Royal Mail Employees Begin Wave of Christmas Strikes as UK Labour Disputes Escalate

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) hold a rally in Parliament Square, London, on Dec. 9, 2022. Victoria Jones/PA Media

Thousands of staff members of Royal Mail have launched a series of strikes that are set to disrupt services in the run-up to the busy Christmas season.

Members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) walked out on Dec. 9, and are expected to continue striking on Dec. 11, 14, 15, 23, and 24.

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said Royal Mail imposed a 2 percent pay increase on members without consultation and is refusing to treat employees with respect.

“Royal Mail bosses are risking a Christmas meltdown because of their stubborn refusal to treat their employees with respect,” he said, adding, “This can be resolved if Royal Mail begin treating their workers with respect, and meet with the union to resolve this dispute.”

But the company accused the union of refusing to agree to necessary modernisation measures.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The CWU know full well that in a business losing more than £1 million [$1.2 million] a day, we need to agree changes to the way we work so that we can fund the pay offer of up to 9 percent we have already made.”

The company also accused the union of striking at the busiest time and “deliberately holding Christmas to ransom” for businesses and families across the country.

Christmas Disruptions

The UK is facing a wave of industrial actions in the run-up to the festive season, with a number of unions across public services preparing to carry out strike action or ballot their members over pay disputes.

The National Health Service (NHS) is under pressure as ambulance workers in three unions voted last week to strike over pay and concerns about staffing levels. The Royal College of Nursing is also staging two strikes this month and junior doctors are set to be balloted on industrial action.

Meanwhile, more than 33,000 firefighters and control room staff are voting on whether to take industrial action over a 5 percent pay rise, which the Fire Brigades Union said is “derisory.”

There is expected to be widespread disruption to transport in the run up to Christmas with further rail strikes, walk-outs by baggage handlers at Heathrow Airport, and possible action by Border Force staff.

Speaking during a visit to a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Lincolnshire on Dec. 9, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak again refused to meet union demands for pay rises for public sector workers.

Challenged over whether the government could do anything to avert the disruptions, he said: “What I’m not going to do is ask ordinary families up and down the country to pay an extra £1,000 [$1,200] a year to meet the pay demands of the union bosses. That wouldn’t be right and it wouldn’t be fair.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his visit to RAF Coningsby in Linconshire, England, on Dec. 9, 2022. Joe Giddens/PA Media

Army on Standby

In a bid to alleviate the potential disruptions caused by strikes in the run-up to Christmas, the UK government has put hundreds of soldiers on standby to cover for ambulance crews, firefighters, and Border Force staff.

According to the Cabinet Office, about 2,000 British military personnel, civil servants, and volunteers from across the government have been training as part of the government’s contingency planning.

They include up to 600 armed forces personnel and 700 staff from the government’s specialist Surge and Rapid Response Team, as well as from other parts of the civil service.

Sunak said the nation should be grateful to army personnel for easing some of the strain.

He said: “We’re here at an RAF base today. I had the opportunity to say thank you to some of our armed forces personnel because many of them are going to miss Christmas to help us deal with the disruption from strikes, whether that’s manning border posts or driving ambulances, and we all owe them an enormous debt of gratitude.”

Anti-Strike Laws

Meanwhile, Sunak is not ruling out extending new anti-strike laws to prevent walkouts by emergency service workers such as nurses.

Long-delayed legislation to ensure minimum service levels on the transport network during industrial action could be widened to other public services including emergency services.

Asked about these measures, the prime minister said: “I’m not going to get into details now, we’re looking at all options. But what I can say is my priority is to always be reasonable—and that’s what we’re going to continue to do—but also to make sure we protect lives and minimise the disruption to people’s lives.”

He added: “The government is trying its best to act reasonably, that’s why we’ve accepted in full the recommendations of independent bodies who make recommendations to the government about pay settlements in the public sector, and often those pay settlements have been higher than what many people in the private sector are receiving, but the government accepted them in full to be reasonable, to be fair.

“But it’s right now that we also look to minimise the disruption on people’s lives and that’s why we’re looking at tough new laws.”

PA Media contributed to this report.