The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called on its members who collect, sort and deliver parcels and letters to take strike action on the following dates:
- Friday 26 August 2022
- Wednesday 31 August 2022
- Thursday 8 September 2022
- Friday 30 September 2022
- Saturday 1 October 2022
The previous planned action on Friday 9 September was cancelled.
This strike action is likely to cause some disruption, but they will be working to get services back to normal as quickly as possible. Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but cannot fully replace the daily efforts of their frontline workforce. They’ll be doing what they can to keep services running, but you should expect significant disruption on dates when strike action is taking place.
There’s more information online at royalmail.com/latest-news as well as some important information from Royal Mail below.
Parcel and Letter Deliveries
On days when strike action is taking place:
We will deliver as many Special Delivery Guaranteed parcels as possible. We will prioritise and deliver as many Special Delivery Guaranteed items as resources allow. We cannot however guarantee delivery by 9am or 1pm next day, so we’re making changes to our delivery guarantee for items posted from Thursday 25 August, up to and including items sent on Thursday 1 September. Customers will not be able to claim for delays to items during this period.
We will deliver as many Tracked 24 parcels as possible including prioritising delivery of Covid-19 test kits and medical prescription items wherever possible. However, significantly reduced resources mean there will be a delay to some Tracked 24 items during strike action.
On strike days, we will not be delivering letters (with exception of Special Delivery)
Other items posted the day before, during strike action or on the days after any strike action will be subject to delay.
Business Collections
We won’t be able to provide a collection service to business customers on days when strikes are taking place. We’re asking customers to post before strike days or hold items until after strike action finishes.
Business collections will resume on the next working day after a strike. If you usually have a Saturday collection service, that will take place as planned.
| Date of Strike Action | Next collection for Monday-Friday collection customers | Next collection for Saturday or weekend collection customers |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 26 August | Tuesday 30 August* | Saturday 27 August |
| Wednesday 31 August | Thursday 1 September | Thursday 1 September |
| Thursday 8 September | Monday 12 September | Saturday 10 September |
| Friday 30 September | Monday 3 October | Monday 3 October |
| Saturday 1 October | Monday 3 October | Monday 3 October |
*Business collection customers in Scotland will receive a collection on Monday 29 August as this is not a bank holiday in Scotland.
We are unable to accept bookings for additional or one-off collections on the day of strike action or for the next working day.
Delivery Offices and Customer Service Points
Delivery Offices and Customer Service Points will be closed on days when strike action is taking place. Customers will not be able to collect or drop off items on these dates. If you usually drop off bags of items to Customer Service Points, you can find information about some alternatives for dropping off items on strike days. Delivery Offices and Customer Service Points will reopen the day after strike action has finished.
Post Offices
Post Offices will be open as usual. Collections by Royal Mail from Post Offices will be limited on the days of strike action. However, we will continue to leave local collect items at Post Offices for your customers to collect. The CWU has also called a strike in a small number of Post Offices on 26 August so some branches may be closed on that day.
Getting services back to normal after strike action
We want to get your services back to normal as quickly as possible after any strike action. We'll be increasing our network capacity and using additional resources to assist with this. Collections and deliveries will resume the day after strike action finishes, including accelerating the delivery of NHS and healthcare letters, and critical Government mailings in the days following strike action.
Useful links
- You can find the latest industrial action information at www.royalmail.com/latest-news
- You can sign up for proactive service updates at www.royalmail.com/serviceupdates
Thank you for your continued business. We are working to minimise disruption and to get your services back to normal as quickly as possible.