Strikes in Post Office to cause serious disruption
COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION
10/07/2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
POST OFFICE STRIKE WEEK TO CAUSE SERIOUS DISRUPTION
Strikes are set to cause serious disruption at Post Offices this week as the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has urged senior management to “get serious on pay”.
Members of the CWU – the union for Post Office workers – will be striking on Monday 11th July and Thursday 14th July.
Monday’s strike involves employees at Britain’s 114 Crown Post Offices, while Thursday’s action by supply chain and administrative workers will affect the country’s 11,500 sub-post offices.
The dispute is against Post Office management’s current pay offer of a 3% pay deal for the 2022-23 financial year, alongside a one-off lump sum payment of £500, and no pay increase for the 2021-22 financial year.
The proposals are far beneath the current RPI inflation rate of 11.7%.
Hopes were raised by Post Office management’s widely-reported statement last month that it was “hopeful” a pay agreement can be reached “soon”.
However, after no movement from employers, CWU Assistant Secretary Andy Furey labelled this claim as “spin”, and served notice for strike action on Thursday 30th June.
CWU members delivered a 97.3% vote in favour of action.
CWU Assistant Secretary Andy Furey said: “The blame for this disruption lies entirely with the senior Post Office leadership, who have repeatedly failed – and wilfully refused – to set out a sensible and fair pay agreement.
“Everyone knows that the only solution is a fair pay rise that properly rewards members for their extraordinary efforts in serving the public and delivering a profitable Post Office, while also taking account of the extreme cost of living.
“There most certainly is money available, but management do not want to give workers their fair share.
“Our message to the employer today is: don’t waste our members’ time by misleading statements.
“Stop the spin and get serious about pay. Until you do this, the strikes will continue.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact CWU Press Officer Marcus Barnett on mbarnett@cwu.org or 07812590450.
Furthermore, members of the press are invited to attend the following picket lines for comment and footage:
Broadway Crown, 1 Broadway, London, SW1H 0AX
Ian Ward (former Postal Executive member) and others from around 8:00 am
Croydon Crown, 10 High Street, Croydon, CR9 1HT
Mole Meade (Postal Executive) 07764 905753 / mmeade@cwu.org from around 8:00 am
Kingsland High Street, 118-120 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2NX
Clive Tickner (Post Office Area Representative) 0787 6344456 /preferred email for campaigning cstickner99@yahoo.co.uk between 08:00 – 12:00. In addition members from Clive’s branch and Hackney Trades Council will be there and he is hoping Diane Abbott will also be in attendance.
Matlock Crown Office, 14 Bank Road, Derbyshire
Mark Harper (Midlands Regional Secretary) and others from around 9am for 2-3 hours. 07515 39909 or midlandregion@cwu.org.