Strike action starting Wednesday 25th July
Royal Mail is hugely disappointed that the Communication Workers Union has announced a series of strikes over a two-week period beginning at 7pm on Wednesday 25th July 2007, and ending at 12 noon on Wednesday 8th August.
The situation is complex, but we have identified the probable impact on services for the week commencing 23rd July. The strike will affect all Mail Centres on Thursday 26th July, and Delivery and Collection services will not be available on Saturday 28th July.
Please note, this does not affect Royal Mail's operations in Northern Ireland,
We have well-developed contingency plans designed to reduce the effect of the strike and keep disruption to our customers to a minimum. Managers will be volunteering to help keep as much of the service operating as possible.
We are currently assessing the likely impact on mail services for week commencing 30th July and we will update you in due course.
What this means for you
• There will be normal access to Royal Mail services on Thursday 26th July.
• On Saturday 28th July services will be limited to a single collection from Post Boxes outside of Post Offices and these collections may be earlier than the normal advertised times.
• There will be no delivery or collection services on Saturday 28th July.
• We will attempt to deliver Special Delivery items. Special Delivery Saturday guarantee will be suspended for Saturday 28th July.
• Parcelforce Worldwide's guaranteed services will remain unaffected.
• Royal Mail's Branch Direct, Sameday and Door to Door services remain unaffected
• All other mail services will be subject to delay.
How can you help us to minimise disruption to your mail?
• Please try to bring your planned mailings forward to avoid Thursday 26th July
• Do not post on the day of any strike, but post early in the day if you really have to
• Try to post at your local Post Office, but be aware that will not be able to accept bulk mailings (refer to the messages for Business Customers below).
• Normal customer service helplines - 08457 740 740 and 08457 950 950 will operate - but will be very busy - so please be patient.
• Royal Mail's website will contain the latest updated information.
Messages for Business Customers
• Business customers who use bulk mailings are asked to bring forward postings to the earlier part of the week if at all possible.
• We regret that on Thursday 26th July Royal Mail's Mail Centres will not collect from business customers
• Please avoid posting on Thursday 26th July.
• There will be no delivery services on Saturday 28th July.
• Please provide us with as accurate and as early forecasts as possible.
• Tell your account manager or Customer Operations Manager (COM) as much as possible about your mailing plans. This will help us to plan our resources.
24-Hour strike on Monday July 23rd in Northern Ireland
The Communication Workers Union has previously announced a 24-hour strike in Northern Ireland only, starting at 7pm on Sunday July 22nd and continuing through Monday July 23rd. Again, we have well-developed contingency plans to minimise the impact on your mail services, but there will inevitably be some disruption.
Strike action at Crown Post Offices
Separately the CWU have also announced strike action at all Crown Post Offices in the Post Office Network, on Friday 27th July, between 14.30 and 19.00, and on Tuesday 31st July, between 14.30 and 19.00, Please note, this action does not affect the 14,000 plus sub-post offices nationwide.
