial action and the CWU themselves calling strikes in multiple sectors a settlement shouldn’t be relied on in time to halt the Christmas Eve strike. The only good news for the postal sector is that once Christmas is out of the way very few people will care about their post being delayed so if Royal Mail continue to play hard ball the pressure will be off the company and fall much harder on the Union to come to an agreement.