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A striking Royal Mail worker has voiced fears up to 25,000 staff could be sacked and new working conditions imposed on those left after the core Christmas season has finished.
The man, who usually delivers letters and parcels in the London area and is being identified as ‘Derek’ because he wished to remain anonymous, was speaking on the eve of the latest strike which began on Friday.
He said the 115,000 frontline workers were fighting for the very future of the business.
Workers are striking today and further walkouts are scheduled for 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 December.
Their union, the CWU, has claimed the programme of modernisation the company is seeking, including voluntary Sunday working, in return for a larger pay rise would turn Royal Mail into a “gig economy-style parcel courier, reliant on casual labour”.
Royal Mail has argued it is crucial to help it better compete as it places a greater focus on the lucrative parcel delivery sphere at a time when the company is losing £1m a day.
Derek, who is a union member but not a rep, explained that while part of the fight was for better pay, he and his colleagues were walking out to protect the company’s values from a future that would mean a worse deal for the public and staff alike.
He said Royal Mail was attempting to weaken its commitments to letter delivery and make its contracted workers go further, through increased flexibility, to line the pockets of shareholders.
Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, told Sky News even if they were offered a 50% pay rise they would not accept it if the same terms and conditions were attached.
The main gripes, Derek said, covered Sunday working and later start times for deliveries.
“The pay deal is something we wanted but 2% (with more in return for…
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