More than 115,000 UK postal workers are to hold a series of strikes in the coming weeks due to a dispute over pay.
The Communication Workers Union CWU said it would be the biggest strike of the summer so far to demand a dignified, proper pay rise Strikes will be held on Friday 26 and Wednesday 31 August and 8 and 9 September. The union said management imposed a 2% pay rise that it believed would lead to a dramatic reduction in workers living standards because of soaring inflation.
Dave Ward, the CWU's general secretary, said: Nobody takes the decision lightly, but postal workers are being pushed to the brink.
There is no doubt that postal workers are united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve. We can't live in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks.
The message to Royal Mail s leadership is simple: There will be serious disruption until you get real on pay. After more than three months of talks, the CWU have failed to engage in any meaningful discussion on the changes we need to modernise, or come up with alternative ideas, according to Ricky McAulay, operations development director at Royal Mail.
We can only fund this offer by agreeing the changes that will pay for it, a business that is currently losing 1 m a day.
Royal Mail can have a bright future, but we can't achieve that by living in the past. We are ready to talk further with CWU to try and avert damaging industrial action, but as we have always said, it must be about change and pay.
We have contingency plans in place, and will be working hard to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as possible to keep people, businesses and the country connected.