Date: 30 October 2009
Royal Mail Press Release: For Trade Associations
For Trade Associations issued Thursday 29th October 2009
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has chosen to call further national strike action this week, plus specific action affecting collections in many parts of London on Friday.
We are really sorry for the significant disruption and inconvenience industrial action being taken by the CWU is having on customers and for the uncertainty further strike announcements will cause.
We are continuing to urge the CWU to call off all strike action and concentrate with us on supporting customers during the Autumn and Christmas peak mail period.
What we will do to maintain and recover service
If the industrial action goes ahead, Royal Mail has strong contingency plans to do all we can to keep mail moving and minimise disruption for our customers:
Keep mail moving – over 900 managerial and contract drivers will move mail around the country on strike days.
Delivering mail – we will continue to deliver premium service (Special Delivery™ and Royal Mail Tracked™) items to customers throughout the week.
Use of around 5000 managerial and support people – to maintain premium services, open callers’ offices and to collect mail from Post OfficeŽ branches, posting boxes and customers where possible on strike days.
Support the distribution of packets and parcels - we have five additional, dedicated and fully staffed sorting centres set up, to aid the distribution of goods through our network.
Deploy a targeted service recovery plan – concentrate our substantial support resources in areas most affected to deliver mail after the strikes.
Click here to read the latest statement from Mark Higson, Managing Director, Royal Mail.
To find out more about how the CWU strikes will impact on services in your area, or to find the answers to your most frequently asked questions relating to the industrial action, visit
www.royalmail.com/serviceupdates.
Or to register for free email updates, visit www.royalmail.com/myserviceupdates.
For practical advise from IMRG on steps you should take whilst the strike is on click Here
For results of the IMRG Survey to find out how the stirke has effected retailers so far click Here