Royal Mail strike: Postal workers in Blackpool set for industrial action tomorrow - and further dates

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) says posties will be on the picket line at the Blackpool & Poulton Royal Mail Delivery Office on Hawking Place, Bispham, tomorrow (Thursday October 20) from the early hours.

It is part of an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions, with CWU members unhappy with the 2 per cent pay rise offered to its members while the company made “record profits” last year and bosses received six figure bonuses.

There are a further 19 CWU strike dates across October, November and early December but the the delivery workers at Bispham will only be out for nine of them.

Major disruption is expected.

There was further tension last week when the Royal Mail announced plans to make up to 6,000 people redundant by next August.

The Royal Mail cited the "impact of industrial action, delays in delivering agreed productivity improvements and lower parcel volumes” as key reasons behind the move.

But Carl Webb, North West regional secretary from the Communications Workers Union, blasted the redundancies announcement as a bullying threat and said it would not deter the resolve of CWU members.

Mr Webb, of Blackpool, said: “This redundancy announcement from the Royal Mail is a classic scare tactic to bully and intimidate members, but it won’t work.

“The turn-out in the vote was 70 per cent and 90 per cent voted to strike and we remain solid.

"The company made record profits last year of £758m and gave £400m to shareholders, while the CEO got a £170,000 bonus and the CFO got £800,000, yet they only offer the people who made the profits two per cent or more if they agree to unworkable changes.

“Those changes and starting times would mean people will get their deliveries at home later, and with the cost of living rises, the offer is an insult.

"They say they are losing £1m a day and yet they still award themselves these bonuses.”

There are around 300 employees at the Bispham centre, in addition to further staff at Fleetwood and Lytham.

Mr Webb added: “It is hard to get the mail delivered on time as it is, because they are not filling vacancies and putting in part-time workers to save money.

"Think how making 6,000 people redundant would affect the service?”

Around 115,000 members across the UK will walk out for a 24-hour strike on Thursday, the CWU says.

Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson said of the redundancy announcement: "This is a very sad day. I regret that we are announcing these job losses.

"We will do all we can to avoid compulsory redundancies and support everyone affected.

"We have announced today losses of £219 million in the first half of the year.

"The CWU’s decision to choose damaging strike action over resolution regrettably increases the risk of further headcount reductions."

The full strike dates, covering different Royal Mail departments, are - October 25, November 2, November 3, November 4, November 8, November 9, November 10 and November 14, November 15, November 16, November 23, November 24, November 25, November 28, November 30, December 1 and December 2.