Royal Mail – the UK’s largest postal delivery provider – has confirmed members of its staff are set to take strike action.
In the lead-up to Christmas, a well-functioning mail service is essential to ensure young children get their presents in time, small business owners are able to receive seasonal stock and those employed are able to complete work to earn in what tends to be the most expensive time of the year.
The series of strikes will no doubt complicate the lives of many in the build up to the Christmas period. Even huge retailers are feeling the pinch as Royal Mail were dropped by electronic giants Curry’s in the past few days due to the situation regarding the strike action.
However this is just a fraction of the overarching issues bought forward by the cost of living crisis.
The actual dates of strike action are as follows:
- Friday December 9
From Wikimedia Commons - Sunday December 11
- Wednesday December 14
- Thursday December 15
The Royal Mail has confirmed contingency plans are in place which include:
- Delivering as many Special Delivery and Tracked 24 parcels as possible.
- Prioritising the delivery of COVID test kits and medical prescriptions where possible.
However no letters will be delivered and customers are urged to post any important mail or parcels to their nearest post box or Post Office as soon as possible to minimise the disruption.
Rail strikes are also going to be taking place over the next month as the biggest rail union in the country RMT announced planned action starting on Christmas Eve through to December 27.
With arguments over rate of pay and working conditions, commuters could have to find alternative solutions or cancel plans all together. As one commuter told MerseyNewsLive: “I had a school reunion and know there’s a train strike on that day so I can’t go anymore.”
As a result of the strikes, trains will be running on a much less frequent schedule – but this brings up another issue.
“There were hardly any trains on so it was really overcrowded and I’m pregnant with two little girls so it was chaotic and quite scary actually,” said another commuter.
Even those who are big supporters of rail unions expressed reservations, as this affected passenger expressed: “I’m a solid union man but this is going a bit too far now I think, it’s been upsetting the public.”
Unfortunately no one will seem to be better off over the next month as workers are campaigning for fairer pay in order to look after families, while the overall effect is that many others might not be able to visit families all together.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons
