Royal Mail staff strike for better pay in Chichester and Bognor Regis

The strike took place from 6am to 9pm outside the Bognor Regis Delivery Office on Clarence Road and the Chichester Delivery office on Basin Road this morning. Further industrial action is scheduled for August 31, and September 8 and 9.

Organised by the Communication Worker’s Union (CWU), leaders say staff are fighting for a ‘proper pay rise’ after they were offered a 5.5 per cent pay rise which only amounted to a 2 per cent rise in real terms, thanks to the continuing cost of living crisis and rising inflation. This, leaders claim, will not cover the rising cost of living.

Paul Mountain, Portsmouth and District Postal Branch secretary for the CWU, said the strike comes as Royal Mail reports record profits and stakeholders enjoy considerable bonus packages: “We worked all the way through the pandemic. Most of the country was furloughed, so they were ordering loads of stuff online. That meant our members had Christmas-style volume for the entire two years, and we had lots of issues with staff needing to isolate. It was a really challenging period.

"On the back of all that extra work and the covid tests, Royal Mail made around £758 million profit. If there was ever a time to do the right thing reward the staff who delivered that profit, this is that time. But they paid shareholders £400 million in dividends and all the senior managers were offered big bonuses,” he said.

In a statement issued yesterday (August 25), Royal Mail said the strikes have endangered jobs and making pay rises less affordable, costing the company £1 million a day: "While our competitors work seven days a week, delivering until 10pm to meet customer demand, the CWU want to work fewer hours, six days a week, starting and finishing earlier. Their plans to transform Royal Mail come with a £1billion price tag, are predicated on a wholly unrealistic revival in letter writing, and prevent Royal Mail from growing, and remaining competitive, in a fast-moving industry. The CWU’s vision for Royal Mail would create a vicious spiral of falling volumes, higher prices, bigger losses, and fewer jobs.”

Royal Mail has apologised for disruption caused by the strike, claiming to have made several offers to meet the CWU over the last several weeks.

The strike means customers can expect significant disruption to usual service, but Royal Mail have promised to prioritise the delivery of prescription medication and Covid test kits, as well as to deliver as many special delivery and Track 24 parcels as possible.

Despite this, Mr Mountain believes the strikes have a degree of tangible public support: “I’d say it’s been really good. In Chichester, there were people honking horns for us, quite a few members of the public came over to back what we’re doing, and in Bognor Regis we had a 100 per cent turn out – no members of staff turned up to work.”

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