What the UK Postal Strike Means for You

The very honest reasons behind workers striking can often be lost in a mush of strongly-worded official statements and scare headlines. And out of all the many strikes announced this Christmas period, perhaps the most vilified has been that of the postal workers – people are worried about their carefully thought-through and presents being delayed or going missing, and fair enough: wrapping takes ages and you're never getting that time back.

Here are the facts on what the postal service strikes will actually mean.

The government split the publicly-owned Post Office business from the now privately-owned Royal Mail in 2012. While the initial Post Office strike – organised by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) between the 19th to 24th of December – will see 3,000 staff from 300 high street branches walk out in a dispute over pensions, job losses and branch closures, there are expected to be another 1,000 "wildcat stoppages" (strikes which haven't been authorised by a union) by postal delivery workers from the Royal Mail who don't want to cross picket lines. A source told The Telegraph that if the wildcat action was punished by the workers' managers unions could formalise the Royal Mail strike.

Worries have been mounting over the security of Post Office workers for some time now, and their union has come to blows with senior Post Office management, who they say are launching "continuing attacks" on workers. Earlier this year plans to cut 600 cash-handling jobs were announced, alongside cuts to 100,000 Post Office and Royal Mail workers' pensions. The union also says there is a programme in place of franchising and closing Post Office branches. Charlie Pullinger, a spokesperson for the CWU, told VICE: "I can only reiterate that this dispute started in August and this week represents the fourth phase of strike action the union has taken against the Post Office."

The Post Office claims that 99 percent of its 11,600 branches will be operating normally, and in a statement a Royal Mail spokesperson said: "There will be little or no impact on Royal Mail as a result of the CWU strike at the Post Office. Deliveries will carry on as normal and the last posting dates for Christmas remain unchanged." A list of Post Offices branches that might be affected by the strikes can be found on their website. Basically, your gifts are probably on their way and your happy Christmas bubble is unlikely to be burst.

Dubbed the "Christmas of Discontent" by the tabloids, December has seen unusually high levels of strike action from companies as diverse as Southern trains – who are causing endless hell for commuters in London – to the Weetabix factory in Northamptonshire, which, surprisingly, isn't protesting over how dry and gross their cereal is, but their problems with unreasonable shift patterns. With Argos delivery drivers, airport baggage ­handlers and cabin crew also planning walk-outs, unions have been forced to "deny a Trotskyist conspiracy", even though, as has been repeatedly pointed out, strikes have been decreasing for years. In 1984 there were 27.1 million working days lost to strikes; in 2011 there were 1.4 million; and there have only been 281,000 so far in 2016.

Despite the fact that, for most workers and unions, striking is a last resort, a spokesperson from Downing Street has labelled postal workers as selfish and contemptuous, which is nice. "Their actions are clearly designed to bring about maximum damage and disruption during the festive period," they said on Monday. However, despite this strongly-worded announcement, Theresa May has come under fire for not heeding to calls for new anti-strike laws from Conservatives like MP Chris Grayling, the transport minister. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has historically been in favour of strike action, is expected to release a statement in support of the unions.

@CharlieBCuff

(Top image by Flickr user AllIsPossible, via)